There is professional learning available to support leaders and teachers to implement the High Potential and Gifted Education Policy.

All schools serve high potential and gifted students and have a responsibility to implement 5 key actions to support talent development across all domains of potential. These actions offer a framework to support policy implementation.

1. Evaluate school procedures, programs and practices, and analyse student growth and achievement data to inform your school planning and policy implementation.
2. Assess and identify the specific learning needs of all your high potential, gifted and highly gifted students.
3. Implement evidence-based procedures, programs and practices that meet the learning and wellbeing needs of all high potential and gifted students and facilitate talent development.
4. Collaborate with families, your school community and the wider community to enhance growth and achievement for all of your high potential and gifted students.
5. Build teacher and leadership capacity through engagement with quality research and ongoing professional learning on effective practices to improve growth and achievement for all high potential and gifted students in your school.

Evaluating progress

Analysing your student achievement data helps your school to identify areas of strength and target areas for growth and improvement in programs, practices and procedures. It can also help you identify students who may benefit from extension and additional challenge. Your school should consider data relating to student:

• growth and achievement
• engagement and wellbeing.

Estimates of the percentage of significantly underachieving high potential and gifted students range from 10% (Wills & Munro, 2001) to 40% (Seeley, 1993), with some individual studies showing levels of underachievement as high as 57% (Peterson & Colangelo, 1996).

• Recognising and addressing student underachievement
• Social and emotional development and learning.

Reflective questions

• How effective is our school in assessing and identifying the needs of high potential and gifted students from diverse backgrounds across all domains of potential?
• What are our school’s practices, programs and procedures for providing additional challenge and extension across domains for all our high potential and gifted students?
• In what ways does supporting research and evidence guide decision-making in our school for high potential and gifted students?
• How effectively does our professional learning plan support our leaders and teachers to effectively implement the HPGE Policy?
• How frequently and effectively are explicit, evidence-based teaching strategies used in our school to support high potential and gifted students?