High potential and gifted education (HPGE)
Some students learn faster and more easily than others. These students may shine in creativity, thinking, leadership or sport.
At our school, we recognise and nurture these strengths early. We support advanced learners with great lessons and activities to help them grow and thrive.
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
Our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.
- Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher-order thinking.
- Advanced learning pathways, including accelerated or compacted content.
- Explicit teaching of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies.
- Tasks that promote choice, authenticity, and critical and creative thinking including cross-curricular projects.
- Supportive learning environments that enable exploration and self-assessment.
- Strengths-based feedback and goal setting.
- Opportunities for leadership within the classroom.
- Safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance.
- Debating
- STEM and coding clubs
- School Band
- Choir
- Dance
- Visual arts and drama showcases
- Creative writing groups
- Sporting opportunities - PSSA
- House competitions
- Peer mentoring
- Student leadership (SRC)
- Participation in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives.
- Gardening Club
- Film by the Eucalypts
- Operation Art
- Empowering Ellison Project
- Spelling Bee
- Tournament of the Minds
- Paul Kelly Cup
- The Premier’s Spelling Bee promotes our students’ vocabulary development and attention to detail in competitive settings.
- Participation in drama ensembles promotes character exploration, storytelling and expressive freedom.
- Participation in music ensembles hones our students’ musical skills, discipline and ensemble awareness.
- The Premier’s Sporting Challenge (PSC) promotes whole-school participation in physical activity with leadership pathways and professional learning.
- The Representative School Sport Pathway and PSSA and CHSSA events enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.
Tournament of the Minds
In 2024 our students made it to the Regional finals of Tournament of the Minds at the University of NSW. Making the regional finals was a result of the team winning first place at the STEM challenge local level competition, which was a fantastic achievement in itself.
Ten schools competed, for only two award, a first place and Honours.
Ellison won the Honours Award!! An absolutely incredible achievement!!
Special thanks to Mrs Hobbs who spent many of her lunch times and two weekends with the team to provide this opportunity.
Empowering Ellison
In Term 2, we launched ‘Empowering Ellison’ in our ongoing commitment to delivering a broad range of learning experiences to our students, and our dedication to High Potential and Gifted Education. Empowering Ellison is a school wide initiative that provides opportunities for students to engage in a range of activities that are aligned to the four domains of high potential and gifted education.
Every Thursday afternoon, students were involved in their chosen activity for the duration of the term. The students chose their activities and were very excited.
Examples of activities delivered were: film making, languages, cooking, debating, fitness and agility training, coding and sustainability studies, just to name a few. Empowering Ellison ran for Terms 2 and 3 this year.
Dance
Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 participated in three dance groups across the school. Mrs Hobbs led the K–2 group, Mrs Mackay choreographed and led the Stage 2 group, and the Stage 3 Senior Dance group was guided by Mrs Page, Mrs Galbraith, and Ms Robinson.
These groups actively performed within the school and all three also successfully auditioned for and performed at the Blue Mountains Nepean Dance Festival—an outstanding achievement and a true highlight of the year.
These talented groups showcased their skills at various school events, including the Education Week Open Day Concert and our end-of-year celebrations. Opportunities like these wouldn’t be possible without the passion and commitment of our staff.
All students showed dedication during weekly rehearsals and performance - you should be incredibly proud of what you’ve accomplished.
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