High potential and gifted education

At Terrey Hills 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.

At Terrey Hills 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.

Terrey Hills Public School High Potential and Gifted Education Policy (PDF 810KB)

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.

Leaders in high potential and gifted education

Our school leaders proudly established and continue to host the Dee Why X Network for K-12 educators. This collaborative forum brings together Principals and teachers from across the Beaches, Forest and Pittwater Networks each term to share innovative ideas and explore the latest research on best practices for supporting our students’ learning and development.

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 Terrey Hills Public School, HPGE lives in everyday practice. We challenge our students to think, create, lead and grow every day.

Teachers identify students' learning needs in the classroom and use evidence-informed teaching practices to challenge and extend students. We provide learning pathways, including enrichment and extension programs and acceleration.
Our supportive classroom environments promote a sense of belonging and encourage risk-taking, creativity and collaboration.
We provide tasks that promote choice, authenticity, and critical and creative thinking.
Our teachers engage in professional learning to support the diverse needs of all students, including our high potential and gifted learners

Across our school

Every student is individual, so opportunities are flexible and diverse.

Students deepen strengths through debating, K-6 public speaking competitions, Years 3-6 Multicultural Public Speaking, Years 1-6 APSMO Competitions and programs, K-6 critical and design thinking / project based learning , and STEM and coding pathways such as Robotics.
Talent is celebrated through school spectaculars and showcases such as THPS Got Talent, Art Exhibition, Dance Extravaganza, music ensembles, STEM fair, choir, Junior and Senior Dance, supported by student roles in our technology teams.
Leadership grows through SRC, Year 6 Leaders, mentoring and peer coaching, and wellbeing is made visible with our Bronze, Silver, Gold and Principal Awards and our Story Dog Program.
Daily life invites curiosity and belonging, with Open Library and Environmental / Kitchen Garden programs, student initiated clubs at lunch, plus interest clubs such as Leggo and Robotics Club.
Sport matters too, with PSSA sport, training and coaching that include differentiated Physical Education, as well as Playground Games run by our House Captains.

Across NSW

Our students participate in a wide range of statewide programs to extend and enrich student potential.

Students participate in opportunities such as DoE Arts Unit Arts Alive, DoE Game Changer Challenge, APSMO Maths Olympiad, Premier’s Spelling Bee, Premier’s Multicultural Public Speaking, Premiers Debating Challenge, What Matters Writing Competition, DoE Arts Unit Pulse Alive, DoE Arts Unit Festival of Choral and Instrumental Music.
Statewide and NSW Department of Education support is available for high potential and gifted students, and we help with entries.