NZCGE congratulates Mid-Canterbury group on joining gifted education community, New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education

NZCGE congratulates Mid-Canterbury group on joining gifted education community

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Tue 21 Jul 2015, 02:58 pm

The New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education (NZCGE) welcomes its second 2015 community-established group to the NZCGE and gifted education communities. A cluster of schools from Mid-Canterbury, led by Methven Primary School principal, Chris Murphy, opens its new centre for gifted children this week with 32 students on its roll.

The Mid-Canterbury cluster, hosted by Ashburton Christian School, will offer the NZCGE’s curriculum via the MindPlus programme for intellectually and creatively gifted children. In addition to running the MindPlus programme, the Mid-Canterbury cluster will be supporting educators in the community to better understand gifted children and their learning, social and emotional needs.

“This week is exciting for primary schools in Mid-Canterbury who are now able to access specialist support for their gifted students. The opportunities for our community go beyond being able to cater for these students. Supporting our educators in the wider community to develop their understanding of giftedness and grow professionally to engage in best practice will also be an ongoing goal of ours,” says Murphy.

NZCGE’s CEO, Deb Walker, and Consultancy Manager, Anna Meuli, are looking forward to continuing the Centre’s professional support in Mid-Canterbury and are confident in the community benefits of this project. The establishment of the cluster marks yet another milestone for NZCGE in achieving its goal to help communities support their gifted young New Zealanders’ to maximise their potential.

“There is a lot of community support for gifted education in New Zealand,” Walker says.

“Parents want the best education possible for their children and this type of programme is one opportunity available to them. We are working with other communities to establish their groups in 2016,” Walker continues.

The NZCGE has established communities in Invercargill, Dunedin, Lincoln, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Lower Hutt, Kapiti, Masterton, Rotorua, and across Auckland. They support these groups with student selection, professional learning and development, and curriculum support on an ongoing basis.

The New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education Limited is a charitable organisation providing services nationwide in gifted education. For more information please visit nzcge.co.nz.