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Over recent years more and more schools have begun to see the provision of education for gifted children as important and have set up programs to help these children to learn and achieve their potential. This is a great thing for gifted children but even though a wider range of programs for the gifted now exist and many schools make provision for these children, finding out about these programs has often been difficult.
It is the purpose of this page to, hopefully, make that task easier for parents by providing them with a list of some schools who have stated they make provision for gifted students. It will certainly not replace proper research - the schools provisions must be examined in detail to ensure they will be right for your child - but, it should, at least give you a place to start looking.
It must be noted that the omission of a school from this list does not mean that that school is not a good school for your gifted child, and it certainly does not indicate that a school is not a good school. Many schools may make special provision for gifted children and this simply is not known to me - either because they do not make such information public knowledge, or because it did not appear in my sources. Other schools may make no special provision, but instead successfully educate and cater for gifted children within their normal classroom programs.
Many schools omitted from this list stated in documents that I have read that they seek to 'cater for individual differences' or that they 'treat all children individually' or that they 'successfully educate all children with special needs'. I considered very carefully whether or not these schools should be included in the listing because those statements can mean that gifted children are catered for at such schools. In the end, I elected not to include such schools in the absence of other information because my experience has shown me that such statements can sometimes be inclusive of all children - except gifted children. I make no judgement of whether or not this applies in the cases of these schools - in many cases, perhaps all cases, such schools do not exclude gifted children from their definitions. But I consider it to be the lesser of two evils to risk excluding some schools that cater for gifted children from this list if it avoids the risk of including a school in this list that does not make provision for the gifted.
For the same reason, schools that say they provide 'enrichment' for students have also been excluded in the absence of any other information. This is because enrichment can have a great many meanings - it can include provision for gifted children, it can also mean that a school provides swimming lessons. Again, I make no judgement on whether or not such schools do make provision for gifted children as part of their enrichment programs - I simply do not know the answer and once again I have decided it is better to risk the exclusion of a school from this list that does provide enrichment for the gifted, than to risk including a school that does not and so risk parents sending their child to a school that does not meet the needs of their child based on the information on this page.
As a further clarification about the two paragraphs above, let me make it clear that statements that a school 'cater to all needs' or 'have enrichment programs' do not mean that a school will not appear in this listing. Rather, such information simply does not comprise a reason for a school's inclusion by itself. For example, if I have seen other information that confirms a school's enrichment programs do include provisions for gifted children, I will include that school in the listing but I must have clear and unambiguous information.
If any Territorian schools not included in this list would like to provide me with information on any provisions they make for the education of gifted children, I will be happy to include an entry for that school. By the same token, if any school that is included would like to provide me with more information, I am happy to add that to this page. In these cases, please e-mail me at drednort@alphalink.com.au
Finally, let me make clear that this page is for information purposes only - it is not intended to replace detailed investigation of a school by parents for their child, merely to provide them with some possible places to start. Always remember that what is said and what is actually done can differ, and even a good gifted program may not be appropriate for any individual gifted child. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy with regards to the information on this page, I accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may have occurred (beyond a responsibility to correct such inaccuracies if they are brought to my attention) and I accept no responsibility for the use or misuse of the information on this page. Except where prior Copyrights exist, this page is © 2001 Shaun Hately. Linking to this page is permitted (indeed encouraged), but please do not reproduce any of the information contained here without obtaining permission from me - such permission will virtually always be given.
But many people do not know the name of a school they are interested in and so I have provided a series of menus. These menus will list schools by:
The following information is provided for each school where I have been able to find it.
You will notice when you view the list of schools that it is quite colourful. These colours exist for a reason and conform to the following key:
Due to the small number of schools involved, I have elected not to create indexes for this page, unlike those for the other states.