High potential and gifted education
At Epping Heights Public School, we are proud to enact the NSW Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) policy, which recognises the diverse strengths and needs of gifted and high potential students. We are committed to providing an inclusive and supportive learning environment that challenges and extends all learners, ensuring they are engaged, motivated, and able to reach their full potential. Our programs are designed to identify and nurture potential across multiple domains. We aim to foster excellence not only academically but also creatively, physically, and socially, preparing students for lifelong success and wellbeing.
The domains of potential describe the four broad categories of natural abilities found in Françoys Gagné's adapted model of Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent DMGT 2.0 (2009). These definitions apply to all students, including high potential and gifted students.
The domains of potential may not be mutually exclusive and are highly influenced by one another.
- Creative domain – refers to natural abilities in imagination, invention and originality.
- Intellectual domain – refers to natural abilities in processing, understanding, reasoning, and the transfer of learning.
- Physical domain – refers to natural abilities in muscular movement and motor control.
- Social-emotional – refers to natural abilities in self-management and relating to and interacting with others.
Potential exists along a continuum, where differing degrees of potential require differing approaches and levels of adjustment and intervention.
At Epping Heights Public School, we are dedicated to implementing the NSW Department of Education’s HPGE policy by providing a comprehensive, student-centred approach that nurtures the potential of every learner across these four domains.
Why choose us for your high potential or gifted child?
Recognising potential and developing talent
Our teachers find potential and nurture our students to be the best they can be.
Tailored lessons
Each student has different abilities. Teachers respond to each student’s ability by providing extra challenges and extension activities to keep learning exciting and engaging.
Rich opportunities and activities
Students can take part in opportunities to develop their talent in the arts, sport, leadership and more.
Opening doors to wider experiences
Our students can participate in a wide range of state-wide opportunities that aim to extend and enrich student potential.
What is high potential and gifted education?
High potential and gifted education (HPGE) is how our school supports students with advanced learning needs.
We do this through:
- effective teaching strategies like enrichment, extension and acceleration
- tailored support during lessons that stretch, challenge and inspire
- access to a wide range of opportunities both within and beyond our school.
Our high potential and gifted education opportunities
Our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.
High potential and gifted education (HPGE) is integrated into our daily learning experiences. Many of our students demonstrate exceptional talents, and we are committed to supporting and developing these strengths into meaningful achievements for all students.
- We strive to know our students to ensure that the full range of their abilities and needs is recognised.
- We create inclusive environment environments to support all students by recognising, respecting and valuing diversity.
- High potential and gifted students form all backgrounds have access to quality learning opportunities that meet their needs and aspirations.
- We create a supportive and culturally safe learning environment. Our teachers use culturally responsive teaching methods, recognising that student’s' cultural backgrounds influence their ways of knowing, thinking and communicating.
- We foster positive relationships with families and communities to support all students to reach their potential.
- Our targeted support helps students to build confidence and develop the skills they need to succeed.
- We provide adjustments to ensure high potential and gifted students with disability can participate in learning experiences on the same basis as students without disability.
- Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher-order thinking.
- Formative assessment to monitor growth and adapt learning.
- Advanced learning pathways, including accelerated or compacted content.
- Explicit teaching of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies.
- Opportunities for abstraction, inquiry, and curriculum depth.
- Tasks that promote choice, authenticity, and critical and creative thinking including cross-curricular projects.
- Flexible grouping for collaborative ideation and presentation.
- Differentiated movement tasks and skill refinement in PDHPE.
- Targeted learning goals for coordination, agility, and control.
- Opportunities to take on lead roles in physical demonstrations or team strategy.
- Supportive learning environments that enable exploration and self-assessment.
- Strengths-based feedback and goal setting.
- Opportunities for leadership within the classroom.
- Structured peer collaboration and reflection.
- Safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance.
- Debating
- Multicultural Public Speaking
- Maths Olympiad (Yr 5&6 only)
- Creative ensembles - dance troupes, choirs, bands, string ensembles (Our creative arts groups particpate and compete in events such as The Epping Music Festival, ASBOF, North Sydney Dance Festival)
- Sport teams
- Peer mentoring - buddies program
- Student leadership (SRC, Library monitors, House Captains)
- Wellbeing programs
- Participation in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives.
- The Premier’s Spelling Bee promotes our students’ vocabulary development and attention to detail in competitive settings.
- The Premier’s Debating Challenge helps our students to build logical arguments and confidence in public speaking.
- The Representative School Sport Pathway and PSSA events enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.
- Participation in state-wide dance ensembles develops our high potential and gifted Stage 5 dance students’ technical skills, performance presence and physical expressiveness.
- Our mentoring programs connect our students with trusted adults including school alumni to build confidence, motivation, and interpersonal skills.
Help for your high potential child
If your child shows signs of high potential, contact us. We can share how our HPGE support can guide their learning journey.
Student opportunities and activities
Discover the opportunities our students have at our school.
Learning
Find out about our approach to learning and supporting students to progress