High Potential and Gifted Education

At Bonnet Bay Public School, we are proud to align our practices with the NSW Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) policy, which recognises the diverse strengths and needs of high potential and gifted learners. We are committed to creating an inclusive, supportive, and stimulating learning environment that challenges and extends all students, ensuring they remain engaged, motivated, and able to achieve their fullest potential. Our programs are designed to identify and nurture giftedness across multiple domains, reflecting the Department’s commitment to supporting the whole child. By embracing a broad and holistic 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 offer rich opportunities for students to engage in innovative thinking and artistic expression, encouraging originality, imagination, and creative problem-solving through a variety of learning experiences.

Intellectual Domain: We provide enriched and differentiated learning opportunities that promote higher-order thinking, deep inquiry, and advanced conceptual understanding across all curriculum areas.

Physical Domain: Recognising the importance of physical development, we support students in building coordination, health, confidence, and physical skills through targeted programs and sporting activities.

Social-Emotional Domain: We prioritise the social and emotional wellbeing of high potential and gifted students by fostering resilience, empathy, self-awareness, and positive relationships within our school community.

At Bonnet Bay Public School, we are dedicated to implementing the NSW Department of Education’s HPGE policy through a comprehensive, student-centred approach that nurtures the potential of every learner across these four domains.

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Why choose us for your High Potential or Gifted Child?

5 gamechanger kids on an excursion holding up a box

Recognising Potential and Developing Talent

Our teachers find potential and nurture our students to be the best they can be.

1 infants student sitting at his desk looking at the camera with a worksheet in front of him

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.

1 student sitting at a desk playing chess

Rich Opportunities and Activities

Students can take part in opportunities to develop their talent in the arts, sport, leadership and more.

2 students holding up awards for public speaking

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.

In Our Classroom

At Bonnet Bay Public School, High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) is an integral part of our daily practice. We recognise the exceptional abilities of many of our students and are dedicated to nurturing their potential into meaningful achievement.

Our teachers carefully identify each student’s learning needs within the classroom and employ evidence-based teaching strategies to challenge and extend their capabilities. We offer a range of learning pathways, including enrichment and extension programs as well as opportunities for acceleration.

We foster supportive classroom environments that promote a strong sense of belonging and encourage risk-taking, creativity, and collaboration. Groupings are flexible, students are empowered to take on leadership roles, and feedback focuses on strengths with clear goals and opportunities for self-assessment.

To ensure we effectively meet the diverse needs of all learners, including our high potential and gifted students, our teachers actively engage in ongoing professional learning and development.

Across our school

Every student is individual, so opportunities are flexible and diverse.

Enrichments sessions in Mathematics held weekly for identified students.
Critical and creative thinking is engaged through the Game Changer Challenge. Solving real life 'wicked' problems and showcasing them.
Students deepen strengths through debating, ICAS competitions, Public Speaking, STEM and coding through Library lessons and chess club held weekly.
Talent is celebrated through school musicals and showcases such as BBPS Got Talent, Sutherland Shire Music Festival preparations, drama, visual arts, African drumming, keyboard and ukulele, choir, Ukulele Group, and dance groups, supported by student roles in tech and crew.
Leadership grows through SRC, Library monitors, Environmental monitors, Tech team, mentoring and peer coaching, and wellbeing is made visible with Playground Pals in the playground each day to support students.
Sport matters too, with PSSA sport, training, coaching and gala days that include differentiated in various sports such as NRL League Tag, Rugby League, Soccer and Cricket.

Statewide

Our students participate in a wide range of statewide programs to extend and enrich student potential.

Students participate in opportunities such as DoE Game Changer Challenge, Maths Olympiad, Better Read Writing competition, Patrick White Indigenous Writing Competition, Premier’s Spelling Bee, Premier’s Public Speaking, and NAIDOC poetry.
Statewide and NSW Department of Education support is available for high potential and gifted students, and we help with entries, preparation and reflection so every experience feeds back into learning.