High potential and gifted education

At Summer Hill 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 provide talent development pathways which allow students to achieve their potential across each of the four key domains, i.e. the creative, intellectual, physical and social-emotional domains. This reflects 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

Intellectual domain

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

Socio-emotional domain

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

Creative domain

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

Physical domain

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

At Summer Hill 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.

What is high potential and gifted education?

Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (2009) provides a framework for understanding the internal and external drivers of talent development. In Gagné’s model, the raw materials of potential and ability need development through explicit learning experiences, in order to reach an outstanding level of talent. A mix of formal and informal learning, as well as the practice of domain-related skills, form part of this developmental process. Gagné also identifies the role of internal and external forces on developing talent. Environmental catalysts, such as teachers, schools, and learning programs, can help to foster the development of talent. Likewise, internal forces, such as motivation, effort, and learning skills, also play important parts in the development of expertise. Without learning processes, support, and effort, Gagné argues that gifted students will not develop to become outstanding achievers by themselves. (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (2019), Revisiting Gifted Education, NSW Department of Education.)

Learning characteristics of HPG Students

High potential and gifted students demonstrate greater ease, speed and intensity when developing skills, compared to same aged peers

Learning characteristics:

The potential for greater analytical depth

The ability to process information, thought and learning in a faster or more efficient manner, requiring fewer repetitions for mastery
Greater capability in a range of cognitive skills, such as fluid reasoning, creative thinking, memory and abstract reasoning
The ability to make inter-subject connections with relative ease and seek ‘top-down’ understanding when learning

We support high potential and gifted students through:

The effective teaching strategies of high expectations, explicit teaching, deliberate practice, differentiation, flexible grouping and advanced learning pathways

Tailored support during lessons that stretch, challenge and inspire
Access to a wide range of curricula and extra curricular opportunities both within and beyond our school.

Our HPGE opportunities across the domains of potential

Intellectual domain

In our classrooms

Differentiated learning programs adjusted in terms of content, product and process
Embedded use of the Differentiation adjustment tool
Research investigation tasks across multiple subject areas
Open ended and higher order creative and critical thinking and reasoning tasks

Across our school

Variety of STEM and design challenge programs within and beyond our directorate
Lego robotics design and coding
Debating
Public Speaking
Writing competitions eg: ‘Write on’
The Scribbler - student led magazine

Across NSW

Premier’s Spelling Bee
Premier’s Debating Challenge
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Australian Maths Competition
Computational and Algorithmic Thinking Competition
APSMO all levels of competition
Metropolitan South and Metropolitan South-West Public Speaking Competition

Socio-emotional domain

In our classrooms

Opportunities for classroom roles and responsibilities for students
Parliamentary Representative Council (PRC) Suggestion Box
Pax Leaders - PAX Good Behavior Game

Across our school

Student Leadership Program (Student Ministers, House Captains, Debating Captains, Music Captains, Chess Captains, Library Monitors and ICT support team)
Student Parliamentary Representative Council (PRC)
Year 4 and 5 Play Leaders supporting students to make positive play choices on the playground
Buddies program
PAX Leaders - PAX Good Behaviour Game

Across NSW

Student leadership partnerships with schools within and outside of our directorate

Creative domain

In our classrooms

Critical and creative thinking embedded in Inquiry Based learning across curriculum areas
Drama, music and visual arts programs
Choice of diverse modes of communication for students when demonstrating their learning

Across our school