High potential and gifted education

At Yenda Public School, we are committed to the NSW Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) Policy, which ensures that students with high potential across all areas of ability are identified, supported and challenged to thrive. The policy recognises that students may demonstrate high potential — and the capacity for gifted performance - in one or more of four domains: intellectual, creative, social emotional and physical.

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

At Yenda Public School, HPGE is an integral part of our everyday practice. Many of our students demonstrate high potential, and we are dedicated to nurturing that potential to help it grow into something powerful. HPGE in the classroom includes:

Flexible grouping for collaborative ideation and presentation.
Explicit teaching of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies.
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.
Safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance.
Formative assessment to monitor growth and adapt learning.
Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher-order thinking.

Across our school

Yenda Public School’s HPGE programs support gifted and high-potential students by offering enriched learning opportunities across the four domains: intellectual, creative, social-emotional, and physical development. HPGE across our school includes:

Debating
Public Speaking Competitions
Premier's Spelling Bee Challenge
Virtual STEM Academy
Academic competitions
Kids Rapt on Performing (KROP)
Riverina Dance Group
Biennial School Concert
Visual arts and drama showcases
Tournament of the Minds (TOM)
Sporting Clinics
Lego League
Peer mentoring
Student leadership (SRC)
Aurora College
Participation in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives.

Across NSW

Our students engage in a variety of statewide programs designed to extend and enrich their potential. HPGE across the state includes:

The Premier’s Spelling Bee promotes our students’ vocabulary development and attention to detail in competitive settings.
The Premier's Reading Challenge encourages students to engage with a variety of texts and develop a passion for reading.
The Premier’s Debating Challenge helps our students to build logical arguments and confidence in public speaking.
The NSW Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition enables students to present arguments to a large audience.
Our STEM Enrichment Partnerships with industry and universities deepen our students’ intellectual curiosity while developing innovation and collaboration.
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.
Our mentoring programs connect our students with trusted adults to build confidence, motivation, and interpersonal skills.

“The HPGE opportunity in the Physical Domain: State Touch Championships gave me the chance to represent the Riverina. I’m grateful for the experience, as I was able to socialise and make new friends with students from other schools. I’m super proud because I learnt new skills, developed a new belief in myself, and improved my confidence in my skillset,” said Joie.

"The HPGE opportunity in the Creative Domain: KROP Performance gave us a chance to work together, be in the spotlight, express our confidence and skills, and it made us really happy," said Sienna and Emily.

“The HPGE opportunity in the Social and Emotional Domain: State Debating Competition taught me skills I’ll use later in life. I’m personally more confident speaking in front of a crowd, my vocabulary has grown, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I also made new lifelong friends,” said Emme.

“The HPGE opportunity in the Intellectual Domain: participating in the Aurora Program for Mathematics and Science has allowed me to advance my technology skills, such as using Microsoft Teams and OneNote. It provides extension learning and challenges me at a suitable level. I’m proud of myself because I have a sense of accomplishment and have been able to meet new friends who are like-minded and share the same interests in specific subjects,” said Damon, Aurora Opportunity class student

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.

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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