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.

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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:

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Our high potential and gifted education opportunities

Our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.

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In our Classroom

At Blakehurst High School, the curriculum is enriched by a diverse range of opportunities designed to extend and challenge high potential and gifted students in the intellectual, creative, social-emotional and physical domains. We are committed to fostering the growth, development, and wellbeing of our learners through experiences that cultivate their strengths.

In the classroom, we are committed to nurturing the talents and the abilities of our students through evidence-informed, high-quality teaching grounded in our Blakehurst Model of Teaching Practice. This school-wide teaching approach blends the Department of Education’s focus on Explicit Teaching strategies, the HPGE Policy and use of the Differentiation Adjustment Tool. Together, these strategies ensure that learning is accessible, challenging, and purposeful for every student.

How do we bring this to life in classrooms at Blakehurst High School?

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Illustration of a male teacher talking.
Higher achieving classes working at a faster pace (Pace)
An illustration of a male and female student studying together at a desk with a globe on it.
Use of pre-testing and formative assessments to reduce repetition of content students already know (Pace)
Illustration of student with parents graduating
‘Do Now’ tasks to begin every lesson, to make learning time meaningful as soon as students enter the classroom (Learning environment)
Illustration of teacher with students
Visible learning intentions and success criteria with differentiated opportunities for demonstrating success, such as different ‘spice levels’ of challenge (Challenge)
Illustration of a male teacher talking.
Use of questioning such as “What if…?”, “What makes you say that?” or “Why do you think that?” to extend students’ thinking and help them make meaningful connections between concepts. (Complexity, Higher-order thinking, Abstraction)
Illustration of a computer monitor on a desk with a vase of flowers and a mug.
Independent design projects and project-based learning that require planning, creating, testing and refining (Challenge, Creative and critical thinking)
Illustration of person looking at graphs and charts
Tasks that require creative and critical thinking, reasoning and communication (Creative and critical thinking, Abstraction)
Illustration of a male teacher talking.
Open-ended tasks that allow for student choice. These tasks are accessible to all but enable high potential and gifted students to engage in deep, complex exploration and extension. (Choice, Higher-order thinking)
An illustration of a male and female student studying together at a desk with a globe on it.
Using exemplar student responses to guide high expectations and show students ‘what a good one looks like’. (Authenticity)
Illustration of student with parents graduating
Connecting classroom learning to real-world issues, to make learning purposeful and relevant, analyse complex concepts and scrutinise media issues. (Authenticity)

Across our school

At Blakehurst High School, the curriculum is enriched by a diverse range of opportunities designed to extend and challenge high potential and gifted students. We are committed to fostering the growth, development, and wellbeing of our learners through experiences that cultivate their strengths.

Stretching our students beyond the classroom, students can participate in programs that nurture talent across the creative and performative arts, on the sporting field, and through academic enrichment. We also provide meaningful avenues for student voice and leadership, empowering young people to contribute actively to the school and wider community and to enhance the quality of their educational experience.

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Girls sitting in the booths in the study area with their textbooks, books and laptops.
Mathematics Enrichment Programs
Students playing oztag.
Representative sport (30+ sports)
Student smiling at the camera whist playing the piano.
Music Production Club (Audio-Visual)
An image of a prefect badge pinned on a students collar of their school uniform.
Leadership opportunities
An image of a student addressing the crowd at a lectern.
Premier’s Debating Challenge
a close up of a student playing chess
Chess Club
An image of a band performing on the Blakehurst High School stage
Jazz and Rock Bands
An image of students in the hall exploring the exposition tables.
Careers Exposition
An image of a students under the production set up for the school musical.
Blakehurst High School Musical (Biannually)
An image of students gardening in our school garden.
Environmental Club
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Across NSW

HPGE opportunities are already offered across the state to develop student talent across the four domains of potential.

These opportunities include:

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For more information

High Potential and gifted education in NSW public schools

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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.

Contact us

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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