High potential and gifted education (HPGE)

Quest Program (Academic Talent)

Applications for QUEST Year 7 2026:

Applications for QUEST in Year 7 2026 have now closed. However we are committed to supporting your students learning at Arthur Phillip High School.  Please email the school any relevant information supporting your child’s nomination as High Potential and Gifted and we will ensure your child is connected with relevant talent development opportunities.

Applications for QUEST Year 7 2027:

Further information about QUEST Year 7 2027 will be provided at information night in early 2026.

Elite Athlete Program

In 2026 Arthur Phillip High School is offering an Elite Athlete Program for the first time.  Students who have a physical talent in one or more sports will be offered the chance to trial for a selective elite athlete program. These students will be grouped together for PE and Sport and participate in tailored athlete talent development programs.

In our classroom

Our students engage with HPGE in the classroom, in our school and across NSW.

Every classroom at Arthur Phillip High School is one where students will be challenged and developed to reach their full potential.  Our expert educators use a variety of strategies to continuously assess student learning and offer meaningful learning experiences that engage all learners, including high potential and gifted learners.

In addition our QUEST classes are dedicated environments with high challenge to support our most able learners to continuously improve and develop their talents.  Our expert teachers differentiate learning to support these students who may be operating above stage expectations in one or more key learning areas.  Students are expected to complete more sophisticated and in depth learning as part of the curriculum offering.

Across our school

Across the school we provide numerous opportunities across all four domains of potential for students to grow and develop their talents.  These include:

• Opportunities to lead and influence through our exceptional SRC and school leadership programs.  Our school leaders influence the running of the school and coordination of major events at the school including but not limited to ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day, Multicultural Day and NAIDOC week.  Some students additionally contribute as homebase monitors, leading others to uphold high standards of presentation of school facilities.
• Our elite athlete program provides embedded and systematic talent development of talented athletes from the beginning to the end of their school journey at the school.  Students work on tailored athlete development programs as part of the PDHPE curriculum classes as well as before school.
• Students with talent in the creative domain are provided with numerous high quality opportunities in the Creative and Performing Arts.  For example,in Performing Arts  we provide opportunities for students to audition for a place in the choir, gifted & talented band and concert band. Talented artists are supported through participation in artist residencies as well as opportunities to participate in local exhibitions.
• A challenging curriculum available throughout the entire student journey.  The school offers QUEST classes through Stage 4 and 5 as well as a large array of challenging school developed electives in Stage 5.  These include Digital Modelling & Fabrication, Game On, Medical Science, Law and Order and iSTEM as well as traditional board developed courses.  We have also recently begun offering accelerated Business Studies in Stage 5, allowing our most able students to finish 2 units of their HSC earlier in order to be able to dedicate more of their HSC time to extension subjects.
• In Stage 6 the school has consistently offered more challenging HSC courses which are very interesting and engaging for HPGE students, these include Extension English, Extension Mathematics, Extension, Science and Extension History amongst many other regular HSC subjects. As a large school we have the capacity to offer a broader curriculum offering than is usually possible.

Across NSW

Our school is well networked with the rest of the NSW Education system and we participate in numerous state wide opportunities to enhance learning:

• Opportunities to represent the school on official bodies such as Parramatta Council advisory groups and the ministerial student council DOVES.
• Students are encouraged to participate in many competitions, such as KLA specific competitions as well as the ICAS examinations where students compete against students across NSW.
• Talented athletes are funneled through the zone pathway to compete in regional and state carnivals and knockout competitions in the sports in which they are talented.
• The school is well networked in the local community with students at times participating in collaborative learning initiatives with Western Sydney University and the Powerhouse Museum amongst others.