‘Working with Gifted Children’ – techniques and strategies for parents and teachers
3 April

On Saturday 28 March, the Irish Centre for Talented Youth (CTYI) in cooperation with the Irish Association for Gifted Children, hosted a one day conference at Dublin City University, ‘Working with Gifted Children’. The event was attended by over 150 parents and teachers of high ability children.

Throughout the year CTYI provides fast-paced courses for students aged 6 to 16 at DCU and other venues around the country.

Currently over 400 students per annum attend courses and events run by CTYI. High ability or gifted children usually fall in the top 5% of the population academically. While there are many resources and facilities for students at the other end of the spectrum most schools do not have provision for gifted children.

CTYI Director Colm O’Reilly said, “In the current economic climate gifted children are a great resource for this country to overcome the recession and put the economy back in shape. Yet these children are often neglected in schools and struggle to achieve their potential. This conference offered a great opportunity for parents and teachers of these students to discover techniques and strategies to allow these students to be sufficiently challenged in order for them to succeed.”

Conference speakers included Professor Deborah Eyre from Oxford University and Professor Kirsi Tirri from Helsinki University. The conference was opened by Mr Richard Bruton TD and Mr Martin Conry, secretary of DCU.

Running concurrently to the conference were the CTYI Saturday classes at DCU for students aged 6 to 13. These classes were attended by over 600 students in DCU and include courses in forensic science, aeronautical engineering, veterinary science, book vs film and football 365.

For further information please contact Colm O’Reilly, Director CTYI at 086-8610733 or Eleanor Cooke, Academic Coordinator CTYI 087-2287397.