Carlingford Public School offers learning support for English as an Additional Language or Dialect students and a gifted and talented program.
ESL - English as a second language
'Learning English is an essential requirement for success both at school and for further education, training and employment for students who speak a language other than English as their first language. The English as a second Language (ESL) program aims to develop ESL students' English language competence and improve their learning outcomes throughout the curriculum to a level where they can fully participate in schooling and independently pursue further education.' (ESL Guidelines for Schools, NSW DET, 2004).
ESL is an integral and important part of Carlingford Public School's curriculum.
Students eligible for ESL support range from those newly arrived in Australia and just beginning to learn English, to Australian born students from a non English speaking background. The school determines the most suitable organisational arrangements to meet the varying needs of each ESL student. This may include small withdrawal groups and team teaching with class teachers.
In addition, Carlingford Public School is strongly committed to promoting positive community relations through effective communication with parents from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and by encouraging participation in all school activities.
Gifted & Talented Education
Gifted and talented students are found in all communities regardless of their ethnic, cultural or socio-economic backgrounds. The gifted population includes students who are underachieving and who have disabilities. It is imperative that school communities develop effective, equitable and defensible identification programs that avoid cultural bias and provide developmentally appropriate programs for gifted and talented students.
Gifted students are those whose potential is distinctly above average in one or more of the following areas of ability at school - intellectual, creative, social and physical.
At Carlingford Public School our Gifted and Talented program provides these students with learning opportunities on top of the normal curriculum and differentiated programs embedded within the normal curriculum.
Could your child be Gifted?
Research indicates that approximately 10% of the population is gifted and/or talented in one or more of the domains listed above. Parents often believe that their child could be gifted.
So how do you find out?
If your child is displaying one or more of the following characteristics then further identification procedures need to be undertaken to successfully indentify your child as a gifted and talented student.
- exceptional reasoning abilities
- rapid learning and abstract thinking
- creativity and imagination
- analytical skills and empathy
- excellent humour
- superior insight
- exceptional problem-solving abilities
- high degree of social responsibility.
The characteristics above are by no means the only ones that exist and it does not automatically mean that your child is gifted and talented if they display any of those characteristics.
Identifying your child's gifts
There are a variety of ways to identify giftedness in children, including IQ tests, creative tests and behaviour checklists. The following packages are available to help you, your teacher and the school determine whether your child is gifted and to some degree the level of giftedness.
DET Gifted and Talented Policy
Parent information package
Gifted and talented students identification support
Opportunity classes
Selective schools
Accelerated classes
DET Selective high school and opportunity class placement policy
At Carlingford Public School we believe that a strong partnership must exist between parents and the school in order to allow the children the best opportunity to learn to their potential in order to maximise their educational outcome.
We believe that:
- children have a right to learn to their potential
- learning occurs when children are immersed in a stimulating and secure environment
- a planned comprehensive approach will continually improve student learning outcomes
- students will take responsibility and progress in their learning by taking risks within supportive student-teacher relationships
- it is important to nurture an environment where children are happy and feel valued
- by welcoming parents and taking their concerns seriously and objectively we provide a positive environment for all families and enhance the relationship between home and school
- our staff maintain a standard of excellence through ongoing professional learning and by providing sequential, challenging and innovative teaching and learning programs.