GATE

Gifted and Talented Education

Contents:

Introduction
Who are the Gifted and Talented in New Zealand?
Gifted and Talented Resource Material
Gifted and Talented Useful Websites
2009 Extension Programmes Beyond the classroom

Columba College is committed to identifying students in Years 1 to 13 recognised as being Gifted and/or Talented, and to enriching the learning experiences of these students. The needs of students who are identified as Gifted and Talented are addressed through curriculum differentiation in class programmes and activities within the College and in the wider community.

Gifted and/or Talented learners are those with exceptional abilities relative to most other people. These individuals have certain learning characteristics that give them the potential to achieve outstanding performance (Initiatives for Gifted and Talented Learners, Office of the Ministry of Education, November 2001).

The range of special abilities that relate to the concept of giftedness and talent includes general academic abilities, academic aptitude, creative abilities, leadership ability, physical abilities, and abilities in the visual and performing arts. While our aim at Columba College is to foster these abilities in students from all cultures, we recognise that special abilities do have a cultural perspective, and are affected by cultural values, for example, Maori, Pacific Islands and Asian. We acknowledge that there may be differences in nuance of understanding of such values from culture to culture.

The GATE Co-ordinator, Miss Praneeta Sharma, and the GATE Committee monitor that the School is meeting its requirements with regard to Gifted and Talented Education. Gifted and Talented students at Columba are identified by a variety of means, including nominations by teachers, parents, peers and self, standardised assessments and class assessments. In line with our GATE policy at Columba, our aim has been to enrich the learning experiences of these students.

The needs of our Gifted and Talented students are largely met by class teachers in the delivery of differentiated programmes in which tasks are designed to suit a range of abilities and learning styles. In addition to this, the beginning of 2006 marked the introduction of extension opportunities outside of normal classes, in a variety of subject areas. We are building further on this in 2009.

Who are the Gifted and Talented in New Zealand?

Gifted and talented education in New Zealand differs from that of many other countries in several ways. First, New Zealand recognises that giftedness and talent can mean different things to different communities and cultures, and that there is a range of appropriate approaches towards meeting the needs of all such students (Ministry of Education, 2002). Furthermore, it is considered essential to provide differentiated learning experiences across a continuum of approaches and to deliver specialised programmes. And finally, there are distinctive cultural considerations to be taken into account in the planning and delivery of gifted education provisions (Riley, et al., 2004). Columba College believes that students with exceptional abilities in one or more areas may be considered gifted and/or talented. However, they are not simply students with high intelligence.

There are hundreds of definitions of “Gifted and Talented” ranging from conservative to liberal.

Conservative ones are based on a single criterion, e.g., IQ, and limit students to 1-3% of the school population.

Liberal ones are based on a broad range of criteria, with a higher percentage (10-15%) having special abilities.

Contemporary trends avoid stating percentages to allow for variation in the interpretation of Giftedness and Talent.

Columba College defines Gifted and Talented students as:

Gifted and talented learners are those with exceptional abilities relative to most other people . These individuals have certain learning characteristics that give them the potential to achieve outstanding performance (Ministry of Education, 2001).

Gifted and Talented Resource Material

The following Gifted and Talented Education books are now available for parents and students. They can be accessed through the school library.

The Gifted Kids Survival Guide: A Teen Handbook.
By Judy Galbraith

The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids: How to Understand, Live With, and Stick Up for Your Gifted Child.
By Sally Yahnke Walker

The Gifted Kids' Survival Guide: For Ages 10 and Under
By Judy Galbraith

Gifted and Talented Education in New Zealand Schools.
By Tracy Riley, Jill Bevan-Brown, Brenda Bricknell, Janis Carroll-Lind and Alison Kearney.

Please contact Miss Praneeta Sharma (psharma@columbacollege.school.nz) if you have problems accessing these books.

Gifted and Talented Useful Websites

The New Zealand Association for Gifted Children (NZAGC)

Visit this online environment where gifted children, their parents, teachers, and other education professionals can meet, learn from and help one another.
http://www.giftedchildren.org.nz/

giftEDnewz: The Online Newsletter of the Professional Association for Gifted Education

Read the first issue issue of giftEDnz's newsletter now available on the giftEDnz website.
http://www.giftednz.org.nz/news.html

giftEDnz: The Professional Association for Gifted Education

Poipoia a tatou tamariki ihumanea - Nurture our gifted children A national association is being established to provide support for people who have a professional interest in gifted and talented education. To become a foundation member, visit the website and complete the online registration form.
http://www.giftednz.org.nz/

TKI Gifted & Talented Community

This website has a wide variety of Gifted and Talented links for parents, students and teachers. Highly recommended.
http://www.tki.org.nz/e/community/gifted/

2009 Extension Programmes Beyond the classroom

Term One

Year 11 –work with a mentor on ICT based filming-making competition.
Year 9 Maths (Prof. Derek Holton)
Year 9 -10 Shakespeare Drama

Term Two

Year 10 Marine Studies Project for students at the Marine Studies Centre, Portobello, University of Otago
Year 3 -4 Maths Extension
Year 11 – 13 Sociology (Dr Martha Bell)
Year 5 – 6 Art Extension
Year 5 – 6, 11 & 13 RoboCup
Year 10 – 13 Creative Writing (Apirana Taylor)

Term Three

Year 10 Art Extension (Dunedin Public Art Gallery)
Year 5 – 8 Leadership Programme
Year 7 – 8 Marine Studies Project for students at the Marine Studies Centre, Portobello.
Year 9 – 13 Film Media & Communication Lectures (Dr Kevin Fisher)
Year 5 -6, 11 & 13 RoboCup

Term Four

Year 13 Scholarship Tutorials
Year 1 – 4 Dance
Year 7 – 8 Sports Plus

In addition to the above, school-wide events and activities provide further opportunities for students to develop and extend their talents:

1. Those which occur throughout the school year:

Sporting Performance Programme (Y9 -13)
Lunch-time Writing Club for year 7-13 students
Junior, Intermediate and Senior Orchestras
Junior, Intermediate and Senior Choirs
Community music performances
Chamber music groups
Wind Symphonia
Otago, Otago Southland, South Island, and National events for individual sports sanctioned by the NZSSSC
St Columba Service Award
Debating Clubs Yr 9-13
Maths Problem Solving Club

2. Those events which occur annually:

Drama/Dance:

Annual Drama/ Musical Productions
Stage Challenge Yr 9-13
National Youth Drama School

Music

Chamber Music Contest – Otago Region
Big Sing – Otago Region
Composition Competitions e.g. Chamber Music New Zealand
Smokefree Rockquest
Otago Secondary Schools’ Music Festival
New Zealand Orchestral Course
New Zealand Jazz Course
IRMT Instrumental Scholarship

Economics:

Global Enterprise Challenge
Accounting: Price Waterhouse Cooper Scholarship
Monetary Policy Challenge
Pricewaterhouse Coopers Aspire Scholarship

English:

Speech competitions
Inter-House debating competition

Languages:

German Scholarship competition interviews
German Eric Herd Drama Award
Alliance Française Oral Competition

Sciences:

Science Fair Yr 7, 8, 9 and10
OSTA Yr10 Science Quiz
Senior Science Quiz
Biology Olympiad Yr 12 & 13
Australian National Chemistry Quiz Yr 10-13
Chemistry Olympiad Yr12
Visits to Otago University Physics research laboratories Yr 13
Healthy Harbour Watch

Mathematics:

Senior Eton Press Maths Competition Yr12-13
National Bank Junior Maths Competitions Yr 9,10 and 11
Otago Mathletics Yr 7-12
Maths Development Band Yr10
Maths Problem Challenge Yr 6-8
Australian Maths Competition Yr7-13

Sport and Physical Education

Sports Ambassador visit for elite athletes
Elite athlete seminar
Sport Otago Development Camps (e.g. Athletics)
Inter-School sports exchanges
Summer and Winter tournament weeks
SPARC Future Champion – regional and national
Peter Snell Talent Search – years 9 and 10

Cross-curricular:

Quizzes (Spelling, Social Studies, Classics, Kids Lit)
International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) English, Spelling, Writing, Science, Computing
New Zealand Scholarship for senior students
Cambridge examinations for senior students
MUNA (Model United Nations)

The College is very grateful to the various tutors as well as teachers on our staff who are providing quality programmes for GATE students. Inspiring our students in their areas of interest, is an important aspect of nurturing their talents, and is one of the strengths of our school.