St. Andrew’s Cathedral School is committed to meeting the needs of gifted and talented students through high-quality, research-informed practices. We are proud to be recommended by a number of respected psychologists and consultants working in the field of Gifted Education.
Our programme identifies students as gifted from as early as Kindergarten using a range of data, including ability and achievement assessments, teacher observations, and collaboration with families and external professionals. We provide these students with targeted support through quality differentiation, curriculum compacting, and individualised enrichment opportunities. Highly gifted students may be considered for early entry or whole-grade acceleration, guided by the Iowa Acceleration Scale.
Our aim is to provide high quality, specialised educational programmes and learning environments to meet the needs of highly able and/or exceptionally gifted students.
To meet the needs of our most advanced learners, we offer full-time Accelerated Classes for students in Year 3 to 6. These classes provide increased challenge, greater depth and complexity, an accelerated pace, and the opportunity to work alongside like-minded peers. Selection for our Accelerated Classes is based on both ability and achievement data, with placements reviewed each year.
Our programme is led by a dedicated Gifted and Talented Coordinator who supports teachers through planning, professional development, and the creation of individual Gifted Education Learning Profiles (GELPs). There are three teachers in the Junior School with postgraduate qualifications in Gifted Education, as well as another twenty-four teachers who have undertaken targeted Gifted Education courses- encompassing all our classroom teachers.
Extension and enrichment opportunities include subject-specific withdrawal groups, interest-based clubs, peer mentoring, and a wide range of competitions and events, such as the da Vinci Decathlon, G.A.T.E.WAYS workshops, Maths Olympiad, Write a Book in a Day, HICES Gifted and Talented Camp, ICAS Assessments, and the Australian Mathematics Competition.
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