Suzanne Plume – Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator 7-12 | Debating and Public Speaking 7-12

Oxford Masterclass: Gifted and Talented Study Day for Highly Able and Ambitious Senior Students 2019

www.academyconferences.com/index.php/gifted-and-talented-students/au-nz-programme

This is a day for bright ambitious senior students who are interested in ideas. This year the focus will be on the capacity of gifted and talented students to more readily manipulate abstract ideas and make connections across school subject areas.

Using the Australian curriculum to meet the needs of highly-able students, pupils will spend the day with like-minded youngsters all keen to reach the ceiling of their ability and share ideas.

The day, which the presenters describe as a day filled with world-class extension activities, will consist of a series of lectures and culminate in a debate.

If you are interested in attending, please email Ms Plume (Co-ordinator of Gifted and Talented Programmes 7-12) setting out your reasons for wanting to attend, by Friday 5 April.

These will form part of the criteria for selection, which will also include in-class achievement levels, school evaluation measures and teacher recommendations.

Attendees will be chosen by a committee of teachers trained in Gifted Education and Mr Majsay. Their decision will be final. Successful attendees will be notified by email in Week 1 Term 2.

Session one: Knowing What you Know and What you Don’t Know – Julie Arliss

Knowledge is not the same as belief. What things can we know, beyond reasonable doubt? This is the task for a jury sitting in a court room and is the opening question of this session. A range of ideas will be presented from across the curriculum to explore the difference between that which can rationally be said to be proved and what it is reasonable to believe. This session will give academically-able students, thinking tools with which to test factual claims. In addition there will be an evaluation of the claim that there are some areas of human experience, such as claims to religious experience, which require different tests.

Session two: The Psychology of Outstanding Achievement: It’s not all about IQ! – Dr. Chris O’Neill

Contrary to popular belief, outstanding achievement in everything and anything, from maths to marathons, classics to clarinet, from football to physics, does not ultimately depend upon innate intelligence or ability. There are a number of important factors leading to outstanding achievement, which, unlike your genetic profile or the school you attend, are entirely under your control. This session will examine the hard evidence of what really produces a life of outstanding achievement. A fascinating interactive examination of what really makes a difference.

Session three: The Politics of Tolerance and Freedom – Jeffrey Hodges

Freedom of speech and the sharing of ideas are at the heart of tolerance, but is a free society obliged to tolerate everything? Tolerance is considered the maximal virtue of many western political systems but many people have not examined precisely what this means. This lecture will examine the intellectual heritage of tolerance as a virtue and consider whether in its modern form it should be thought of as a virtue or a vice. Drawing on his own practical experience of working in politics, Jeffrey Hodges will argue that tolerance isn’t enough and that new ways forward must be found if pluralist societies are to flourish in the future.

Session four: The BIG Debate: This house believes that students should not be allowed mobile phones in school
Cell phones carry multiple benefits, and it’s difficult to imagine life without them. Some research indicates a link between mobile phones and poor mental health, low sense of well-being and even poor physical health. Some even suggest that they may have an addictive quality! Are the health risks worth the price of being connected to our friends? What do you think? There’s no doubt that society has come to a point where the idea of living without cell phones seems ludicrous, but is it time to put our phones away? Come and share your views on mobile phones and persuade the room to vote with you in what promises to be a cutting edge debate with all the latest research to add to your thoughts.