High potential and gifted education
Children with high potential like to be challenged. A rapid rate of learning means these children may enjoy opportunities beyond the typical level of other children their age.
There are four areas of high potential and giftedness:
- intellectual (academic ability)
- physical (sporting ability)
- creative (creative ability)
- social-emotional (communication/leadership ability)
Signs of high potential
High potential and gifted children tend to:
- be very curious
- learn new ideas or skills quickly and easily
- display a good memory
- ask complex questions
- be creative
- enjoy thinking in complex ways
- require fewer repetitions when learning new things
- become very focused in their area of interest or passion.
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.
Why choose us for your high potential or gifted child?
At our school, we believe every student deserves learning programs that meet their unique needs and help them achieve their personal best. We have high expectations for all students, including those who are high potential or gifted. To support this, we provide a positive school environment with quality teaching and strong leadership. We understand that students have different levels of potential and tailor our approach to help each child grow and succeed.
Academic Opportunities
Explore programs designed to challenge reasoning, understanding, and learning. designed to inspire curiosity and excellence.
Intellectually high potential and gifted students learn best when provided with challenging, deep, and complex programs tailored to their advanced thinking abilities, supported by explicit teaching and structured learning. They come from all backgrounds and may also need support for co-existing disabilities, so offering appropriate challenge and opportunities helps them stay engaged, develop their talents, and thrive both academically and socially.
Bathurst West Public School academic opportunities
- The only Opportunity Class in the Bathurst region
- Debating teams with an experienced coach, plus the opportunity to trial for regional teams
- Multicultural Perspectives public speaking competition and the Camplin Cup
- Chess Club
- Staff professional learning focus on explicit instruction, ensuring that teaching is clear, structured, and tailored to support every student’s learning needs effectively.
- Pre and post testing prior knowledge and using this to inform teaching and learning
- Using real world problems from the local community to create a problem-based learning project
- Classroom differentiation involving choice in how learning is presented, encouragement of creative, communication and critical thinking skills, fostering higher order thinking skills
- Using high-quality think-pair-share routines to encourage collaboration, active reasoning and communication.
Sporting Opportunities
Investigate pathways to access advanced competitive opportunities.
The NSW Department of Education defines the physical domain of potential as natural abilities in muscular movement and motor control. (Gagné 2009; Farley et al. 2022). Signs of high potential in the physical domain may include:
-power
- speed
- muscular strength
- endurance
- flexibility
- speed of reflexes
- agility
- coordination and balance.
Bathurst West Public School sporting opportunities
- Boys Basketball
- Girls Touch Football
- Boys Touch Football
- Netball (mixed)
- Rugby League
- Cricket
- Girls Football (soccer)
- Boys Football (soccer)
- AFL
- Opportunities to trial for district teams in a range of sports
- Circus Acrobatics – tumbling, adagio
- Junior and senior dance groups
- High level athletes may advance through to state and national level competition in athletics, cross country and swimming
Creative Opportunities
Discover how BWPS nurture natural
imagination, invention, and originality.
The NSW Department of Education (2023) defines the creative domain of potential as natural abilities in imagination, invention and originality. Creativity is not confined to the performing or creative arts, creative thinkers use their curiosity, love of new experiences, innovative thinking, and bravery to take risks when solving problems.
- BWPS offers a fully school funded school band program. Students have the chance to perform with Denison College - Bathurst High School Serious Fun program.
- Circus Manipulation – poi, devils sticks, diabolo, spinning plate, hoop, juggling
- Choir, including the opportunities to perform at the Opera House at the Festival of Choral Music
- Junior and Senior dance groups with performance opportunities at the Western Dance Festival
- Schools Spectacular
- Wiradjuri craft group
- Performance opportunities at the Bathurst Eisteddfod
- Showcase artistic talents at the Royal Bathurst Show
- Excursions to Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
- Debating
Social-emotional Opportunities
Learn how BWPS develop your child's communication skills, leadership potential, and ability to connect confidently with others.
The social-emotional domain of potential refers to natural abilities in self-management and relating to and interacting with others.
According to the research, indicators of high potential in the social-emotional domain include
- perceptiveness
- empathy
- social ease
- tactfulness
- influence
- persuasiveness
- eloquence
- leadership
charisma
Bathurst West Public School social-emotional opportunities
- Active Student Representative Council with many opportunities such as school sustainability initiatives, public speaking opportunities and involvement in the school wellbeing program
- Buddy bench duties (run by SRC)
- LifeChanger Workshop
- Grit leadership conference for school leaders
- Year 5/Kindergarten buddy system for peer support
- Young AECG representatives
Our high potential and gifted education opportunities
Our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.
- Our school has a strong focus on explicit instruction, ensuring that teaching is clear, structured, and tailored to support every student’s learning needs effectively.
- Pre and post testing prior knowledge and using this to inform teaching and learning
- Using real world problems from the local community to create a problem-based learning project
- Increasing complexity of tasks
- Providing choice in how tasks are delivered
- Encouragement and development of creative, communication and critical thinking skills
- Fostering higher order thinking skills
- Unpacking examples to model and guide high expectations
- Using think-pair-share routines to encourage collaboration, active reasoning and communication
- Opportunity Class
- Chess club
- Public speaking competitions
- A large variety of PSSA sport teams
- Circus performance squad
- Dance groups
- Choir
- School band
- Craft interest group
- Eisteddfod performances from many groups
- Entries in the Bathurst Show
- Debating team
- Gardening club
- Poetry workshops and performances
- Leadership opportunities through an active and involved Student Representative Council and school leadership program
- Opportunities to be selected for district sporting team trials
- The Festival of Choral Music (FoCM) brings students from across NSW to perform in a combined choir at the Sydney Opera House.
- Multicultural Perspective Public Speaking Competition
- The Premier’s Debating Challenge helps our students to build logical arguments and confidence in public speaking.
- The Schools Spectacular is a world-class arena production and one of the largest annual events of its calibre anywhere in Australia
- The Premier’s Sporting Challenge (PSC) promotes whole-school participation in physical activity.
- Our school swimming, athletics and cross-country carnivals, and PSSA opportunities enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration. HPGE toolkit.
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.
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