High potential and gifted education

In our classroom

At Elands Public School, we are proud to align our approach with 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 giftedness across multiple domains, reflecting the Department’s emphasis on catering to the whole child. By embracing a broad view of giftedness, we aim to foster excellence not only academically but also creatively, physically, and socially, preparing students for lifelong success and wellbeing.

Our approach focuses on four key domains:

· Creative Domain: We provide opportunities for students to develop innovative thinking and artistic expression, encouraging originality and problem-solving through diverse creative activities.

· Intellectual Domain: We challenge students with enriched learning experiences that promote higher-order thinking, deep inquiry, and advanced knowledge across the curriculum.

· Physical Domain: Recognising the importance of physical development, we support students in enhancing their coordination, health, and physical skills through targeted activities and sports.

· Social-Emotional Domain: We prioritise the emotional wellbeing and social development of gifted students, fostering resilience, self-awareness, and positive relationships to help them thrive within our school community.

Across our school

At Elands 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.

We ensure our teachers have time to engage in professional learning to build their experience and ensure they can assess and identify talent in the classroom and school setting.

Our school partners with other regional schools to deliver teaching and learning experiences and opportunities for all students to develop their potential in all domains: creative, intellectual, physical and social-emotional.

· Debating and public speaking

· STEM and coding

· Academic competitions

· Visual arts and drama showcases

· Creative writing opportunities

· Sport

· Student leadership

· Peer mentoring

· Wellbeing programs

· Participation in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives.

Across NSW

· The Premier’s Spelling Bee promotes our students’ vocabulary development and attention to detail in competitive settings.

· The Premier’s and/or Small Schools’ Debating Challenge helps our students to build logical arguments and confidence in public speaking.

· Our STEM Enrichment Partnerships with industry and universities deepen our students’ intellectual curiosity while developing innovation and collaboration.

· The Small Schools’ Discovery Days each term offer programs and learning opportunities for high potential and gifted students. This ensures students from small schools, with geographic isolation, can collaboratively participate in a variety of programs and opportunities that might otherwise be missed.

· 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 events enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.