Inspire – High potential and gifted education
Some students learn faster and more easily than others. These students may shine in creativity, thinking, leadership or sport.
At Shoal Bay Public School, we recognise and nurture these strengths early. We support advanced learners with great lessons and activities to help them grow and thrive.
Inspire – High potential and gifted education is delivered in our schools through a combination of in-class, whole school and system level programs, practices and procedures.
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?
Inspire – 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 that align with the 4 domains of the HPGE Policy.
- Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher-order thinking.
- Formative assessment to monitor growth and adapt learning.
- Advanced learning pathways, including accelerated or compacted content.
- Explicit teaching of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies.
- Opportunities for abstraction, inquiry, and curriculum depth.
- Tasks that promote choice, authenticity, and critical and creative thinking including cross-curricular projects.
- Flexible grouping for collaborative ideation and presentation.
- Differentiated movement tasks and skill refinement.
- Opportunities to take on lead roles in physical demonstrations or team strategy.
- Strengths-based feedback and goal setting.
- Opportunities for leadership within the classroom.
- Structured peer collaboration and reflection.
- Safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance.
- Debating
- STEM and coding clubs
- Academic competitions
- School musicals
- Visual arts and drama showcases
- Creative writing groups
- Sport House competitions
- Peer mentoring
- Student parliament
- Student AECG
- Wellbeing programs
- Participation in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives.
- The Premier’s Spelling Bee promotes our students’ vocabulary development and attention to detail in competitive settings.
- The Premier’s Debating Challenge helps our students to build logical arguments and confidence in public speaking.
- Involvement in the Game Changer Challenge empowers our students to solve future-focused problems using design thinking.
- 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.
In 2025 Layla took out 1st place in the Young Business Mind competition with her inventive Eco Ninja video pitch.
The Young Business Minds Awards celebrate innovative and entrepreneurial students who design practical solutions to real-world problems.
Her project introduced a Return and Earn community fundraiser, inviting students and local residents to recycle cans and bottles and donate the proceeds to the primary school.
In 2025 Cleo on received the very prestigious PSSA Hunter Excellence Award.
The excellence award may be presented to those students who have continually performed with outstanding merit in three or more sports at Hunter schools level.
Cleo was recognised for her outstanding representation in basketball, rugby union, rugby 7s, rugby league, and athletics.
In 2025 Cleo represented NSW in shotput and placed 9th overall.
Our players showed incredible skill and teamwork and came away as Champions.
Not only did they take out the chamionship, but the team also scored a $750 prize for our school.
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.