High potential and gifted education (HPGE)
At Callaghan Wallsend Campus, we see every student as filled with potential. Some excel in academic thinking, others shine through creativity, leadership, empathy, or physical ability.
Why choose us for your high potential or gifted child?
We believe potential exists in every student - it simply needs the right environment to emerge. Our responsibility is to recognise these sparks early, nurture them with care, and provide the right balance of challenge and encouragement so that every child can flourish.
Our High Potential & Gifted Education (HPGE) programs are guided by the NSW Department of Education’s HPGE Policy and grounded in the evidence-based practices outlined in What Works Best. This ensures our approach is clear, inclusive, and effective, combining explicit teaching, active learning, and high expectations to create classrooms where students feel supported, challenged, and inspired to achieve their personal best.
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.
Are you interested in our 2027 Year 7 HPGE Programs? Follow the links below to find out more and to apply.
HPGE Aspire Program Year 7 2027
The Aspire Program at Callaghan College Wallsend Campus
enables high potential and gifted students to shine in a stimulating and supportive high school environment. The aim of the program is to move students with high potential to high performance.
HPGE CAPA Program Year 7 2027
The Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) Program at Callaghan College Wallsend Campus is designed to support the learning of HPGE students in the Creative Domain. It gives students the opportunity to work with like-minded students in variety of creative and engaging lessons.
In our classroom
At the heart of our approach is high expectations. We believe every student can achieve more when they are both supported and challenged. By providing high challenge learning techniques alongside strong support, we foster resilience, persistence, and a love of learning.
Teaching for growth
We believe great teaching unlocks potential. Through explicit teaching, our teachers make learning clear and structured, while also knowing when to step back and give students the freedom to experiment, take risks, and extend themselves. This balance ensures that students build strong foundations and grow in independence.
Active classrooms
Active learning is central to our classrooms. Students collaborate, explore ideas through project-based learning, and share insights via peer feedback. These approaches encourage deep engagement, problem-solving, and leadership, equipping students with skills that extend well beyond the classroom.
Compacting and acceleration
For students who demonstrate mastery, we provide pathways that keep them motivated and challenged. Curriculum compacting reduces repetition and creates opportunities for enrichment, while subject acceleration can allow advanced students to begin Stage 5 and 6 courses earlier.
HPGE Aspire Program
Our HPGE Aspire Program is designed for students who have advanced learning capacity for their age. Students in our Aspire Program receive targeted, specialised programs designed to accelerate their learning, including extension work within class and compacted curriculum.
HPGE CAPA Program
The HPGE CAPA Program runs from the start of Year 7 until the end of Year 8. In Term 2, Year 7 CAPA students participate in a specialised CAPA Project where they focus on their chosen discipline. Students work collaboratively with peers and challenge their skills through the creation of a performance or artwork.
Across our school
HPGE at Callaghan College Wallsend Campus is shaped around four domains: Intellectual, Creative, Social–Emotional, and Physical. Each domain is equally valued, ensuring every student’s strengths are recognised and nurtured.
Intellectual domain
In the Intellectual Domain, we extend students who show advanced problem-solving, rapid understanding, and a passion for deep learning. Through opportunities such as curriculum compacting, subject acceleration, and a variety of extra-curricular opportunities, competitions and excursions, students are empowered to think critically and independently. These pathways prepare them for Callaghan Jesmond Senior Campus, which offers bespoke academic subjects such as Extension English, Extension Mathematics, Sciences, and advanced STEM electives, providing continuity and challenge at senior level.
Creative domain
The Creative domain celebrates imagination and innovation across all learning areas. Students engage in creative writing anthologies, poetry slams, robotics, entrepreneurial projects, media design, and cross-disciplinary inquiry. These experiences encourage bold thinking and the ability to bring new ideas to life. At Callaghan Jesmond Senior Campus, students can pursue creativity through subjects such as Visual Arts, Music, Drama, Media Studies, Design & Technology, and Industry & Innovation electives, ensuring talent is nurtured and extended.
Social-emotional domain
Through the Social–Emotional domain, we foster leadership, empathy, communication, and resilience. Programs such as the student leadership team, peer support, sports committee, captains and wellbeing workshops give students the chance to connect, collaborate, and grow as leaders. These skills are further strengthened at Callaghan Jesmond Senior Campus, where students extend their social-emotional learning through leadership programs, community engagement projects, peer mentoring, and senior Social Sciences courses such as Modern History, Legal Studies, Studies of Religion and Society & Culture.
Physical domain
The Physical domain provides opportunities for students with athletic and physical talent to develop discipline, persistence, and teamwork. Dance, Hunter representative and Inter-college sport, VET Sports Coaching, PASS electives and lunchtime competitions extend students capabilities while maintaining balance between academics and performance. At Callaghan Jesmond Senior Campus, pathways in PDHPE, Sport, Lifestyle & Recreation, Dance, and VET Sport Coaching continue to develop physical excellence alongside academic achievement.
Opportunities across NSW
The Premier’s Debating Challenge helps our students to build logical arguments and confidence in public speaking.
STEM Enrichment Partnerships with industry and University of Newcastle deepen our students’ intellectual curiosity while developing innovation and collaboration.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge encouraging a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature.
The Schools Spectacular: An iconic performing arts event that celebrates the talents, diversity and creativity of students from across NSW public schools.
The Representative School Sport Pathway and CHSSA events: enable our students to trial and compete in sports at regional, state and national levels, fostering discipline, commitment and collaboration.
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.