High potential and gifted education
Some students learn faster and more easily than others. These students may shine in creativity, thinking, leadership or sport.
At our school, we recognise and nurture these strengths early. We support advanced learners with great lessons and activities to help them grow and thrive.
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.
Examples of HPGE offerings at Douglas Park Public School
At our school, every learner’s potential is our priority. Many students have high potential, and we help that potential to grow into something powerful. We challenge our students to think, create, lead and grow every day.
We are committed to developing high potential across 4 domains: creative, intellectual, physical and social-emotional. Our teachers find potential and nurture our students to be the best they can be. We foster a culture of high expectations and equity in excellence, ensuring every student, regardless of background, has opportunities to develop their potential into talent. Our targeted support helps students to build confidence and develop the skills they need to succeed.
Classroom level:
- Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher-order thinking.
- Explicit teaching of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies.
- Flexible grouping for collaborative ideation and presentation.
- Opportunities for leadership within the classroom.
School level:
- Debating
- Academic competitions
- Critical thinking workshops
- School musicals
- Sport squads
- House competitions
- Student leadership (SRC)
- Wellbeing programs
Programs:
- 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 Premier’s Sporting Challenge (PSC) promotes whole-school participation in physical activity with leadership pathways and professional learning.
- The Representative School Sport Pathway and PSSA and CHSSA events enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.
How do schools find high potential?
High potential students are those whose potential exceeds that of students of the same age in one or more areas. Gifted students are those whose potential significantly exceeds that of students of the same age in one or more subjects or areas. We use objective, valid and reliable measures to assess and identify high potential and gifted students’ learning needs.
Our high potential and gifted education opportunities
Our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.
- Our classroom practices support and extend high potential and gifted students.
- Our supportive classroom environments promote a sense of belonging and encourage risk-taking, creativity and collaboration.
- Our school offers a range of whole-school programs that support student growth.
- Our school identifies and supports students with high potential through targeted enrichment, extension and extra-curricular opportunities such as debating, competitions, critical thinking workshops, and STEM and coding clubs.
- All our students, including high potential and gifted students, are encouraged to take on leadership roles through student representative council leadership, mentoring programs and peer coaching.
- Student talent is celebrated and extended through school musicals, drama groups, visual arts showcases, ensembles and groups.
- We foster positive relationships with families and communities to support all students to reach their potential.
- We provide access to local, state and national competitions and events to help students explore and extend their talents.
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