High potential and gifted education
At Rocky River 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 Rocky River 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.
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.
Our high potential and gifted education opportunities
Our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.
At Rocky River Public School, we recognise that high potential exists in many forms across all learners. Our approach to HPGE is embedded in everyday teaching and learning, guided by a strong focus on formative assessment, evidence-based practices, and effective differentiation to meet the unique needs of every student.
Here are some of the evidence based teaching strategies used in the classroom to support all students:
Use of Formative Assessment Tools
Teachers regularly use diagnostic assessments, observation checklists, and student self-assessments to identify strengths and areas for growth across multiple domains, providing timely data that informs lesson planning and differentiation to promote continuous student growth and engagement.
Differentiated Learning Tasks and Flexible Grouping
Learning activities are designed with varying complexity, allowing students to work individually, in pairs, or flexible groups based on interests or abilities, ensuring appropriate challenge, fostering collaboration, leadership, motivation, and social skills.
High Expectations Embedded in Lesson Planning
Teachers explicitly communicate high expectations by designing learning objectives that foster higher-order thinking, creativity, and problem-solving, encouraging students to set personal goals and reflect on their progress, which promotes a growth mindset, resilience, and self-efficacy, leading to deeper learning and higher achievement.
Student Leadership and Voice
Students take lead roles in projects, discussions, and school initiatives tied to their interests, and participate in setting goals and self-assessing, fostering ownership, motivation, and leadership skills.
Ongoing Professional Learning and Collaboration
Teachers regularly engage in professional development on HPGE strategies and collaborate to share best practices and design differentiated curriculum units, strengthening instructional quality and consistency to ensure all students benefit from effective talent development.
At Rocky River Public School, High Potential and Gifted Education forms a vital part of our core business. We recognise and nurture the unique talents of every student by providing flexible, diverse, and enriching opportunities that support growth across academic, creative, social, and physical domains.
Here are some of the opportunities available to support the talent development of students at Rocky River Public School:
- NECOM music program (wood and brass wind orchestra)
- Weekly STEM lessons run by staff at University of New England
- Interschool sport competitions
- Representative sport pathways
- School leadership opportunities - Year 5 Sports Captains and Year 6 School Captains
- Public speaking and debating competitions
- Dance groups
- Weekly music lessons - Whole School Choir performances
- Yearly School camps (Stage 2 and Stage 3)
- Curriculum aligned excursions & incursions
- 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.
- The Minister for Education's Christmas Card competition (Deputy Secretary's Card Selection winner in 2025)
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