ANGELA FOULDS-COOK
Head of Gifted and Talented Year 7-Year 12
The Senior School Gifted and Talented Program continues to flourish with a talent development vehicle of clustering, extension and enrichment classes, and accelerative options to those boys whose potential is on a trajectory towards being translated into performance. An emphasis on the needs of the individual student drive the provisions for each boy. Positive catalysts are purposefully put in place to extend and build the gifted student’s academic and social and emotional experience such as; teachers who have completed Professional Learning on how to effectively teach gifted and gifted learning disabled students, the explicit teaching of emotional intelligence and the adoption of a growth mindset, acceptance of the diverse nature of learning and leadership skills, and close collaboration with parents, teachers and the Additional Learning Needs Team to produce dynamic ALN plans for those who are identified as twice exceptional. These examples among many approaches are researchbased provisions that aim to give the Gifted TSS boy the best chance of transforming his gifted potential into performance over time. Mrs Angela Foulds-Cook and Mrs Jasna Poeszus continue to make a positive contribution to the wider community. They presented at the International Conference on Gifted on the topic of social and emotional wellbeing as it is embedded in the TSS G&T program, and Mrs Foulds-Cook took part in a Gifted research forum held at UNSW.
Withdrawal classes also make up one aspect of the TSS G&T program and the Year 7 classes have focused on learning about how their brain learns efficiently and how their thoughts, feelings and actions can affect the
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self-efficacy of their learning. Science, Maths and Year 7 core teacher Mr Matthew Slattery became involved in teaching the Year 8 G&T and he explored the concept of ‘Energy’, ‘Growth vs fixed mindset’ and ‘Sharing an idea’. While exploring ‘Energy’ the students were encouraged to think creatively and take risks in their design of a mechanical system to best harness the power of the wind. Students were also tasked with ‘Sharing an Idea’ within the theme of ‘upsetting the balance’. The boys presented varied and interesting topics in a format similar to TED talks such as; how women are betrayed in video games, the subjects taught at school, whether sport should attract government funding as opposed to science or medicine, and on race issues. Among a wide variety of topics the Year 9 G&T withdrawal class have concentrated on how to learn and revise efficiently as the content and subject load increases throughout their senior years. Year 9s explored strategies to increase the level of their creativity and how to think like a genius by examining Da Vinci as a model producer of innovative inventions and ideas. Protecting the emotional life of gifted teens has also been a strategic focus this year. The boys have been taught multiple relaxation and wellbeing strategies and where and how to seek support, culminating in Year 10 G&T students participating in the Generation Next Mental Health and Wellbeing Day held at Bond University.
The Year 10 G&T elective saw presentations on a wide variety of topics, for example, Financial Fitness, The Importance of the Ocean, Positive Psychology, How Fitness Impacts Success, to name a few, and the students were able to benefit greatly from the wisdom of a variety of guest
