Inspire – High potential and gifted education (HPGE)

At Five Dock Public School, we are committed to the identification and development of high potential and gifted students across the four domains of ability — intellectual, creative, social-emotional and physical — in alignment with the NSW Inspire – High potential and gifted education Policy.

Our School Excellence Plan is underpinned by high expectations for all students and is enacted daily through high-quality teaching and learning across the school. Planning for high potential and gifted students includes purposeful differentiation, acceleration, enrichment, targeted talent development opportunities, and inclusive practices that promote equity of access. Students are supported to engage in learning with appropriate challenge to optimise their growth and are nurtured to develop confidence and curiosity, enabling every student to thrive by reaching their potential.

Our inclusive and responsive practices align with our values for strong partnerships with families. We invite our families to collaborate with our school to support the ongoing growth, wellbeing and achievement of students with high potential or giftedness.

Why choose us for your high potential or gifted child?

Recognising potential and developing talent

Our students are known and valued at Five Dock Public School. Teachers take the time and care to assess and identify the specific learning needs of all high potential and gifted students. We collaborate with families to support the identification and growth for all high potential and gifted students.

Tailored lessons

Our teachers meet each students' unique learning needs using ongoing assessment to monitor progress and guide planning, ensuring that each students' learning pathway foster engagement and growth. Teachers use differentiated instruction, adjusting the pace, complexity and depth of tasks so gifted learners are appropriately challenged. Our school uses enrichment activities, extension projects, flexible grouping and opportunities for higher-order thinking. This tailored approach draws on evidence-based teaching strategies, creates room for acceleration where needed, and helps high potential and gifted students stay motivated, engaged and supported to reach their full potential.

Rich opportunities and activities

Our school offers a diverse range of rich opportunities that provide talent development across the intellectual, creative, social-emotional and physical domains. Students may access enrichment programs, subject acceleration, extension classes, debating, public speaking, STEM initiatives, creative and performing arts programs, leadership roles, and competitive sport pathways. Specialised programs that support talent in writing, mathematics and performing arts further extend learning beyond the classroom. These opportunities are designed not only to challenge high potential learners but also to nurture motivation, resilience and wellbeing, ensuring students are supported to achieve excellence and reach their full potential.

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. These include Tournament of the Minds, Pulse Alive Choir and Dance, Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition and state-wide PSSA representative sport.

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.

In our classroom

At Five Dock PS, Inspire – High potential and gifted education begins at the classroom level. It is embedded daily in all learning experiences across different Key learning Areas. Students' learning needs are identified in the classroom where teachers use evidence-informed teaching practices, along with high expectations in order to challenge and extend students. Formative assessment is used daily to monitor growth and adjust learning and provide differentiated tasks that challenge students, adjust the pace and complexity of the work.

Explicit Teaching - Teachers at Five Dock Public School use explicit teaching practices informed by research to support students to build deep understanding and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways. Instruction supports students to think critically, solve complex problems, pose questions, synthesise information and justify their reasoning. Through modelling, guided practice and feedback, students are supported to extend their thinking and develop sophisticated learning strategies.

High Expectations - Teachers at Five Dock Public School maintain high expectations for learning progress and achievement for every student. Aspirational expectations are reflected in differentiated success criteria and challenging learning tasks that promote higher-order thinking and problem solving. Learning environments encourage exploration, confidence and positive risk-taking, enabling students to extend their potential across the intellectual, creative, social-emotional and physical domains.

Ongoing formative assessment - Teachers use ongoing formative assessment to gather evidence of student learning, monitor understanding and inform responsive teaching. Assessment practices enable teachers to adjust instruction as they teach, supporting continuous growth and achievement. Evidence from formative assessment supports the identification and development of students’ potential across the four HPGE domains: intellectual, creative, social-emotional and physical.

Differentiated tasks - Learning experiences are differentiated to meet the diverse learning needs and potential of students. Teachers adjust the pace, depth, and complexity of tasks to provide appropriate challenge. Students engage in learning that promotes critical and creative thinking, autonomy, inquiry and problem solving, while flexible grouping supports collaboration, peer learning and extension.

Advanced Learning Pathways - Students are provided with advanced learning pathways that enable them to engage with learning at a level of appropriate challenge. Opportunities include accelerated mathematics programs and access to learning experiences across different stages, supporting the continued development of students with high potential and giftedness.

Leadership and Student Voice - Students are provided with opportunities to develop leadership and contribute their voice to the school community. For example, students act as mentors within a classroom newspaper project, supporting peers and contributing to authentic learning experiences that foster collaboration, responsibility and leadership development.

Across our school

Maths Explorer

Maths Olympiad
Press Gang Newspaper
Debating
Public Speaking
Chess
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program
Student Leadership
Student Representative Council
Gardening/ Sustainability Club
Koori Kids
Band
Dance
Choir
Representative Pathways for PSSA
Wellbeing programs
Kindergarten/ Year 6 Buddy program

Across NSW

The Premier’s Spelling Bee promotes our students’ vocabulary development and attention to detail in competitive settings.
The Representative School Sport Pathway and PSSA events enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.
Tournament of the Minds
Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition
Pulse Alive Dance and Choir
Festival Of Choral Choir
Operation Art
Zing Inter-school Dance Competition