The PEAC Program

PEAC Years 5 & 6

The PEAC program provides opportunities for talented students in Years 5 and 6 to:

  • socially interact with other gifted and talented children;
  • enjoy an intellectually rigorous and challenging program;
  • interact with practising experts;
  • develop higher order process skills and in-depth investigation skills;
  • work on open-ended activities which encourage choice and negotiation; and
  • undergo self/peer evaluation and reflection of performance.

Selection for PEAC is conducted in Year 4 and is based on results from a state-wide testing process.

More Information about Identification

Course Content

Courses for students are designed according to the interest of students. Their interests are regularly being surveyed and new courses developed, where possible, based on these findings. Some popular courses are repeated due to their demand and a balance across the curriculum is sought when determining the content of the courses.

Find out about our Courses

PEAC Rounds

PEAC Courses are offered in 3 rounds each year, running between 10 and 11 weeks each round. In their first round, Year 5 students complete the Introduction to PEAC (ITP) course and thereafter choose from all courses available. Year 6 students may choose from all courses available in all 3 rounds.

Course Selection

Enrolment is made via the Course Enrolment System on the PEAC website. Students are invited to select three or four courses of interest and will be allocated one of these preferences. With over 950 students participating across the North Metro region, we appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure every child is placed in one of our high-quality, engaging courses. 

Courses may only be completed once.

There are 6 rounds of courses over the 2 year program (including the initial ITP course) and students will have a chance to reapply for most courses, if not previously placed in this course.  All courses are designed to be engaging and to develop critical and creative thinking.

Course Placement

Each round of PEAC Courses over 950 students are sorted and placed into approximately 55 courses.

The primary goal of the sorting process is to place ALL students into one of their preferred courses.

The computer-based sorting program works through the students’ preferences to get all students placed into a course. We encourage students to be open and flexible to new learning opportunities, even if they are not placed into their preferred course.

Program Participation

Students learn alongside their intellectual peers at PEAC centres on a part time basis, usually one morning or afternoon each week during school hours. Limited online courses are also available for regional students and for metropolitan students unable to attend a PEAC centre.

The PEAC program is designed to offer students the opportunity for academic extension. While this proves to be advantageous for most of our students, we recognise that it is not always the best fit for all students.

As PEAC is an optional program, if a student breaches any of the requirements or acts in a way that prevents others from achieving the requirements of the course, action will be taken. Upon consultation with the parents and school administration, and after the participant has received guidance and instruction on how to comply, the participant may be removed from inclusion in the program, either temporarily or permanently.

All decisions regarding breaches and subsequent consequences will be made by the program coordinator. PEAC will continue to offer support in a way that better suits the student, for example, by assisting the student’s home school.

Student Portfolios

Students are encouraged to maintain a portfolio of work completed during the PEAC Program. The portfolio is provided to each student at the Introduction to PEAC course and they are expected to hand in the completed portfolio to the PEAC teacher at the beginning of each course. The portfolio serves the following purposes:

  • provides a record of the student’s PEAC career in Years 5 and 6 as it is updated at the end of each PEAC course;
  • provides an ongoing record of attendance, achievement and progress;
  • provides students with a document that they can share with parents, teachers and other interested parties;
  • useful to encourage dialogue about participation and performance in the PEAC program;
  • provides formal assessment and performance information in forms such as the Record of Course Achievement and course rubrics;
  • provides peer and self-reflection information; and
  • stores course certificates.

The PEAC Learning Journey

The curriculum rubrics for PEAC courses are designed around the Western Australian Curriculum General Capabilities of critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability and selected learning area content.

1. Critical and Creative Thinking

Critical & Creative Thinking Skills

Students develop capability in critical and creative thinking as they learn to generate and evaluate knowledge, clarify concepts and ideas, seek possibilities, consider alternatives and solve problems. Critical and creative thinking are integral to activities that require students to think broadly and deeply using skills, behaviours and dispositions such as reason, logic, resourcefulness, imagination and innovation in all learning areas at school and in their lives beyond school.

2. Social Management

Social Management

Students develop personal and social capability as they learn to understand themselves and others, and manage their relationships, lives, work and learning more effectively. The capability involves students in a range of practices including recognising and regulating emotions, developing empathy for others and understanding relationships, establishing and building positive relationships, making responsible decisions, working effectively in teams, handling challenging situations constructively and developing leadership skills.

3. Learning Area Content

PEAC courses include content from a variety of learning areas depending on the theme of the course. Content Descriptors are drawn from Year 6 – 9 syllabi.  Approximately 40 courses are on offer each round, providing a wide range of choice in a variety of learning areas.