Wellbeing Information & Links

Gifted Student Wellbeing Information

The journey through the educational system can present unique challenges for gifted students and their parents. The Victorian government Inquiry into Gifted and Talented Students found that “in addition to their academic needs, gifted students often have specific social and emotional needs that must be met in order for these students to fulfil their potential.

Giftedness has an emotional as well as an academic component. Research has demonstrated that gifted students display heightened intellectual complexity as well as emotional hypersensitivity. They … experience their world in a more absorbing, vivid, intense way than their age peers … Gifted and talented students ponder the big questions, feel genuine empathy for the marginalised of the world and also feel disenfranchised because they feel so much more intensely than their peers do. Gifted students also have a strong sense of justice. They may also at times feel under incredible pressure from themselves or even their families to keep up with their peers and work at a high level.

The fact the gifted children are often different from their age-peers may make them susceptible to isolation, loneliness, and even bullying. In addition, boredom, frustration and social issues at school may have negative impacts on their mental health.

Box Hill High School is committed to meeting the needs of gifted children. All staff are cognisant of the issues surrounding gifted children and they are sensitive and understanding of their particular of the needs. All teaching staff have undergone training in gifted education and many staff have post graduate university qualifications in the area of gifted education.