High potential and gifted education (HPGE)
Some students learn faster and more easily than others. These students may shine in creativity, thinking, leadership or sport.
At Fairfield West Public School, we are committed to nurturing the potential of every student by providing tailored learning experiences that challenge, engage and inspire. We recognise that High Potential and Gifted (HPG) students come from diverse backgrounds and have unique strengths across various domains. Our approach ensures every student can access programs that meet their learning needs and aspirations.
Levels of high potential and gifted education
High Potential
Students whose abilities exceed those of their peers in one or more domains. These students benefit from enrichment or extended learning opportunities beyond the typical curriculum.
Gifted
Students whose abilities significantly exceed those of their peers in one or more domains. They require more advanced curriculum adjustments and opportunities to fully develop their talents.
Highly Gifted
Students with exceptional abilities far beyond their peers in one or more domains. These students need specialised curriculum modifications and support for both learning and wellbeing needs.
Our high potential and gifted education opportunities
High potential and gifted education (HPGE) is how our school supports students with advanced learning needs. Our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.
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.
- 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.
- STEM clubs
- Academic competitions
- School musicals
- Music ensembles
- Visual arts and drama showcases
- Sport squads
- House competitions
- Performance-based movement groups
- Peer mentoring
- Student leadership (SRC)
- 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 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.
The four domains of HPGE
Our programs support development across four key domains
Holistic Development Through Multiple Domains
Many of our programs support growth across multiple domains. For example, Debating and Public Speaking not only enhance intellectual skills like critical thinking and reasoning but also build social-emotional skills such as confidence and leadership. Similarly, Leadership Development Programs foster social-emotional growth while encouraging creative problem-solving. Our goal is to provide a well-rounded education that cultivates every aspect of a student's potential.
At Fairfield West Public School, we are proud to offer these diverse opportunities to empower our High Potential and Gifted students to excel and thrive on their learning journey.
For more information on how to get involved or to discuss your child’s participation in HPGE programs, please contact the school office.