High Potential & Gifted Education (HPGE)

Meeting the Needs of High Potential and Gifted Students at ODPS

The High Potential and Gifted Education Policy promotes engagement and challenge for every student, regardless of background, in every school across intellectual, creative, social-emotional and physical domains. It supports every student to achieve their educational potential, through talent development opportunities and differentiated teaching and learning practices to ensure that their specific learning and wellbeing needs are met. (NSW Department of Education) At Oakhill Drive Public School we provide extensive opportunities for our students to thrive in their education. High Potential and Gifted students are supported through;

• The Learning Support Team: This team monitors identified student progress to ensure they are continually challenged with tasks that involve rigour and meet their unique needs, e.g. real-world related tasks.
• Differentiation: Teachers differentiate learning that challenges HPG students. We differentiate by drawing on formative assessment information that pinpoints what students know now, and what they are ready to learn next.
• Cluster Groups: We group High Potential and Gifted Students (HPG) of like needs into cluster groups. Research shows HPG students need the opportunity to strive and learn from others whose perspective could enrich their own skills. Cluster grouping can help to concentrate differentiation efforts and provide students with opportunities to interact with others of like-mind, interest and ability. Student assessment data, along with consideration to student social and emotional needs, helps the school to determine placement into those clusters. Students in these classes will cover the same syllabus content as other classes in these grades, however they will work at a faster pace and be provided with opportunities for extension or enrichment.
• Acceleration: Acceleration is an advanced learning pathway where students are enrolled in and working towards outcomes beyond their age across domains of potential. Research very strongly supports acceleration as a highly effective strategy for gifted and highly gifted students, and consistently shows positive social outcomes in all forms of acceleration. At ODPS we provide and support access to acceleration or advanced learning pathways and opportunities, example subject acceleration to higher grades and to high school.
• Social and Emotional Development and Learning: In order to achieve their best, all students need to be challenged to learn and master new skills and feel a sense of success, wellbeing and belonging in a supportive learning environment. Supportive learning environments promote connection and success, and enable students to thrive. While high potential and gifted students are no different from other students in this respect, they may experience specific social challenges related to their advanced ability and development. At ODPS, learning environments and relationships are prioritised, personal best, growth, high achievement and advanced learning are supported and celebrated to enhance student engagement.
• Talent Development though Enrichment and Extra-curricular Programs: Talent development is the process by which a student’s potential is developed into higher achievement in a specific domain or field of endeavour. Enrichment and extra-curricular programs are important components of talent development for high potential and gifted students. At ODPS we provide extensive opportunities for effective enrichment and extra-curricular programs to increase the breadth and challenge of learning. These programs are sustained, challenging and purposeful and include quality programs such as:
• student leadership programs including the Student Representative Council
• performing arts initiatives and groups
• school sport teams and coaching programs
• subject-based extension, enrichment and extra-curricular programs. ODPS provides the following enrichment and extra-curricular programs:

Maths Olympiad

Game Changer Challenge

Tournament of the Minds

Creative Arts Programs :band, dance, choir, drama

Representative Sporting Teams

For more information on our extracurricular programs click here.