Inspire – High potential and gifted education
At Fort Street Public School, our practices are guided by the NSW Department of Education’s Inspire – High potential and gifted education (HPGE) policy, which acknowledges that students demonstrate high potential and giftedness in a range of ways. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive learning environment that supports and extends all students, enabling them to remain engaged, challenged and motivated as they work towards achieving their personal best.
Our programs provide purposeful talent development pathways that nurture student growth across the four key domains of potential — intellectual, creative, physical and social-emotional. This whole-child approach reflects the Department’s commitment to meeting the diverse needs of learners and supporting their overall development.
Through a comprehensive understanding of giftedness, we strive to cultivate excellence across academic, creative, physical and social domains, equipping students with the skills, confidence and wellbeing needed for future success.
Our approach focuses on four key domains
Intellectual domain
Students are extended through enriched learning opportunities that foster higher-order thinking, deep inquiry and advanced understanding across all curriculum areas.
Socio-emotional domain
We prioritise the social and emotional development of students by fostering resilience, self-awareness and positive relationships, enabling them to thrive within the school community.
Creative domain
Learning experiences foster innovative thinking and artistic expression, encouraging originality and problem-solving through a range of creative contexts.
Physical domain
Students are supported to develop physical skills, coordination and performance through opportunities that promote excellence, teamwork and personal growth.
What is high potential and gifted education?
Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (2009) provides a framework for understanding the internal and external drivers of talent development. In Gagné’s model, the raw materials of potential and ability need development through explicit learning experiences, in order to reach an outstanding level of talent. A mix of formal and informal learning, as well as the practice of domain-related skills, form part of this developmental process. Gagné also identifies the role of internal and external forces on developing talent. Environmental catalysts, such as teachers, schools, and learning programs, can help to foster the development of talent. Likewise, internal forces, such as motivation, effort, and learning skills, also play important parts in the development of expertise. Without learning processes, support, and effort, Gagné argues that gifted students will not develop to become outstanding achievers by themselves. (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (2019), Revisiting Gifted Education(opens in new window, NSW Department of Education.)
Learning Characteristics of High Potential and Gifted (HPG) Students
High potential and gifted students typically demonstrate greater ease, speed, and intensity in skill development compared to their same-age peers.
- Capacity for deeper analytical thinking
- Ability to process information and learning more quickly and efficiently, often requiring fewer repetitions to achieve mastery
- Advanced cognitive capabilities, including fluid reasoning, creative thinking, strong memory, and abstract reasoning
- Ability to make connections across subjects with ease and a preference for “top-down” conceptual understanding
- Effective teaching practices, including high expectations, explicit instruction, deliberate practice, differentiation, flexible grouping, and advanced learning pathways
- Targeted, responsive support within lessons that stretches, challenges, and inspires learners
- Access to a broad range of student opportunities and extracurricular activities, both within and beyond the school
Our HPGE opportunities across the domains of potential
Intellectual domain
Flexible learning groups within hubs, with differentiated learning programs adjusted in terms of content, product and process
Opportunities for research investigation tasks across a variety of subjects
Open ended and higher order creative and critical thinking and reasoning tasks
Kodaly (early years programme)
- Debating
- Public Speaking
- STEAM- Robotics, 3D printing, Makedo, Coding
- Chess
- Kid’s Lit
- Maths Club
- Premier’s Debating Challenge
- Premier’s Reading Challenge
- Premier’s Spelling Bee
- APSMO all competition levels
- Metropolitan South Public Speaking Competition
- Multicultural Public Speaking Competition
Socio-emotional domain
Student leadership- election of Class Captains each term
Student roles and responsibilities in learning hubs
Student Representative Council (SRC) suggestion box
Student Leadership Program- Year 6 School Leaders ( Captains, Vice captains, prefects)
House captains- Stage 3 ( Argyle, Cumberland, Kent, Watson)
House Charities- fundraising for student nominated charities
Fab Fort Street Values programs-
Kindy Buddies Program
Fab Friends program- supporting younger students to make good choices on the playground
Library Monitors
Young Leaders Program- Student Leadership Conference
ANZAC Day- RSL & School’s Commemoration Day
Creative Domain
Critical and creative thinking embedded in Inquiry Based learning across subject areas
Creative Arts Program- drama, music and visual arts
A variety of multimodal communication methods
Clubs, K-6
Music specialist teachers
Band
Strings ensemble
Guitars
Keyboards
Podcasts
Animation
Film
Musical theatre & Dance
Operation Art, 2-6
Junior Archibald Competition
Bondi Showcase
Physical Domain
Swimming Carnival
Cross Country Carnival
Athletics Carnival
Weekly sports
In-school sport skill building programs
Learn-to-swim program
PSSA representative sports competition
PSSA sport pathways (Zone, Regional and State level)
PSSA Zone, Regional and State Carnivals( Swimming, Cross Country, Athletics)
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