High potential and gifted education

At New Lambton Heights Infants School, we believe that potential begins in the early years and can emerge in many different ways. As a Kindergarten to Year 2 school, our core responsibility is to identify, nurture and challenge high potential across all domains, ensuring no doors to future learning are closed before they are even opened School Context & HPGE Commitment.

Our approach to High Potential and Gifted Education aligns with the NSW Department of Education’s HPGE Policy and reflects our belief that high potential is dynamic, developmental and highly individual, particularly in young learners. Through strong relationships, explicit teaching and deep knowledge of our students, we create learning environments where curiosity, confidence and capability can flourish.

We take a whole-child approach, recognising high potential across four interconnected domains:

Creative Domain
We foster imagination, innovation and expressive thinking through rich exposure to visual arts, music, dance, drama and creative problem-solving. Students are encouraged to take creative risks, explore ideas and share their thinking with authentic audiences.

Intellectual Domain
Strong foundations in literacy and numeracy are central to our work. Through explicit teaching and purposeful differentiation, students are supported to think deeply, reason, question and apply their learning in increasingly complex ways, with extension embedded within everyday classroom practice.

Physical Domain
We recognise that physical potential develops early. Through explicit teaching of fundamental movement skills, active play and access to sporting pathways, students build confidence, coordination and resilience while developing positive lifelong attitudes to health and wellbeing.

Social-Emotional Domain
As The Family School, we prioritise belonging, wellbeing and connection. We intentionally support students to develop leadership, collaboration, self-regulation and resilience, recognising these skills as essential foundations for future success.

At New Lambton Heights Infants School, high potential is nurtured through early identification, inclusive practices and strong partnerships with families and community. By getting it right in the early years, we ensure every child is supported to grow, thrive and realise their potential — in school and beyond.

Why choose us for your high potential or gifted child?

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.

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

At New Lambton Heights Infants School, high potential and gifted education is embedded within everyday classroom practice, enriched through whole-school opportunities, and extended through broader Department of Education pathways, where developmentally appropriate.

In our classroom

High potential is most often identified and nurtured through high-quality teaching and learning experiences in K–2. Our classroom practices include:

Explicit teaching with purposeful differentiation to adjust pace, depth and cognitive demand
Curriculum compacting for students who demonstrate early mastery, allowing time for deeper challenge
Use of open-ended tasks and rich problems to promote reasoning, creativity and flexible thinking
Formative assessment, teacher observation and student voice to identify emerging strengths
Flexible grouping to support collaboration, leadership and peer learning
Explicit teaching of inquiry, problem-solving and thinking strategies
Supportive learning environments that encourage confidence, curiosity and productive risk-taking

Across our school

We provide a range of whole-school opportunities that nurture potential across all four HPGE domains:

Targeted extension and enrichment groups embedded within literacy and numeracy
Inquiry projects with explicit modelling of research and presentation skills
Creative opportunities including visual arts, music, dance, drama and design challenges
Participation in arts festivals, performances and exhibitions
Physical skill development and performance challenges, including athletics and swimming pathways
Gardening and environmental learning projects
Student leadership opportunities through assemblies, buddy programs and peer mentoring
Wellbeing and social-emotional learning programs that build resilience and collaboration

Across NSW

Where appropriate, students are supported to access broader Department of Education opportunities, with explicit preparation and equitable access:

The Premier’s Spelling Bee to develop vocabulary, precision and confidence
Participation in public speaking and debating opportunities as skills emerge
Access to representative sporting pathways through PSSA events
Engagement with NSW Arts Unit initiatives, including Operation Art and performance opportunities
Participation in enrichment programs and competitions aligned to students’ strengths and readiness

At New Lambton Heights Infants School, our HPGE opportunities are intentionally designed to be inclusive, developmentally appropriate and responsive, ensuring that emerging potential is recognised early and nurtured with care — keeping every door to future success open.