High potential and gifted education

Schools for Specific Purposes (SSPs) offer unique learning environments that support high potential and gifted education for students.

Our staff have embraced HPGE through a shared lens for recognising potential in students with complex needs. We regularly enrol students who are ‘twice exceptional’ (students who are intellectually gifted and who have one or more learning disabilities such as dyslexia, ADHD, or are on the autism spectrum).

Bridge Road School also works closely with the mainstream school that our students remain enrolled in, communicating with the home school staff if students once settled in our setting, demonstrate potential in the various HPGE domains: creative, intellectual, physical and social-emotional.

Our school works with other SSPs to share our expertise and classroom resources for the benefit of all students. This includes a community of schools network involving the assistant principals curriculum and instruction (APCIs) across the ILSMH settings.

Our school works with the departments Digital Learning Advisor, and regularly sources STEM eT4L kits, and we use technology to provide different ways of learning that help students develop their talent, as a part of supporting their overall learning needs. For example, the school has a set of binoculars for a whole class, a telescope to locate birds high up in our forest, a set of digital microscopes that connect to iPads to investigate insects and invertebrates, and a metal detector to locate objects buried in our forest area.

We ensure our teachers have time to engage in professional learning to build their experience and ensure they can assess and recognise potential in the classroom and school setting.

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.

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

Our high potential and gifted education opportunities

At Bridge Road School, our students engage with HPGE education in the classroom, in our school, and across NSW.

In our classroom

At Bridge Road School, HPGE is part of everyday practice. We are committed to recognising and nurturing high potential and gifted students, ensuring every student has the opportunity to thrive at our school.

Learning tasks that promote choice, authenticity, and critical and creative thinking.
Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher order thinking.
Targeted learning goals and personalised learning with opportunities to focus on personal areas of interest and talent.

Across our school

Bridge Road School recongises that every student is individual and we provide flexible and diverse opportunities for students to explore and grow their strengths outside the classroom.

Whole-school incursion initiatives including community access, incursions and excursions.
STEM equipment that encourages the students to explore skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Across NSW

Bridge Road School students can participate in a wide range of state-wide programs that aim to extend and enrich student potential.