THE KU-RING-GAI UNIT FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS

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1 THE KU-RING-GAI UNIT FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS INFORMATION BOOK ST IVES NORTH PUBLIC SCHOOL St Ives North Public School 87 Memorial Avenue St Ives NSW 2075 Phone: FAX:

2 ST IVES NORTH PUBLIC SCHOOL THE KU-RING-GAI UNIT FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS INTRODUCTION: From our school s Strategic Plan in 1991 emerged an ambitiously bold project. The Plan proposed that, as a first step, a full class of academically gifted students should be established at St Ives North Public School. The Department of School Education expressed its delight at the school s initiative and to show its support, arranged for the project to be launched by the then Minister of Youth Affairs, The Honourable Virginia Chadwick. The Principal consulted regularly and openly with the parent body at St Ives North Public School regarding the proposal. Planning went forward for the commencement of a full-time Year 4/5 class and was later extended to four full-time classes in Year 3, 4, 5 and 6. The proposal included: a central aim to provide identified Year 3 to Year 6 students with a full-time program. a secondary aim to provide sessional attendance opportunities for identified students from the mainstream classes to the Unit, often only in one subject. the establishment of a school Gifted and Talented Register so that mainstream classes also provide differentiation experiences, strategies, curriculum and grouping opportunities. BEYOND THE INITIAL PROPOSAL: Today The Ku-ring-gai Unit for Gifted and Talented Students continues to provide full-time educational enrichment for gifted students exactly in accordance with the initial proposal. After over 25 years of experience in gifted education, St Ives North Public School continues to be an advocate for providing programs for gifted students. Staff members continue to extend their knowledge through ongoing professional development and sharing their expertise with other schools through their links with universities. In 2011 the school received the Department of Education & Communities Director-General s School Achievement Award acknowledging the success and high regard of our gifted and talented program.

3 WHAT RESEARCH EXPERTS RECOMMEND: Almost every internationally recognised authority on the education and psychology of the gifted, recommends that intellectually gifted children should be grouped together for a significant proportion of the day. Ideally like-minded students should be grouped together full-time. St Ives North Public School has used the Gagne Model to guide the direction of curriculum design and teaching pedagogy since the establishment of the Unit. In 2005 the Department of Education and Training in NSW adopted the Gagne Model as the central focus of their revised Gifted and Talented Policy. Gagne s Model of Giftedness and Talent THE PROGRAM: Developing a program for gifted and talented students necessitates adjustments to the core curriculum by focusing on a qualitatively different level of pace, process and product. Content is more complex and varied. There is greater exploration of pupils interests and the content is

4 accelerated to avoid unnecessary repetition. The process is largely through inquiry and discovery. A large focus is on open-ended tasks, problem solving (eg Problem Based Learning or Thinking Actively in a Social Context) and the development of research methods with an emphasis on higher order thinking skills. Our program design is consistent with research recommendations for gifted students and includes: emphasis on higher level thinking skills and problem solving abstractness and complexity originality, novelty, unpredictability freedom of choice and ability to individualise learning self-directed discovery and experimentation as focal points of learning real-life problems and reporting to real audiences open-endedness and a non-judgmental ('safe') response to student explorations inter-disciplinary learning, making connections across traditional boundaries an opportunity to explore topics in a multiplicity of ways opportunities for self-evaluation and reflection enrichment and acceleration rich resources The model on which we build our program is known as the Tannenbaum s Enrichment Matrix. This ensures that the students will cover the core curriculum in a shorter amount of time and extend the core in ways that allow for autonomous and accountable learning experiences. It also means that we pre-test what the students already know and go forth from there more quickly and energetically, especially in the core subjects. We expand the basic skills by searching far more deeply when studying a subject, and exploring areas for which the teacher or subject specialist shows vast passion and interest, often utilising a variety of curriculum models of enrichment.

5 BEYOND THE CURRICULUM MENTORING: In partnership with a mentor in Years 5 and 6 students are able to link their passion with an expert in the field. It might mean further exploration into Algebra, Law, Biogenetics, Engineering, Marine Biology, Computing, Ancient History, Philosophy or Art. It means sharing knowledge with valuable experts in the community and is a major differentiating feature of our program compared to other programs for gifted students. The Mentoring Program is an opportunity for accelerated learning in an area of student passion with an expert in the field, and relies heavily on the support of our parent body to either participate in Mentoring sessions, or assist us to locate the suitable mentors to match the needs of our students. CHARACTERISTICS OF GIFTED STUDENTS: The specially trained teachers of the Gifted and Talented students at St Ives North Public School have had many and varied classes of very able students. We know that gifted students often: Learn quickly and easily Grasp new concepts and ideas with speed Remember and retain what they have learnt exceptionally well Our four year program maintains close monitoring of student progress and ensures that the individual needs of each student are supported for optimum learning.

6 APPLYING FOR ENTRY INTO THE UNIT: Parents are asked to complete an application form, a research-based checklist of cognitive and affective characteristics, as well as provide supporting evidence of student achievement. After receipt of the application all suitable students who apply are invited to attend the testing day, held early in Term 4. For entry into the Year 3 class, only 15 places are available for external out of area enrolments. The other places are filled with the students from our school as internal applicants. Entry into other grades should a place be made available will only be filled by internal students currently enrolled at St Ives Nth PS. THE TESTING PROCESS: A range of objective and subjective procedures are used to identify students suitable for admission into the Unit. The day begins with General Ability testing, followed by verbal and nonverbal tests of reasoning and reading comprehension. The next set of tests includes a writing task and finally a problem solving mathematics test. The results of the testing, together with the additional information provided by parents in the application process is presented to the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee consists of: A Principal or Deputy Principal Gifted and Talented Coordinator Teachers qualified in gifted education

7 ENTRY INTO THE UNIT: Placement in the Unit is offered to gifted and talented students who gain the uppermost test scores in a range of academic performances. We believe that the systematic planning and selection procedures have been an essential factor in the success of the program. THE INFLUENCE OF THE UNIT ON THE WHOLE SCHOOL COMMUNITY: The Unit and its associated school-wide enrichment have impacted strongly and positively on program development and classroom practice throughout the whole school. Teachers are much more aware of individual strengths and interests possessed by all students at the school, as well as gifts and talents of the highly able. Students demonstrate positive and responsible attitudes toward their own and others talents and abilities. The Unit is not a separate entity within the school but rather sits comfortably within each grade level and enjoys social, sporting, arts, excursions, and many other activities with all students in that grade level. Each grade level has a corporate program that is collaboratively designed by teachers on that grade the teachers in the Gifted and Talented Unit then differentiate that program to cater for the needs of their students. The core curriculum topics are the same for each class on each grade but highly differentiated in pace, content, resources, learning experiences and extension of the major theme. OUR VISION Teaching children in a full-time gifted program is both demanding and very rewarding. There is a buzz in every classroom, with a great deal of independence, discovery, research and cooperative group work. Students learn how to think divergently, creatively and logically. Students cannot think at a complex level without complex things to think about and their curriculum is expanded and enriched to ensure learning is engaged and objectives are achieved. Teachers in the Unit strive to give their students more than just a learning environment rich with experiences the philosophy of teachers in the Unit is to enhance self-understanding for each student, to open the doors and windows, to allow the outside to enter rooms, to take students outside the classroom and into real life learning. They help students value the art of learning and thinking and become true, autonomous, lifelong learners. We seek to empower, guide, support and lead students toward a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the 21 st century.

8 We strive to create in students a deep understanding of themselves and others, so that they become successful learners; confident, creative individuals, active and informed citizens who can interact, communicate and collaborate in their world, sustaining positive and enduring relationships. We are focused toward developing autonomous, independent thinkers whose strength of character is the foundation that guides them toward becoming thoughtful citizens. We want students to realize that knowledge alone is not sufficient; rather it is strength of character that lays the path to successful, purpose-filled, satisfied lives. We want our students to demonstrate resilience and thrive in an ever-changing world. We want our students to make a difference. THE TESTING PROCESS: REFLECTIONS As the testing day approaches, it is with great anticipation and excitement that I await for what will unfold. Inevitably, I am not disappointed. Many children arrive with great trepidation, but most are excited at the prospect of showing their true capabilities. They are excited at the prospect of meeting real challenge. These children go about the business of putting their heads down to focus on page after page of questions. As each page turns, and pencils scrape and labour, in control of the hand that holds them, there is a buzz of intellectual activity. I delight in the children who know how to check and reflect on their answers, persisting until they feel they are satisfied. I enjoy watching two children chat and laugh at the morning tea break, sharing for the first time a joke together as new friends. How wonderful to see great resilience in those children, who for the first time are in the position of having to think deeply and carefully before giving a response. What is truly incredible is that all of these children are unique in so many different ways. Some of these little people are now enrolled at our school in the Ku-ring-gai Unit for Gifted and Talented Students.

9 THE INTRODUCTORY YEAR TO THE UNIT: The students of year 3 have been identified as having high cognitive potential and they come from some fifteen different school settings. Their cultural diversity is represented not only in ethnicity, but also in educational diversity of learning backgrounds. They enter year 3 with their own unique talents and their own unique areas of challenge. For some there is almost an air of cynicism for they also come equipped with past disappointments and their sense of frustration with the formal learning process to date. For so many, the past three years of schooling have been an educational experience void of real rigour and challenge they don t expect too much from school and yet they enter this new educational setting with hopes of being offered something different in those first few weeks they wonder if they re really going to get it! Early weeks demand attention to integration and socialisation, as one would expect with any change. So what makes this class uniquely different? Their intensity of passion and emotional responses are more heightened and their quick wit and skill levels are evidence of their qualitative differences compared to mainstream children. Their ability to work at an accelerated pace, their agility to process learning content and to tackle abstract ideas is easily evident! Perhaps though, it is more often their heightened sensitivity and need for social identification with similar minded peers that sets them apart. They crave understanding, not only of their cognitive learning needs, but also of the aspects of their lives that clearly differentiate them socially and emotionally from same age peers. Parents have chosen this change of schooling for many reasons, none the least being their desire to have the social and affective aspects of their children understood and catered for. These children are so often starved of a special friend to relate to, or of a teacher who truly appreciates their unique differences they need acknowledgment of their special needs. The Unit at St Ives North Public School not only identifies and acknowledges the qualitative differences of these children, but also responds to those needs with a differentiated curriculum, expanded learning experiences which challenge their cognitive levels while respecting the diversity of abilities and talents of individuals within the gifted range. The program seeks to truly match the child s cognitive, social and emotional range to ensure a level of rigour that significantly differentiates, making it unsuitable for mainstream students, yet highly appropriate for the learning styles of our special clients.

10 Teaching gifted and talented children requires understanding, respect and the acknowledgment that these children deserve the qualitative curriculum differentiation and provision to allow their abstract, divergent and creative thinking processes to thrive in the learning environment. THE FINAL YEAR IN THE UNIT: After three years in the Unit, students enter Year 6 with a poise and confidence that belies their years. By this stage our students have developed the attitude, skills and knowledge to support life long learning. They have a deep understanding of what makes a truly powerful learner. They understand the importance of time management. They have the determination to be in control and the take responsibility for their own learning outcomes. By Year 6 our students are up to the challenge. Selective High School and Scholarship exams loom early in the semester and students are offered opportunity to focus their minds on achieving their goals. Our students are successful in attaining entry to Selective High Schools. Some find themselves facing the dilemma of choosing between placement at a Selective High School and several private school scholarships! In the final semester of Year 6 students grow in more ways than one. Their increase in stature is evident as too, their quiet and admirable demeanour. They are secure in knowing what the following year will bring and they have a deep sense of self and confidence in their ability to handle high school and thrive. The curriculum continues to expand their knowledge but most importantly expand their self-awareness and understanding of what is needed of them to achieve their goals. Making a Difference (MAD) Camp 2011

11 By the end of four years in the Unit students in Year 6 are like a family they know each other well. Over this time they have made deep and meaningful friendships with like-minded people who truly understand them and they value those friendships. On the last day of Year 6 students leave through the front gates at St Ives North Public School to the applause of our entire community, and as they walk the walk of honour, they do so with a deep sense of pride and a sense of self that will serve them well into the future. They walk away from us full of memories full of confidence full of the richness of their learning full of hopes for the future full of competencies and skills that will serve them well in the years ahead. Our students leave our grounds, but they do not leave the memory and hearts of the dedicated teachers who have helped guide, nurture and encourage growth over their journey. We look forward to securing the valuable partnerships that have been forged over their four years with us and delight in receiving feedback about their wonderful successes and achievements in years to come. Gifted and Talented Coordinator Deputy Principal Carmela May