High potential and gifted education

The ethos at Epping Boys has always been to offer the boys a broad education. The pursuit of academic rigor in the classroom, creativity in the arts, high performing sporting teams and the development of character through charity work, mentoring and leadership programs. The Department of Education Policy on HPGE segments our educational philosophy into FOUR domains: Intellectual, Physical, Social-Emotional and Creative.

The Intellectual Domain

Students must attempt the Higher Ability Selection Test (HAST) operated by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in Year 6 to gain entry to the TWO HPGE Year 7 classes. Selection is based on student performance in the HAST.

There are two designated HPGE classes in Year 7 and 8. In 2026, Year 9 will also operate on the same differentiation principles outlined in HPGE. HPGE students learn quickly, think conceptually, have advanced vocabulary, and understand how certain issues are related.  Big ideas are explored, and provocative questions asked. Teaching and learning is different in HPGE classes. Assessment tasks and classroom learning are differentiated from mainstream classes. To suit the learning needs of our boys the school has developed a hybrid model utilising the most appropriate concepts found in the Williams and Maker Models, combined with components of the Department of Education’s HPGE model.

Outside of the classroom our debating teams have been very successful. We are the current holders of the Neil Anderson Shield, having successfully competed with the Arden Anglican School, Cheltenham Girls and Carlingford High School.

National academic competitions and clubs are an integral part of HPGE: the National Geography Competition, the National Mathematics Competition, the Chess Club, the Art and Drama Club and Panorama (the school magazine).

The Creative Domain

The Creative and Performing Arts are fundamental to the spirit of Epping Boys. Exposure to, and an appreciation of, the Arts is a key component of our school and any civil society.

In 2026 the school, in partnership with Riverside and Cheltenham Girls, is performing Gilbert and Sullivan’s the Pirates of Penzance. There has been a renewed interest in Drama classes in both middle and senior school.

The school provides musical opportunities in orchestra, string ensembles, concert bands, choir and jazz bands. Some of the 2025 highlights include: the Concert Band and String Ensemble performance in Wellington, New Zealand on Anzac Day, Senior Percussion Ensemble 1^st place in the Sydney Eisteddfod and the NSW Percussion Eisteddfod, the Concert Band attained a gold medal for their performance at the Australian Orchestra and Band Festival in 2025.

Socio-Cultural Domain

The development of character is a key function of education at Epping Boys. The purpose is to teach the boys to look beyond themselves and develop civic duty.

The school is involved with several charities and community organisations: Movember (mens health), the World’s Greatest Shave (the Leukemia Foundation), Pink Stumps (breast cancer), Loaves and Fishes, Coast Shelter, the Push-Up Challenge, (youth mental health), Student Wellbeing Action Team.

Leadership is also developed through Duke of Ed (12 Gold levels in 2025), mentor programs, Student Representative Council, Sport and House Captains and the Prefect Body.

The Physical Domain

High performance sport has always played an important role at Epping Boys. We offer a wide variety of sports: cricket, football, rugby, volleyball, water polo, basketball. Some highlights of 2025 include Sydney North Bill Turner Cup champions, Sydney North Under 15 Water Polo champions, Semi-finals Sydney North Opens Volleyball, Semi-finals Sydney North Opens Cricket.

The following boys achieved success in competitions outside of the school: Evan J – Australian Badminton team, Ryan R – Baseball Under 16 Australian team, Christian L – Baseball Under 18 Australian team, Nicholas P – Australian Judo Champion and Tommy Z – Australian Junior Fencing Champion