High potential and gifted education

At Claremont Meadows Public School, all staff have a shared vision of identifying, planning and guiding students to grow their potential across the HPGE domains. This is evident in teacher’s daily practice throughout all classrooms.

• Teachers engage in continual professional development focused on meeting the varied needs of all learners, including those who are gifted or have high potential.
• The classroom atmosphere nurtures a welcoming community where students feel safe to experiment, express creativity, gain confidence, work collaboratively, and build resilience through an overall sense of belonging.
• Teachers prioritise lesson design when programming to ensure explicit teaching and differentiation in tasks, such as providing appropriate challenges, modifying the pace, complexity, and nature of activities to extend student learning.
• Individual student needs are assessed, and evidence-based instructional methods are applied and adapted in both pace and complexity to suit learners' requirements.
• Ongoing formative assessment guides the monitoring of student progress and allows for flexible grouping aligned with their learning growth.
• A range of enrichment and extension options are available to support diverse learning pathways.
• The integration of technology and digital tools is embedded across all curriculum areas in all classrooms to enhance inquiry and innovation.
• Students are given meaningful opportunities to develop and demonstrate leadership skills within the classroom.
• Individual learning goals are established through a strengths-based approach and students receive authentic feedback that highlights future directions, tailored to their specific learning profiles.
• Learning experiences are created to encourage student choice, real-world relevance, and foster higher-order thinking skills such as creativity and critical analysis.

At Claremont Meadows Public School, we provide a wide range of programs throughout the school to support students in finding their potential and developing their talents. Through these programs, students often enhance current abilities and develop additional skills while also forming new friendships and discovering new passions.

• Choir – a creative school-based opportunity which then branches out into performance choirs for School Spectacular, Limelight and other potential community events.
• Dance – a creative school-based opportunity which then branches out into performance events such as Synergy, Blue Mountains/Nepean Dance Festival, Pulse Alive, Kingswood High School Collective, State Dance etc.
• Debating and Public Speaking competitions (including the Multicultural Perspectives and Penrith Valley) as well as the Spelling Bee competition
• ICAS academic competitions for English, Writing, Mathematics, Science and Digital Technologies
• School sport, athletics and inter-school competitions and gala days for sports such as Netball, Soccer and League Tag
• Competitive and recreational carnivals for Swimming, Athletics and Cross Country opportunities
• Specialist sporting clinics such as Gymnastics and Cricket
• Inclusive education sporting competitions such as Boccia
• Student leadership opportunities through our Captains, Prefects, Student Representative Council, Sport House Captains and Library Monitors
• Student mentoring opportunities through our Buddy Program and Koomurri/Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs
• Wellbeing programs such as The Anxiety Project, Chaplaincy program and our PBL (Positive Behaviour for Learning) focus
• Project based learning opportunities and open-ended homework tasks
• Science enrichment groups including STEM/Robotics and science competitions promoted through school displays
• Design competitions including the Anzac art competition and Prue Car Christmas card competition
• Excursions and incursions linked to key learning areas

At Claremont Meadows Public School, we regularly opt in to opportunities provided across NSW for our students to represent the school at these higher levels and collaborate with students from other contexts. This exposure further supports their academic success and personal growth within the NSW education system, celebrating 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 additional pathways and programs available to our students.
• The Representative School Sport Pathway events enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.
• The Premier’s Reading Challenge promotes whole school participation and aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature.

Other opportunities listed at an inclusive classroom/school level have the potential for students to also showcase their skills and talents at higher levels including;

• Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition for Stage 2 and Stage 3
• Premier’s Spelling Bee for Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3
• Schools Spectacular Combined Choir and Dance ensembles
• Pulse Alive Festival
• NSW Public Schools State Dance Festival