By Jenna Guillaume

Copyright brisbanetimes

Melbourne mother Carol Lo says her daughter, 11-year-old Dakota, was in year 3 when the school principal advised her daughter had been identified as gifted. Lo says she’s learned that giftedness “doesn’t always look like academic excellence”. “Dakota is clearly a high-ability learner, but she often does just enough to get by … she sometimes doesn’t feel the need to push herself, and that can be misunderstood.”

While Dakota initially attended a school with a gifted education specialist, switching to a new school in year 5 for logistical reasons left her without the support she needed. “They told me [their gifted education program] only supported students with superior, high academic achievement,” says Lo. “Despite the evidence I provided of Dakota’s gifted profile, they made no effort to understand or accommodate her needs.”

Sydney mother Dallas Odegard is also familiar with the challenges of finding the right school environment for her children. Margaret, 11, and George, 9, are both gifted and had vastly different experiences at the same school due to the varied level of interest and understanding of their teachers.

While Margaret had a teacher who challenged her, allowing her to develop at her own level, George became increasingly bored, frustrated and isolated with a teacher ill-equipped to support his giftedness. When Odegard found a school for her kids that had a clear gifted and talented program and transferred them to it, she says it was a “complete game-changer”.