High Potential and Gifted Education at Surveyors Creek Public School
At Surveyors Creek Public School, we are committed to supporting every student and addressing their diverse learning needs. We offer a range of programs and initiatives designed to enrich and challenge our high potential and gifted (HPG) students. Our approach is guided by the principles outlined in the NSW Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education Policy, which emphasises:
Every student, regardless of background or personal circumstances, deserves access to learning programs that meet their individual needs and encourage them to aspire to and achieve personal excellence.
We uphold high expectations for all students, including those who are high potential and gifted.
Excellence for high potential and gifted students is fostered through supportive school environments, quality teaching, leadership, and effective learning practices.
Potential exists on a continuum, with different levels of potential requiring tailored approaches, adjustments, and interventions to effectively support each student.
It recognises high potential students across four key domains—intellectual, creative, social-emotional, and physical—expanding the scope of previously targeted groups.
Domains of Potential
The four domains represent broad categories of natural abilities, relevant for all students, including those who are high potential and gifted. These domains often overlap and influence one another:
Intellectual Domain: Natural strengths in processing information, understanding complex ideas, reasoning, and applying learning across contexts.
Creative Domain: Natural talents in imagination, originality, invention, and innovative thinking.
Social-Emotional Domain: Natural abilities in self-management, emotional awareness, and building positive relationships with others.
Physical Domain: Natural capabilities in motor skills, coordination, and muscular movement.
Recognising that potential exists along a continuum, we adapt our teaching and support to meet the varying needs of our students, ensuring that each learner receives the appropriate adjustments and opportunities to thrive.
Why choose us for your high potential or gifted child?
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.
At our school, Stage 3 students have the opportunity to participate in the Tournament of the Minds (TOM) competition each year. TOM is a nationwide program that challenges students to solve complex, open-ended problems in the areas of STEM, the Arts, Social Sciences, and Language Literature.
As part of our High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) program, TOM is offered as an extracurricular activity to extend students’ creative and critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Students work collaboratively over several weeks to develop innovative solutions and present their ideas to a panel of judges.
This enriching experience encourages persistence, collaboration, and innovation, and provides our students with an exciting opportunity to showcase their talents while representing our school community.
In our classroom
At Surveyors Creek Public School, we recognise that high potential exists in many forms across all learners. Our approach to HPGE is embedded in everyday teaching and learning, guided by a strong focus on formative assessment, evidence-based practices, and effective differentiation to meet the unique needs of every student.
Formative Assessment Tools Teachers consistently use diagnostic assessments, observation checklists, and student self-assessments to identify strengths and areas for development across various domains. This timely data guides lesson planning and differentiation, supporting ongoing student growth and engagement.
Differentiated Learning Tasks and Flexible Grouping Learning activities are crafted with varying levels of complexity, allowing students to work independently, in pairs, or in flexible groups based on their interests or abilities. This approach ensures appropriate challenge, while promoting collaboration, leadership, motivation, and social skills.
High Expectations Within Lesson Planning Teachers communicate clear, high expectations by designing learning objectives that encourage higher-order thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. Students are motivated to set personal goals and reflect on their progress, fostering a growth mindset, resilience, and self-confidence, which contributes to deeper learning and higher achievement.
Our practices align with the NSW Department of Education’s HPGE policy, which emphasises the importance of nurturing potential across four essential domains:
Creative Domain: Encouraging students to develop original ideas and express themselves through creative thinking, problem-solving, and artistic pursuits.
Intellectual (Cognitive) Domain: Providing challenging learning experiences that foster advanced thinking, deep inquiry, and intellectual growth.
Physical Domain: Supporting physical development and wellbeing through activities that enhance coordination, health, and physical skills.
Social-Emotional Domain: Promoting emotional resilience, self-awareness, and positive social interactions to support the overall wellbeing of gifted learners.
Across our school
Every student is individual, so opportunities are flexible and diverse.
Students deepen strengths through debating, public speaking competitions, Sporting programs, STEM and coding pathways through extracurricular groups such as Robotics.
Talent is celebrated through showcases such as the , Synergy Festival, Blue Mountains and Nepean Dance Festival, Sydney West sporting selection, Nepean Shield gala days.
Leadership grows through SRC, School Leaders: Captains, Prefects, House Captains, technology monitors, office monitors, library monitors. We also offer a mentoring 'Buddy' system with our kindergarten and stage 3 students.
Our students have opportunities to participate in a variety of physical activities and competitions, including school carnivals with pathways to higher-level representation, Gala Day teams, State specialised sports clinics and Sydney West trials.
Across NSW
We actively participate in statewide competitions and activities, providing our students with valuable opportunities to challenge themselves and perform at their best. Through this collaborative and enriched approach, we ensure every student’s unique talents are recognised, developed, and celebrated.
Here are some of the opportunities available to support the talent development of students at Surveyors Creek Public School:
Mathematical Olympiads
Premier's Reading Challenge
Premier's Sporting Challenge
Tournament of the Minds
Debating Challenge
Penrith Valley Public Speaking Competition
Representative School Sport Pathway and PSSA events
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.
Find out about our approach to learning and supporting students to progress
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High Potential and Gifted Education
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At our school, we recognise that some students learn more quickly or shine in areas such as creativity, leadership, or sport, and we nurture these strengths through tailored lessons and activities that help advanced learners grow and thrive.
