Will, Emma (SEN)
From:	Lynda Lovett [lynda@lovett.wattle.id.au]
Sent:	Saturday, 3 March 2001 5:30 PM
To:	eet.sen@aph.gov.au
Subject:	gifted ed submission
Name:Lynda Lovett		Phone: 0246832153
Postal Address:	PO Box 181, Picton	Postcode:2571

Submission/ or points of view to the Senate Inquiry into Gifted Education

Firstly I am the parent of a gifted child who is now an adult. My husband
and I had to struggle to find a school that catered for his needs. It ended
up being a private school in Year 8, but his prior private school was
disastrous. He was bullied, beaten and put down by teachers in a so-called
Christian School. (Please police these schools). However we should have had
the right to have him educated in a public high school. Public schools need
to meet the needs of these kids. It is essential that quality and on-going
teacher training in gifted education and relevant funding is provided to
all public school staff.

Secondly, as a teacher, I am passionate about the rights of gifted
children. Maybe through personal experience, or maybe because I was thrown
into the deep end as being appointed as an OC teacher with one weeks
training. I realised very quickly the limitations of my knowledge in
identifying these kids, understanding their socio-affective needs and most
of all in differentiating the curriculum. Therefore I enrolled myself in a
post graduate course that took all of my leisure time and increased my
already substantial workload for 18 months. Not to mention, that I had to
pay for all of it myself, and it wasn't cheap. So where is the support for
gifted education? I am prepared to extend my knowledge and cater for these
kids, but the government is not prepared to support me in any way unless I
was employed in a private school! In comparison, their schools paid for my
private school colleagues and this included airfares and accommodation for
interstate teachers. Where is the equity? Where is the fairness? 

As a result of increased awareness of the needs of gifted kids, I have
tried to implement many of the recommended structures into our school. Al I
have met is resistance. Why? I have met resistance because my colleagues,
although excellent practitioners, do not have the same knowledge base to
work from. I have met resistance because in Australian culture it is
politically correct to give the 'underdog' a fair go (translate as slow
learners). I have met resistance because there is a huge lack of commitment
from the government in this issue and in public education generally. In NSW
the G&T policy states that teachers must meet the needs of ALL students.
Where are the structures in place to do this??? 

My son recently won a prestigious award on Australia Day. He works
tirelessly for the community. He is going to be an active participant in
the future of this country. It has been a hard job to get him to this
stage. In the past he has been clinically depressed, socially alienated.
His father and I have nurtured him, actively sought solutions for his
special needs, spent money we did not have; all because we were not going
to give up on this child even though we had to fight for his rights, for
his equal opportunities, all through his childhood and teenage years. Now I
am tired. I am cynical. I am ready to give it up. I need support… and so do
thousands of others! 

__________________________________________________
From the Lovett Family Internet - www.lovett.wattle.id.au
All three of us - family@lovett.wattle.id.au
Lynda's e-mail - lynda@lovett.wattle.id.au
Brett's - brett@lovett.wattle.id.au
and Ryan - ryan@lovett.wattle.id.au