Turanga Cluster Project

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If the common experience of 10 Turanga town and country schools is any indicator, New
Zealand's future tall poppies will grow from gifted and talented education (GATE) initiatives.

Background
In late 2002, a group of teachers were attending professional development with Ann Easter
(GATE Advisor, School Support Services, Hamilton) when she mentioned a funding pool for
gifted and talented education. The teachers from the rural schools, who had been working
with Tairawhiti Rural Education Activities Programme (REAP) to provide extension
programmes, suggested that Tairawhiti REAP could assist in pulling together an application
to the Talent Development Initiative Funding Pool and so the journey began.
Out of those initially interested, 10 schools emerged (five urban and five rural) that were
already committed to extending talent. These schools also had a variety of informal
arrangements for in-school and joint programmes. All felt they could have a stronger focus
and wanted to work collaboratively.
A management group of the 10 principals met to plan a GATE programme for the year
ahead. It was agreed that the most effective way forward was through a holistic programme
that addressed the overarching needs of gifted and talented students, their schools, whnau,
and communities. The programme had to be holistic to reflect the special nature of Turanga,
and to encourage the participation of schools with rolls varying from eight to over 500
students.
The makeup of the cluster is diverse since it includes:
urban and rural schools
single-teacher schools and those with a large teaching staff
immersion and mainstream schools
schools with a high proportion of Mori students
Catholic integrated schools and state schools
decile range of 38.
Each school needed a programme that would match their own special character (including a
school with a Mori immersion unit), and which could be tailored to suit their students'
needs. The programme needed to provide for students with outstanding strengths in art,
music, mathematics, physical activities, and languages, as well as some students with
strong leadership qualities.

Programme objectives
The objectives of the programme that were agreed on were to develop practises within and
among the 10 schools to create sustained programmes for gifted and talented students
through:
professional development of staff and other key personnel
best practice in identification, assessment, and support of gifted and talented
students
enhancement of in-class programmes for gifted and talented students
mentoring of gifted and talented students
development of inter-school extension programmes for clusters of students in areas
of cognition, social and emotional skills, creativity and culture (the last being
particularly crucial in our area with a high proportion of Mori students).
Management team
The management team comprises of the 10 principals and the programme director (from
Tairawhiti REAP) and programme coordinator (from Tairawhiti REAP). The management
group decides the direction of the programme, and the director and coordinator put this into
action.
The team approach is critical to the success of the programme. The involvement and
commitment from principals is essential and ensures senior management staff are
committed. The management group also encourage involvement of lead teachers.
The approach to planning is to develop an overview for the year but within that allow the
flexibility to meet needs as they may arise during the year. Any initiative can lead to
extension within itself: for instance, a cluster creative writing workshop with a local writer led
to further extension bringing in the expertise of a nationally recognised writer to accelerate
skills, and the in-school chess programme lead to a cluster chess tournament which will be
repeated.
The team meets on a twice-quarterly basis for planning, review and evaluation. The
meetings start with a mihi, karakia and shared kai some travel an hour and a quarter to
attend yet attendance always averages at least 90%. Reflective practise is a constant
throughout the meetings leading to the need for flexibility within agendas.

The meetings last for up to two hours, in school time, and have a packed agenda. All those
involved are very enthusiastic about planning for the best interests of their students and
school communities.
Management group meetings are satisfying, stimulating and fun. A supportive collegiality has
developed and humour is a key ingredient. The management group is very supportive of
each other and buddy up as required for extension beyond the programme. Crossfertilization of ideas is a focus and very valuable. A sense of competition raises the bar.
Role of director and coordinator
The tasks of the director and coordinator include setting up the documentation needed for
quality assurance, parent permissions, identification templates, payments, tutor contracts,
administration and payroll. Tracking of individual students is done within the schools, while
the management group holds rolls and evaluations of each programme.
The management group have noted that having Tairawhiti REAP as a neutral partner is very
important to the success of the programme, particularly in regard to organisation,
administration and compliance tasks, which take in excess of 10 hours a week for three
people (director, coordinator and administrator/payroll officer).
Tairawhiti REAP is financially supporting the programme and has valued having a staff
member (the coordinator) who is keenly interested in gifted and talented education, is a
trained teacher, and has undertaken professional development with the schools. Tairawhiti
REAP is constantly looking at systems to be more effective and efficient and make best use
of personnel.
Issues that have been identified for improvement include:
organising time-deficient principals
getting communication to the lead teachers
reliance on technology (email systems that go down)
difficulty of getting prompt responses
funding not covering real costs.
Resources
Our key resources are our human resources, which comprise our management group, lead
teachers, community tutors, other schools, and other local institutions.
Particular individuals we feel privileged to work with are:
Ann Easter and Tracy Riley for their mentoring and professional support to the
management group, director and coordinator
Waikato University School Support Services, as 'ideas-people' and tutors of
extensions
Gisborne Intermediate School and Gisborne Boys High for providing extension tutors
and mentoring.
We have also found value in schools developing their own kits for extension programmes
(such as Water, Space, Discovery, and others) that we share on a library system. We
collectively hold books, articles, and research, and it is one of roles of the directors to source
recent articles and papers and share these with the management group.

The availability of the resources has been particularly crucial for our smaller rural schools
and was included in our budget for the contract. Each school has been able to identify and
acquire a resource to add value to their in-school extension programmes. We have avoided
doubling-up with resources that schools already had. We have also acquired a large size
chess set and board. An Apple Mac Ibook and video has been purchased to support the
cluster extension programme in video making and editing.
Professional development
We considered that one of the vital ingredients towards the success of the initiative was to
have a strong emphasis on professional development for all teachers in the 10 schools to
enable sustainability within the school cluster. Capability building is our prime focus
alongside meeting the students' needs.
Professional development has taken many forms, including on-the-job coaching, mentoring,
modelling and demonstration, courses and hui. Lead teachers are identified in each school
and encouraged to take skill enhancement opportunities.
As part of this project, each school agreed to commit to GATE professional development
offered by Ann Easter from Waikato University School Support Services. This has been
essential in building foundations and raising professional levels. Critical to the project
success has been the ongoing development, monitoring and evaluation of identification tools
for our programme.
We are committed to getting the best professional development available, so have included
both international presenters and local expert tutors. We have found that collegiality and idea
sharing have been a positive outcome. Local pools of knowledge have added value and
have made the programme distinctively responsive to the community.
Opportunities
Over the past few years we have offered 11 external professional opportunities and nine inschool professional experiences for our 10 schools.
We value current research, and so we spent time with Dr Tracey Riley to discuss the
implications of Massey University's recent report into provisions for gifted learners in New
Zealand for our programme. The teachers and managers who took part in this session found
it a valuable experience.
Enabling teachers to participate in national hui has broadened and added depth to the skill
base. Each year the Ministry of Education has gathered together principals and teachers
from each of the groups funded through the gifted and talented pool along with advisers and
teacher educators. Every cluster or in-school extension in our programme sends a teacher
for their own professional development, and the learning they gain is then shared within their
school.
The George Parkyn 'Getting it Right' course impacted positively in enabling teaching staff to
gain national and international perspectives. Rikki Walsh (Principal of Manutuke School and
management group member) is also part of the National Advisory Group working with the
Ministry of Education, which gives our group a broader perspective of gifted education
nationally.

While all the management group was trained in use of the Talk2Learn interactive website
(which has linked all the groups funded through the pool), they found that it was initially
useful.
Teachers have found that such professional development experiences have lead to new
practises within their teaching. Some examples include a cluster professional development
experience (featuring local expert Faye LeCren) on digital photography, which lead to at
least one school reviewing and enhancing their resources and the use of ICT within their
curriculum.
The management group have identified professional development as the prime factor as it
has lead to an 'all of school' high-quality approach to meeting the special needs of gifted and
talented students.
Identification
Initially the identification of giftedness in students was problematic in that we did not have
consensual agreement. The 10 schools (with over 2000 students) involved in our
programme initially used a variety of identification indicators, which sometimes led to a wide
range of competency in the gifted category. There has been healthy debate about
identification procedures.
After consultation, we decided to have a distinction in our framework between 'gifted' and
'talented', and developed the following definitions:
gifted (cognitively and leadership) was defined as the upper 5-percentile
achievement level on any recognised standardized test
talented (ability) was defined as the top 1015% with demonstrable/observable
talent in a particular area.
These particular definitions were developed from some theoretical base (Gagne) and from
the feedback from management group, teachers, whnau, and the school community,
particularly the Mori community.

Example developed by a student

Initially only years 48 students were identified for out-of-school extension programmes, but
this has now been extended to years 38. The reason was that we have very few year 78
children as the majority of our schools are contributing schools and we saw the need to give

year 3 children some experience of the cluster. All year levels take part in in-school
extension.
All students identified by the above definitions took part in a multiple intelligences (Gardner)
workshop in which they identified their own individual learning styles and needs. This
information was also useful to encourage students to take responsibility for their own
learning. The multiple intelligences documents were translated for use in immersion kura.
At the end of 2003, it was agreed that the identification process should be reviewed by a
working group of the management group and this has resulted in more cohesive groupings
for gifted extension clusters. The tool we use was adapted from Ann Easters' Talent
Detector as this was one that the group had found to be most helpful and for which they had
received professional development.
Accurate and ongoing identification underpins the quality of the programmes presented and
is constantly being revisited and revised. All schools are revisiting their identification at least
twice a year and find this is useful for picking up students they missed or who were misidentified for giftedness.
The identification of talent has been sound and consistent in enabling students with specific
talent to develop and grow within their schooling. The evaluation of the identification
indicators has lead to teachers being more selective and enhancing the cluster extensions
and individual student's outcomes.
Cluster extension programme
The cluster extension programme began in term 3 of 2003 and there are at least two cluster
extensions per term. Catering for years 38 students, these inter-school activities are
organised for clusters of students in year groupings or ability groupings. The management
group takes the lead in planning the cluster programmes for the year. Approximately 100
students have been identified as gifted in 2004 compared with 120 in 2003.
The cluster extension programmes are held in the most appropriate location for that
programme, with a balance between rural and urban locations. The clusters are usually run
in school hours, but some have taken place on the weekend and this has involved parents'
time and commitment. Parents have commented on their joy in being involved.
Tutors are chosen for their expertise in the chosen field and for their experience with
students. If they are not trained teachers, a teacher is assigned to work with them from
planning through to delivery and evaluation. The students, teachers, and tutors evaluate
each programme with feedback also coming from the schools. Groups of between 1530
students are involved. The tutors have the most appropriate expertise that we can afford and
we search locally first then look out of the region.
Range of programmes
The cluster extension programmes cover a huge variety of subjects, touching such
curriculum areas as leadership, maths, science, language, written and oral, ICT, and digital
photography. The programmes are planned to meet the identified needs of the students,
using information from both their school's assessment and their self-evaluations.
The value of the cluster extension programme includes:

similar children being together bouncing off each other

rural and urban students learning from each other
different cultures learning to respect each other's values and ways of learning
socialisation skills being developed
students feeling on the same wavelength (peer extension)
students feeling challenge for example, Gisborne Boys High provided four
programmes over five weeks in which tests and research were a part.

Presenters/tutors have been very impressed and inspired by the receptive and responsive
children. An unintended impact has been to encourage other schools' interest in providing
for their gifted and talented students and developing their own programmes. This has been
particularly visible in an intermediate school that many of the cluster schools feed to, and in
a secondary school that has become involved in providing extension programmes for our
cluster.
Another valuable collaboration is with institutions, such as Tairawhiti Museum, which have
become very involved in providing extension programme support.
Issues
Issues to address that have been identified in relation to the extension programme are:
Parents have an expectation that if their children have been identified as gifted they
will be included on all gifted and talented initiatives but this is not necessarily so as
the clusters and extensions have been focused on specific gifts and talents. Good
communication between school and whnau is clarifying these issues.
While the cluster extensions are highly valuable, the logistics of organising them are
time consuming and following up schools to get names, permissions, and all logistics
complete can be very frustrating. The contracting of tutors and follow-up evaluations
are also time consuming.
In-school programmes
All identified talented children have in-school programmes developed with them by the
management group. Identified years 1 to 3 students are catered for in their schools rather
than in cluster extension programmes. There have been 200250 children within these
programmes, of which at least 50% are Mori.
The project management team are particularly focused on appropriate identification and
extension for Mori children. We are fortunate to have one school in the cluster (Manutuke)
that has a whnau unit and high level of commitment and expertise to support us. This is
particularly important given the lack of available research and material on this area. Some

research references have been valuable (such as McFarland) but we have found that the
input and journey of discovery that this school and its whnau and community have made
has been the key ingredient for our definitions and initiatives.
In-school extension programmes are hugely valuable for the students and also provide
professional development opportunities for teachers. They enable students with a specific
skill to be recognised in the school and thus enhance their full schooling experience and
future potential. Each programme takes place in individual schools (with two rural schools
clustering) and include up to 20 students in each extension programme.
External tutors fill the gaps in expertise within schools. Local expertise was identified during
a community hui held in the early days of the programme to build community support in the
programme. A community scoping meeting drew out local knowledge and expertise, and
explained the aims of the programme.
All schools evaluate their in-school programmes, and have teachers attending for
professional development purposes.
In-school extension also connects with regional happenings, such as gymnastics
competitions, speech competitions and so on. Community input and provision of expertise
has broadened community knowledge. The local newspaper provides photos and
commentary for a selection of the programmes, which generates pride for the students and
whnau.
Range of programmes
In-school extension programmes include the following:
individual learning plans
appropriate tutors for whnau unit (te reo) oral language, harakeke, waiata,
legends, leadership (one of our schools came second at the National finals of
kapahaka)
Multiple Intelligence Surveys made appropriate to Mori
learning centres
curriculum compacting
theatre sports
junior ambassadors
modern dance
physical education and goal setting
poetry and speech writing
maths, ICT and science awards competitions
Web Challenge programme
Book Chat programme (online)
cross-class groupings
withdrawal programmes
online learning programmes
goal setting and self-evaluation
higher order thinking
Otago Problem Solving
inquiry learning
inter-school events, involving secondary school students as mentors
ANP Numeracy programme
Australasian exams
Technic Lego

chess
visual arts
Tairawhiti history.
Students find the whnau modelling and mentoring across age groups rewarding. The
extension programmes have extended their experiences, as many students have been
introduced to new experiences such as chess.
Issues
Issues that have been identified in relation to the in-school programmes are as follows:
We are developing a more formal and structured format for tutors of the in-school
extension because these tutors are often not trained teachers but experts in their
own fields.
Having an independent Director and coordinator is of particular value in organising
the in-school extension programmes. Arranging 16 to 18 separate sessions for each
school or school cluster each term is constantly frustrating and hugely time
consuming, particularly as it includes the follow-up administration and evaluation.
Community, whnau, and other support
A hui was held to inform the broader community of the project, especially those with
contributions to make (as tutors and mentors).
The critical aspects that the community was concerned about were the identification
processes. They asserted that identification should not be based solely on standardised
testing, that whnau should be involved, and that all processes be appropriate to Mori.
During the hui we brainstormed a community definition of what constitutes gifted and
talented.
Many of the attendees at this hui have since been involved in tutoring and mentoring in the
programmes. A database of skilled tutors has been drawn up and is being utilised by the
project and schools to access community 'talent' for in-school extension and mentoring.
Whnau hui
The project has provided templates and a newsletter to assist each of schools with their
communication with whnau. A whnau hui was held from which parent feedback was
gathered (see below). It became apparent that we had not done enough to involve the
parents in each stage of the process, from identification to evaluation, and this is now being
addressed as a critical issue.
Following is some feedback from parents at the hui:
Relevancy of programmes is important, as is the cultural appropriateness.
There is a need to track identified children through schooling transitions, such as
primary to intermediate. Parents need to know what programmes will be provided. A
collaborative approach with schools and parents regarding selection of gifted is
appreciated.
Communication with schools is imperative parents will seek advocacy if not
satisfied.

Schools should support wider advocacy for gifted students, such as organising
holiday programmes.
Information is necessary for parents including forward notice timetables in advance,
yearly plan and overview for parents.
It is important there is a continuity of programmes within schools and classrooms.
Need for guidelines for parents this was followed up with referring parents to
appropriate websites, in particular Tracy Riley's Mass-E-Gifted website.
Parents recognise the importance of socialisation aspects of the programme because they
appreciate the contact their child has with children like them, and how this helps children
learn to relate to each other. It has been interesting to note that whnau are now beginning
to ring to inquire which schools are in the programme before they place their child in a
school. Newspaper articles and photos always bring a flurry of enquiries. Other schools now
want to be part of the programme and have been encouraged to participate in some
professional development opportunities that we bring to the region.
We are indebted to the huge contribution and commitment parents make, for travel and
weekend events, remembering that for some the travel time is an hour and a quarter each
way.
Evaluation
We carry out ongoing evaluation of each part of the programme using questionnaires. We
seek a balance of representation from urban and rural people, and different gender and
ethnicity groups.
Key questions
The following questions were asked of students, whnau/parents, and teachers, tutors and
principals:
What have you liked about the programme?
How has this programme helped you?
How would you like to see this programme developing in the future?
What have been the observable benefits for the students? (not included in students'
questions)
Following are summaries of the answers to these questions from the three groups.
Students' replies
Following are summaries of students' replies:
They liked the challenge, solving problems, studying areas not covered in school,
working with others with similar interests, having their skills acknowledged, learning
new strategies & techniques, it was competitive and supportive and above all fun.
They were helped by being able to be themselves with in a group of like people,
developing skills and how to apply them, developing thinking, improving techniques,
and being challenged.
They would like to see the programme developed by having smaller groups, going for
longer and studying a concept over time, having more personal choice to develop
concepts and topics.

Whnau/parents' replies
Following are summaries of whnau/parents' replies:
They liked the inclusive identification process and the concept of their children's skills
being nurtured and built on. They liked that the programme has challenged their
children to think outside the square and opened avenues of self expression. It has
encouraged parents to offer their children more enriching experiences at home, new
socialisation opportunities, and to challenge their children outside their comfort zone.
Quote from a parent in answer to 'What have you liked about the programme?'
"I liked the opportunity provided for my child and the encouragement given to develop
strength areas of learning, as well as to extend and encourage his skills in communication,
social and co-operative skills with other children and adults outside his known
environment/comfort zone."
Parents felt the programme had helped make them more appreciative of their child's
strengths and potential, opening up good communication channels between home
and school. They commented that the children were more settled and fulfilled, and
showed growth in self esteem.
Quote from a parent
"My realisation is that some children need challenges that are not within the normal
framework of the school and home environment, and not to limit my child's potential but to
encourage, challenge and provide the opportunities for them to realise their potential."
Parents would like to see the programmes developed through more activities on a
regular basis, more cultural experiences, longer timeframe, and more information
about the objectives of the clusters and outcomes to enable them as parents to
participate in strengthening the areas of learning.
They identified observable benefits for their children, including increased self esteem
and confidence, being calmer and more focused, achieving more, being inspired and
stimulated, continuing focus of learning at home, being happier and not bored,
broadening circles of socialisation, behaviour moderated, desire to further their areas
of interest, and, above all, enjoyment.
Quote from a parent
"Definitely a growth in confidence, belief in self, and ability to engage more comfortably with
other children of different ages/skills and with adults. A better communicator, with an
understanding that learning/knowledge comes in a diverse range of ways that is fun... that
challenge is good... An increasing understanding of their strengths and abilities."
Teachers' and tutors' responses
Following are summaries of teachers' and tutors' responses:
Teachers liked the programme because it has given gifted and talented students the
opportunity to attempt something they haven't tried before, their self esteem and
motivation has grown through selection and participation, the students' lateral
thinking and time management skills have been enhanced, and their social skills
have been enhanced.
The teachers and tutors feel the programme has helped make them aware that they
need to provide extension opportunities in class as an integrated part of the

classroom programme, by being more challenging in their teaching, by being

thorough with identification processes, and by being involved in observing external
tutors to add to their skill base.
The tutors felt their programmes helped extend the students' talents by extending
creative thinking, exploring imagination, extending problem solving, adding new skills
and concepts, introducing community experts and experiences to broaden learning
environments, providing practical application opportunities for advanced skills, and
giving students tools to think outside the square.
Teachers and tutors felt the observable benefits included students developing pride
and self esteem, showing more positive attitudes to learning, showing enthusiasm
and greater depth of understanding of topics, extending natural ability, better time
management, communication and socialisation skills, heightened desire to progress
ideas and concepts to practical application, enhancement of natural processes of
exploration, gaining confidence and growing ability to pass on knowledge to others.
Teachers and tutors felt the programme could be further developed by more
professional development opportunities for teachers and tutors through either
workshops or peer observation, further in-depth analysis with students of topics to
extend skills, more preparation of students before workshops, more extended and
ongoing extension (such as one full day a week for up to six weeks), and for schools
to ensure that the identification of students is accurate, and that the children want to
be involved and are eager to learn.
Looking forward
The above answers from the evaluation questionnaire were used to inform the development
of more ongoing, focused, learner-centred programmes for students in 2005. The
programmes, which students choose to enter, are centred on enquiry learning, literacy
circles, open learning, and mathematics.
Collaboration and commitment
As this cluster developed and grew, a passionate commitment and thirst for knowledge grew
amongst the management group and those of us involved with the direction and
coordination. The management group was fully involved in all aspects of developing and
planning all programmes and initiatives.
The cooperative, collaborative approach of the whole team has lead to a strong crosssectorial approach in meeting the needs of the gifted and talented students. Each person
involved has brought their own unique skills to meeting the collective needs of the group and
this is both acknowledged and celebrated.
The cluster has appreciated the ongoing support of Anne Easter (GATE Advisor, School
Support Services) and the TDI team in Wellington, who have all given us practical support
and been a conduit for information that has informed us and further developed our
programme.
Challenges and dreams
Challenges we have identified for next year and beyond include:
building relationships with appropriate others (such as RTLBs and Teacher Aides) to
extend the networks of those supporting gifted and talented children and their

whnau, and to increase their understanding of the issues in gifted and talented
education
building an innovative stage two for our programme that has sustainability as an
objective what can we do ourselves? Where to when the funding has ended?
balancing the integration of the gifted programmes with the whole-school programme
tracking the children beyond the primary sector
long-term overview planning being pro-active, not re-active
being well prepared for management meetings (time management for busy
principals).
If all our dreams could come true:
initiatives such as TDI would be funded for a period of time to enable total integration
and sustainability
all schools would have additional funding for their identified gifted and talented
students linked to their strategic planning
each gifted and talented student would be surrounded by an environment that values
their gifts and skills, and supports them to realise their potential
a regional coordinator would be appointed to enable cooperation and collaboration
between schools in planning for and undertaking cluster extension and in-school
initiatives.
We have been privileged to be a part of this programme and passionately want to continue
to be resourced in order to continue the programme in the future.