July 1, 2014
Intake doubles for primary school gifted and talented program
The gifted and talented program called UOW ‘Learning Labs’ for local community primary school students has been so successful that its numbers have doubled this year for its 2 and 3 July intake.
About 250 students from Year 3 to Year 6 will be heading to the University of Wollongong campus for the ‘Early Learning Labs’ program.
Workshops will be led by teachers with specialist training or a specific interest in gifted education. Organisers say the Early Learning Labs has proved to be extremely popular with all workshops full and many more students on waiting lists. Some of the workshops offered will focus on debating, digital media, LEGO robotics, maths, creative writing, methodology of games and sports and Egyptian history.
Conducted by the School of Education, Learning Labs Project Officer Sarah Smith has been steadily building the program since its conception in 2012. The high school program, ‘Learning Labs’, for high-achieving students in Years 7 to 10 will continue again this year and will run on 7 and 8 July.
The high school Learning Labs program will include workshops on the main campus as well as ‘The AIIM Experience’, a popular workshop held at the Innovation Campus. A new workshop called ‘Understanding the Grammar of Games and Sports’ will be held within the University Recreation and Aquatic Centre (URAC) facility. It will use GoPro and iPad technology to analyse real time game performances, allowing them to analyse the movements of their opposition and themselves and plan for improvement.
“Each workshop has been developed and will be presented by university academics who are leaders in their field,” Ms Smith said.
Learning Labs workshops will cover a range of academic disciplines such as cognitive psychology, ocean engineering, law, literature, creative arts, history, graphic design and methodology of games and sports.
“We know this program is successful as students keep returning to the University to attend and now with the primary school program, we are seeing younger siblings attend -- it’s lovely to see the whole family on campus,” Ms Smith said.
“We plan to give gifted and talented students from the region something different to what they can achieve at school which is a real university experience with a variety of dynamic and challenging workshops,” Ms Smith said.
Learning Labs has been successful in winning a Community Engagement Grant Scheme through UOW.
For more information see socialsciences.uow.edu.au.
Media please note: Photo opportunities will be available for Early Learning Labs on Thursday 3 July. Contact Sarah Smith for specific times. And there will be a variety of photo opportunities for the Years 7-10 program on Tuesday 8 July during the workshops. Again contact Sarah Smith for best times.
Media contacts: Sarah Smith, +61 2 4221 3348 or Kobi Hyslop, +61 2 4221 5604.