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 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) refers to the way our school identifies and supports students who demonstrate advanced learning capacity or potential in one or more domains of ability.

Our school is committed to implementing effective practices that ensure these students are appropriately challenged and supported to achieve their personal best. This is achieved through:

Evidence based teaching strategies including enrichment, extension, and acceleration
Targeted support and differentiation within classroom programs to extend student learning using the differentiated adjustment tools
Access to diverse opportunities and activities within and beyond the school that promote engagement, achievement, and wellbeing

These practices align with the NSW Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education Policy, ensuring equitable access to quality learning for all students.

Growing Great Human Beings at SHWPS

At Seven Hills West Public School, our teaching approach is grounded in Transdisciplinary Curriculum and Inter-Connected Learning — a pedagogy that helps students make meaningful links between what they already know, what they are currently learning, and how that learning connects to the wider world.

This approach encourages students to see learning as an active, connected process rather than a series of isolated subjects. By making deliberate connections between ideas, experiences, and disciplines, students develop deeper understanding, stronger critical thinking skills, and the ability to apply their knowledge in authentic, real-world contexts.

What does Inter-Connected Learning look like?

Making transdisciplinary curriculum connections: Students are guided to link concepts across subjects, skills, and prior experiences, helping them see the “big picture.”
Building schemas: Through these connections, students form complex mental models that strengthen memory, understanding, and problem-solving.
Real-world context: Learning is framed within practical, relevant contexts that promote engagement and critical thinking.
Active engagement: Students are encouraged to explore big ideas, ask meaningful questions, and reflect on their place in the world.
Multiple contexts: Learning is recognised as happening everywhere — in classrooms, through experiences, and in interactions with others.

At SHWPS, our transdisciplinary and inter-connected learning approach brings together the best elements of Project-Based Learning, Inquiry Learning, STEM, and the promotion of Creative and Critical Thinking. This interdisciplinary approach encourages students to think deeply about real-world problems and questions that sit at the heart of their learning.

By focusing on connectivity, context, and applicability, our students learn to transfer their understanding across subjects and into everyday life. Our Student Showcase events serve as a celebration of this process, providing authentic opportunities for students to present their learning journeys and demonstrate how their knowledge connects across disciplines and to the world around them.

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

Seven Hills West Public School is committed to implementing the NSW Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education Policy to ensure that all students are challenged, engaged, and supported to achieve their personal best.

We recognise that high potential and gifted students demonstrate advanced capacity in one or more domains of ability (intellectual, creative, social-emotional, or physical) and require appropriate opportunities to develop their potential.

Our approach includes:

Identification and evidence-informed practice – teachers identify and respond to students’ learning needs using evidence-based strategies that extend, enrich, and accelerate learning where appropriate.
Supportive learning environments – classrooms promote a sense of belonging and encourage creativity, collaboration, and intellectual risk-taking.
Flexible grouping and student agency – learning is tailored through flexible groupings, strengths-based feedback, clear learning goals, and opportunities for student reflection and self-assessment.
Professional learning and collaboration – teachers engage in ongoing professional learning to strengthen their capacity to meet the diverse needs of all learners, including those with high potential and giftedness.

Through these practices, our school ensures equitable access to challenging, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences for all students.

Across our school

Our school provides a wide range of opportunities for students to explore their interests, develop their talents, and extend their learning beyond the classroom. These programs nurture creativity, leadership, wellbeing, and a sense of belonging for every student.

Innovation and Inquiry – Students extend their critical and creative thinking through STEM and coding initiatives such as Coding Club, Transdisicplinary Showcases and Makerspace projects.
Creative and Performing Arts – Talent is celebrated through our senior musical productions, dance lessons and performances, choir, band (including Band Camp), and large-scale events such as the Blacktown Performing Arts Festival and Westpoint Shopping Centre Festival.
Leadership and Citizenship – Leadership skills are fostered through our Leader in Me whole school program, Student Representative Council (SRC), buddy programs, mentoring, and a variety of peer leadership roles across the school.
Wellbeing and Inclusion – Wellbeing is strengthened through Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) lessons and awards, the LifeSkills Go social–emotional learning program, and whole-school initiatives that promote respect, resilience, and responsibility.
Community and Belonging – Opportunities such as Open Library at lunchtime encourage connection, curiosity, and collaboration among students.
Sport and Team Spirit – Students participate in school and inter-school sport, including Gala Days, house competitions, and whole-school carnivals that promote teamwork, participation, and fair play.

Across NSW

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

Students participate in opportunities such as UNSW SunSprint Solar Boat and Car, DoE Game Changer Challenge, APSMO Maths Olympiad, Premier’s Spelling Bee, Premier’s Multicultural Public Speaking and Blacktown Learning Community HPGE programs - including Debating, STEM showcases and Performing Art Festivals.
Statewide and NSW Department of Education support is available for high potential and gifted students, and we help with entries, preparation and reflection so every experience feeds back into learning.