Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2001

Programme for the Gifted Being gifted and talented means mu c h more than havin g a high IQ. It may also mean being artistic and creative, having leadership and organizational abilities. Gifte d children not only learn quickl y and perfor m well, many also possess insatiable curiosity and diverse interests. They may often find the ordinary school curricula unfulfilling or downright boring. The Faculty of Education launched Ho ng Kong's first summer programme for the gifted and talented i n 1997. W i th Prof. Da v i d Chan of the Department of Educational Psychology i n charge, the programme targeted junio r secondary students nominated by their schools. The programme comprised a range of subjects and workshops emphasizing interaction and hands-on experience. Since 1998, the programme has invited student s from different secondary schools on the mainland to participate. It has also held Saturday gifted programmes unde r different themes. Students designing future robots and water rockets in the course 'Frontiers of Science'. Residing on campus, participants learn to take care of themselves and interact with peers with comparable intellectual abilities. Seen here are participants in a sharing session led by a team leader. In a Saturday Gifted Programme, participants learn how archaeologists put pieces of a puzzle together by smashing a pot and reassembling it. Helping to Improve the Effectiveness of Schools 21