Gifted & Talented Opportunities  

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Term 2 is now well underway and I would like to remind you of some optional courses and programs that may be of interest to you. Whilst there are many opportunities in Hong Kong and beyond, these are a few that we have helped students enrol on and get involved with. These are outside the scope of our normal curriculum and may serve as a chance to stretch and extend learning amongst the students as well as focus thoughts on the future.

Sha Tin College will join the internationally acclaimed Tournament of Minds (TOM) in 2017. TOM is a problem solving programme for teams of students from both primary and secondary years. Details can be found on their website http://www.tom.edu.au/ . If your child is in Year 7, 8, 9 or 10 and you think would be interested in participating in this then please encourage them to check the bulletin on SMART in the coming days. Trials will be held before Chinese New Year and preparations will begin in earnest after we resume, culminating in the Hong Kong Finals Day on the 6^th May.

You may also be interested to learn that we are planning a presentation aimed at parents of gifted students by Dr. Mark Gandolfi, Director of St John’s Counselling Centre http://www.sjcshk.com/. The purpose of this is to help parents with developing children’s emotional intelligence. The current proposed date will be in late February or early March and this will be at SJS. This is likely to be on a Friday morning, approx. 8.30 to 10am. If you are interested in attending, then please let me know via email so I can help with arrangements at SJS.

Also within Hong Kong, but outside of STC, applications for The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) are still open and are due to close on 23^rd January 2017. If you are still interested in enrolling your child on any courses, please click here for further details. The same organisation is also planning a series of talks and lectures on the history of learning. Details of the dates and times can be found here.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong have opened applications for their Spring Programs for Gifted learners. Their courses are specifically designed for gifted students from Hong Kong and details of their courses and application process can be found by clicking on the following link –http://www.fed.cuhk.edu.hk/pgt/Student/SPR2017_b.php?lang=eng

Focussing on Science and the older students, there is also an opportunity to submit an application for 2017 edition of the Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (BIYSC). BIYSC is a two-week international excellence program organized by Catalunya-La Pedrera Foundation that aims to stimulate scientific talent among young people from all over the world. It is meant to encourage their enthusiasm for pursuing careers in science and technology. Details are on their website.

Further afield, there are some excellent opportunities available at leading worldwide universities. Courses aimed at pre-college students in a diverse range of locations can be found athttp://www.summerdiscovery.com/

Further help in applying for any of these can be found in writing to me at haganb1@stconline.edu.hk

Kind regards,

恭喜發財!  雞年吉祥!

Brian Hagan

G&T Coordinator