High potential and gifted education
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
We foster a culture of high expectations and equity in excellence, ensuring every student, regardless of background, has opportunities to develop their potential into talent.
Tailored lessons
We identify students' learning needs in the classroom and use evidence-informed teaching practices to challenge and extend students. We provide learning pathways, including enrichment and extension programs and acceleration.
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
We provide access to local, state and national competitions and events to help students explore and extend their talents.
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.
We are committed to recognising and nurturing high potential and gifted students, ensuring every student has the opportunity to thrive at our school. We do this in the classroom through:
- Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher-order thinking.
- Formative assessment to monitor growth and adapt learning.
- Supportive learning environments that enable exploration and self-assessment.
- Safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance.
Our school recognises that every student is individual, and we provide flexible and diverse opportunities for students to explore and grow their strengths outside the classroom. We do this by offering students the opportunity to participate in the follow groups and activities:
- Debating
- Public Speaking
- String ensemble, guitar and ukulele club
- School Band
- School performance groups including singing, dancing and drama
- Enrichment groups for mathematics
- Media team and school communication
- Sports teams playing interschool sport
- Student leadership (SRC)
Statewide/NSW Department of Education level support is available for our high potential and gifted students. At Ferncourt, our students can access:
- 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.
- 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.
Academic Excellence
"We’re in Year 6 and we’ve really enjoyed all the subjects and learning opportunities at Ferncourt, but both of us especially love maths. The answers are definite, there are lots of different strategies to use, and it’s fun and easy to understand. When the teachers work with us, it’s always interactive and enjoyable—they show us different ways to solve problems, and if we don’t get it the first time, they help us find another way.
We’ve been part of the enrichment lessons, which are awesome for tackling advanced maths that really challenges our brains. We get to use the strategies from class to solve trickier questions, and it’s great because we all learn together and work as a team to figure things out.
The teachers here do everything they can to help us. They change the way they teach to make sure everyone understands, and they’re always willing to help. They give us what we need and always challenge us with new tasks, so we keep getting better."
Creative Arts Expertise
"I’m in Year 6, and performing music is so much fun and really exciting. Since I’ve been at this school, I’ve joined lots of groups like choir, violin group, concert band, training band, recorder group, festival of choral music and festival of instrumental music, and ukulele group. I don’t have a favourite, but I especially like concert band because the music is challenging, and I get to play lots of different instruments. I even got to go to state band camp, which was amazing!
My parents and teachers have always encouraged me to play instruments, and I really love it. While I don’t have just one favourite instrument, my top three are trombone, French horn, and clarinet.
If you love music, enjoy performing, and if you want to be part of something great, Ferncourt is an awesome school to be at!"
Abundant Sporting Opportunities
"I’m in Year 6 and I absolutely love playing sport. It’s an awesome way to express myself and be active outdoors. I really enjoy representing my culture, making new friends, and being part of a team.
At Ferncourt, I’ve played basketball, soccer, fencing, and Oz Tag. I’ve been lucky enough to represent the school at zone, regional, and even national levels in basketball. In touch football, I’ve been to the regional competition and represented the school three times. I’ve also played soccer at district level twice.
Basketball is my favourite sport because I’ve got a fire in my tummy to win, and I always have a great time when I’m playing well. It makes me really happy, and I love seeing myself improve.
The teachers here are great—they always keep me updated with chances to represent the school, teach me new skills, and help me get better at what I already know."
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.