Principal's Report

Happy Holidays

The last day of school for Term 1 is Friday 11 April, marking the start of a two-week school holiday period between Monday 14 April to Friday 25 April.  We wish all our families and students an enjoyable school holiday.  Please be reminded when we return to school for Term 2, the weather has usually cooled off and school uniform jumpers will be needed.  We thank you for your support in ensuring the warmer layers being worn to school do not include clothing that is out of uniform.

School returns for all students in Term 2 on Wednesday 30 April.  Staff have two days of professional learning with our School Development Days (SDDs) on Monday 28 April and Tuesday 29 April, which are both pupil-free days.  The professional learning focus for our SDD is High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE), where staff will focus on developing their skills, knowledge and capacity in HPGE.  The school offices will be open on these pupil-free days.

High Potential and Gifted Education

Newcastle High School (NHS) has a set of guiding principles that drives our High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) approach, which includes:

• All students, regardless of background or personal circumstances, have access to learning programs that meet their learning needs and support to aspire to, and achieve, personal excellence.
• Our commitment to high expectations for all students includes high potential and gifted students.
• Achieving excellence for high potential and gifted students is underpinned by our effective school environment, including quality teaching, learning and leadership.
• Potential exists along a continuum, where differing degrees of potential require differing approaches and levels of adjustment and intervention.

HPGE Definitions

High potential students: High potential students are those whose potential exceeds that of students of the same age in one or more domains. Their potential may be assessed as beyond the average range across any domain. They may benefit from an enriched or extended curriculum and learning opportunities beyond the typical level of students the same age.

Gifted students: Gifted students’ potential significantly exceeds that of students of the same age in one or more domains. Gagné and others commonly estimate 10% of students may be considered gifted. These students typically develop talent and achieve mastery notably faster than their age peers. They may benefit from an extended curriculum and learning opportunities significantly beyond the typical level of students the same age.

Highly gifted students: Highly gifted students’ potential vastly exceeds that of students of the same age in one or more domains. Highly gifted students have potential assessed in the top 1% or less of age peers. Highly gifted students may require specific and more significant curriculum adjustments to meet their learning and wellbeing needs.

NHS has a multitude of talent development and identification programs for HPGE students including, as represented in the visual below:

1. Y7-Y8 SAIL Program
2. Y7 Passion Projects
3. Y8 Passion Electives
4. Streaming from Y9 based on all high potential domains
5. Comprehensive data analysis tools to identify and foster growth in high performance fields of talent
6. Comprehensive access to a wide variety of programs and talent development initiatives that support the HPGE environment of our school
7. Access to a broad Stage 6 curriculum

ANZAC Day

During the school holidays, ANZAC Day will be held, where we will remember them.  Newcastle High School students will represent our community at several commemorative services; the Long Tan Village ANZAC Day Service on Wednesday 23 April 2025 and the ANZAC Day Dawn Service held at the Gregson Park, Hamilton on Friday 25 April.

Community members and students are encouraged to join us at the Hamilton Dawn Service.  As a school, we will hold our annual school ANZAC Assembly in Week 1 of Term 2. A full list of NSW community ANZAC events can be found here:

https://rslnsw.org.au/commemorations-ceremonies-and-events-portal/anzac-day-2025-events/