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.

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.
Tasks that promote choice, authenticity, and critical and creative thinking including cross-curricular projects
Differentiated movement tasks and skill refinement in PDHPE
Targeted literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional learning goals for every student
Supportive learning environments that enable exploration and self-assessment
Strengths-based feedback and goal setting
Opportunities for leadership within the classroom
Structured peer collaboration and reflection.
Safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance

Across our school

Student leadership program across different domains (cultural, environmental, community and sport)
Leadership workshops
Debating competitions such as the NSW Premier's Debating Challenge
Garden Ambassador program within our permaculture garden
Junior and Senior Choir, including the Wollongong Schools Choral Festival
Creative writing enrichment program, including entry into the annual WriteOn competition
Maths enrichment program
STEM enrichment programs, in collaboration with the Illawarra Academy of STEM Excellence (IASE)
Visual arts enrichment program, including entries into Operation Art
Specialist music program, in collaboration with the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music
Dance programs, including Southern Stars and Yanggaa Garaba dance ensembles
Critical thinking workshops
Annual end-of-year whole school Tarrawanna Dance Spectacular
Sport squads
House competitions
Peer mentoring
Extensive, research-informed wellbeing programs
Participation in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives

Across NSW

The Premier’s Spelling Bee promotes our students’ vocabulary development and attention to detail in competitive settings.

The Premier’s Debating Challenge helps our students to build logical arguments and confidence in public speaking.
Operation Art is a major NSW initiative showcasing K-10 student artworks across NSW galleries, with 50 selected pieces gifted to the Children's Hospital to brighten patient spaces, fostering healing through creativity
Our STEM enrichment partnership with the Illawarra Academy of STEM Excellence (IASE) at Corrimal High School deepens our students’ intellectual curiosity while developing innovation and collaboration.
The TCS Sydney Marathon goIT Challenge is a STEM competition run by industry partners and NSW Department of Education to design the future of running using tech like AI, apps, and IoT for sustainability and innovation
Southern Stars is an iconic performing arts event that celebrates the talents, diversity and creativity of students from across NSW public schools.
The Premier’s Sporting Challenge (PSC) promotes whole-school participation in physical activity with leadership pathways and professional learning.

Primary School Sports Association events enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.

The Wollongong Schools Choral Festival is an annual event showcasing primary school choirs from the Wollongong/Illawarra area, providing a supportive platform for students to perform, develop their musical skills, and experience choral singing as an art form.