High Potential and Gifted Education

At Marsden High School, students are expected, and supported, to perform to their full potential. They are provided with explicit teaching and differentiated learning experiences to enable them to perform at their best. At the same time every student is expected to apply diligence and sustained effort to their studies, and to do their best to maximise their results.

It is a well established fact that students with high intellectual potential are typically at risk of underperformance if they are not challenged to achieve. In simple terms this means they need an environment in which they are challenged to work at a more complex level; at a faster pace; at a greater intensity; and with potentially greater volume of work than is typically expected of their age-peers.

Specialised curriculum provision for high potential and gifted students addresses their specific learning needs such as:

• A faster pace

• Processing more complex information and use of higher order thinking

• Opportunities to engage in learning with students of the same or higher ability

• Opportunities to undertake challenging work which enables them to develop strategies for persevering with difficult problems.

• The Pinnacle program for years 7  and 8
• The Horizon program for years 9 and 10
• Mathematics Accelerated elective in years 9 and 10
• Science Accelerated elective in years 9 and 10
• Extension courses in years 11 and 12

For highly gifted students, curriculum compacting, mentoring and acceleration may be implemented in certain circumstances.

Whole school high potential and gifted opportunities 

Marsden High School also offers a range of whole school high potential and gifted opportunities, in addition to the programs listed above. We implement evidence-based programs, practices and procedures so that high potential and gifted students’ specific learning needs are identified and catered for.

The school staff includes a range of specialist teachers, including music, drama and languages teachers, to cater for high potential and gifted students across a range of domains.

The collaborative planning process enables the creation of differentiated learning programs which support the needs of HPG students. There is a strong focus across the school on promoting creative and critical thinking and rich and open-ended tasks, through the widespread use of project-based learning.

Intellectual Domain

English

• Author talks

• Book week

• Debating competitions

• Public Speaking competitions including the Legacy Junior Speaking Award 

• Riverside Theatre excursions

• ICAS English tests

• Essay writing workshops

Maths Enrichment

• Maths Olympiad

• Accelerated Maths program

HSIE

• Environment team

• Australian Geography Competition

• National History Challenge

• History Teachers’s Association: Mastermind

• UN Youth Evatt Competition

• Rotary’s Model UN

• Mock Trial 

• Refugee Camp in my Neighbourhood excursion

• Stock market competition

Science

• Partnerships with NSW Light Rail

• Big Science competition

• ICAS Science competition

• ANSTO Tour

• National Crystal Competition RACI

• Scinapse

• Space Design thinking competition

Support Unit

• International Day of People with DIsability

• Travel training

General

• Ethics Olympiad

• Tournament of Minds

• Duke of Edinburgh

Create & Physical Domains

Dance

• Dance workshops 

• Synergy Dance Festival 

Drama

• School plays/musicals

• Pulse

• Opportunities to be part of the hall technician crew

Music

• Band program

• Strings program

Visual Arts

• Sustainable Waste 2 Art Prize

TAS

• 3-D printing

• Robotics team

• Catering team

Sport

• District/Regional carnivals

• Sporting workshops

• Girls in Sport program