High potential and gifted education
At Killarney Vale 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 Killarney Vale 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.
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 programs in the arts, sport, leadership and more.
Opening doors to wider experiences
Our students can participate in a wide range of state-wide programs 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.
At Killarney Vale Public School, high potential and gifted education (HPGE) is integrated into our daily learning experiences. Many of our students demonstrate exceptional talents, and we are committed to supporting and developing these strengths into meaningful achievements.
Our teachers identify each student’s learning needs within the classroom and apply evidence-based teaching strategies to extend and challenge their abilities. We provide a variety of learning pathways, including enrichment programs, extension tasks, and acceleration when suitable. Students are identified by teachers (with family insights welcome and encouraged) as having high potential or giftedness across the cognitive, creative, physical, or social-emotional domains. This information is shared throughout the school to ensure effective support for every learner.
We create nurturing classroom environments that foster a sense of belonging, encourage creativity, risk-taking, and collaboration. Gifted students, particularly in the cognitive domain, receive targeted instruction to meet their individual level of challenge. They engage in open-ended activities and enrichment opportunities.
Flexible groupings, leadership opportunities, and feedback centred on strengths with clear goals and self-assessment are key features of our approach.
At Killarney Vale Public School, we are dedicated to fostering the whole child by recognising and nurturing each student’s potential across these four domains, ensuring every learner is empowered to succeed.
At Killarney Vale Public School, we offer a wide range of opportunities to support and enrich our High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) students both within the school and the wider community. Our programs are designed to nurture talents across multiple domains, providing pathways for students to excel and engage beyond the classroom.
Some examples include:
- Public Speaking
- Debating
- Dance - CCDF - TLN Dance Showcase
- Compering Choral Festival
- Berwongle Writing Camp
- Hunter Super Nova Camp
- TLLC HPGE Challenge
- Eureka HPGE
- Art Club
- Chess Club
- Operation Art
- Choir - Koori & Choral Fest
- Gulang Fest
- Year 5 Leadership Day
- Solos at Choral Festival
- Spelling Bee
- Fluid Maths Groups
- Buddy Tutoring
- PSSA Sports
- STEM
- Cultural Didge and Weaving Groups
- All abilities Inclusive Sporting Programs
- Halogen Young Leaders Conference
At Killarney Vale Public School, we are committed to providing a rich and varied HPGE experience that empowers gifted learners to thrive across all areas of their development, both within our school community and beyond.
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.
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.