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.

Our high potential and gifted education opportunities

Our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.

In our classroom

Provide differentiated learning opportunities that challenge students at their level and encourage critical thinking.
Utilise flexible grouping strategies to allow students to work with peers who share their interests and abilities.
Incorporate open-ended tasks, problem-solving activities, and creative projects that foster deeper understanding and innovation.
Encourage student-led inquiry and provide opportunities for independent research and exploration.
Support social and emotional needs by promoting a growth mindset and resilience.

Across our school

Offer enrichment programs and extracurricular activities tailored to high potential and gifted students.
Provide professional development for teachers to identify and nurture diverse talents.
Facilitate partnerships with external organisations to extend learning beyond the classroom.
Promote a school culture that values diverse abilities and celebrates academic excellence.
Monitor and review student progress to ensure appropriate challenges and support are consistently provided.

Across NSW

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.

Mascot Public School follows the NSW Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) Policy. In NSW public schools, a student can be identified as being High Potential, Gifted or Highly Gifted in one or more of the following domains:
Intellectual, Social-Emotional, Physical or Creative. The Department of Education represents each of these domains with these cogwheel images

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The school has a comprehensive HPGE student identification process. Teachers who believe that a student in their class may be HPGE in one or more domain use observational notes, student work samples and internal and external assessment data (if applicable) to present to the school’s HPGE team, which meets once a term. Following this presentation and the classroom teachers’ completion of the HPGE Student Identification Survey, the HPGE team will make a determination as to whether a student is HPGE in one or more domain.

If a student is identified as being HPGE, the classroom teacher works with the student and their parents/carers to develop a HPGE Individual Learning Plan. This plan outlines the adjustments and interventions the classroom teacher will implement at school to further develop the student’s potential or giftedness.

Every teacher at Mascot Public School is a member of either:

HPGE Creative Team
HPGE Emotional-Social Team
HPGE Physical Team
HPGE Intellectual Team

Each team organises events throughout the school year for their HPGE domain. All students at Mascot Public School engage in these whole-school events and activities and students identified as HPGE are given specific encouragement and support to showcase their talents and abilities to the school community. This “talent development” process and its relationship to student high performance is outlined in the HPGE Policy: