High potential and gifted education (HPGE)
Certain students grasp concepts more quickly and effortlessly than their peers. These individuals often excel in areas such as creativity, critical thinking, leadership, or sport.
At Narrandera High School, we identify and cultivate these talents from an early stage. We provide advanced learners with enriching lessons and engaging activities designed to foster student development and success in a variety of domains.
Why choose us for your high potential or gifted child?
Recognising potential and developing talent.
Aspire classes operate in Years 8, 9 and 10.
Year 8
During Year 7, students are identified for potential placement in this class based on a comprehensive evaluation of their academic performance in external and internal assessments, alongside their attitude towards learning and active engagement in the educational process.
Year 9 and Year 10
Aspire classes are specialised, subject-specific courses offered in the core disciplines of English, Mathematics, Science, HSIE, and PDHPE. Selection for these classes is based on a comprehensive assessment of students' academic performance from the preceding year, drawing on both internal and external data sources. Furthermore, consideration is given to students’ attitudes towards learning, their initiative, and their active engagement in the educational process. These classes prioritise the development of skills and experiences essential for success in the Higher School Certificate (HSC).
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
- Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher-order thinking.
- Formative assessment to monitor growth and adapt learning.
- Explicit teaching of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies.
- Opportunities for abstraction, inquiry, and curriculum depth.
- Tasks that promote choice, authenticity, and critical and creative thinking.
- Flexible grouping for collaborative ideation and presentation.
- Differentiated movement tasks and skill refinement
- Opportunities to take on lead roles in physical demonstrations or team strategy.
- Supportive learning environments that enable exploration and self-assessment.
- Strengths-based feedback and goal setting.
- Structured peer collaboration and reflection.
- Safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance.
Across our school
- Cultural programs
- Academic competitions
- Critical thinking workshops
- Sporting teams
- House competitions
- Student leadership and SRC
- Wellbeing programs
- Participation in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives.
Across NSW
- 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.
- Participation in DOVES (The Minister’s Student Council) by providing forums for student opinions, ideas, feedback and concerns in regards to their education and schooling;
- Participation in STEM programs with locals schools, industry and universities, including Science and Engineering Challenges, deepen our students’ intellectual curiosity while developing innovation and collaboration.
- Participation in the da Vinci Decathlon - an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy.
Recognising potential and developing talent
Our teachers find potential and nurture our students to be the best they can be.
Tailored lessons
Teachers recognise that each student has unique abilities and respond by designing differentiated learning programs and providing experiences that extend and challenge students beyond their current level of mastery. This involves using assessment and data to identify specific learning needs, implementing evidence-informed approaches, and offering sustained, challenging, and purposeful enrichment, extension, and extra-curricular programs.
Rich opportunities and activities
At Narrandera High School, students are afforded extensive opportunities to engage in creative arts, agricultural programs, and sporting pursuits. Our Student Representative Council (SRC) and leadership teams maintain an active and meaningful involvement within the broader community. Furthermore, our agricultural and sporting teams have demonstrated sustained excellence, achieving distinguished success at the state level over an extended period.
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) refers to specialised educational programs and strategies designed to identify and support students who demonstrate exceptional ability or potential in one or more areas. These areas may include intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, or specific academic domains.
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.
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