Gifted and Talented Programme
We ensure gifted students are supported and appropriately challenged to develop their natural gifting into talents.
Secondary GATE Programme and Academic Scholarships
The SCBC GATE programme ensure that gifted and high achieving students are appropriately challenged and prepared for the future. Students are supported in developing their academic passions and talents through the three pillars of the program: Academic Extension and Enrichment; Project-based Learning and competitions and Academic Progress Management & Mentoring.
In an encouraging environment, students will develop a love of learning, a growth mindset, and resilience to respond to many challenges that life may throw at them in the future. Students will develop skills of leadership, critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and other 21st Century skills that are essential for success in the contemporary global economy.
Students who receive an Academic scholarship will automatically be granted entrance into the Gifted and Talented Programme and placed alongside their peers who share similar abilities and capabilities for learning.
The Programme offers opportunities for:
- Placement into the top stream classes for their areas of exceptionality where programmes have been tailored to build in more collaboration, problem-based, and project-based learning.
- Partnerships with Universities and Industry.
- Participation in projects that respond to student interests, engaging them in diverse areas of study, such as Sustainability, Engineering, Physics, Social Justice, the Arts, Coding, and Environmental Science.
- Participation in a wide range of co-curricular extension opportunities, including the Australian Mathematics Competition, BrainBee Neuroscience Competition, Western Australia Debating League, Synergy Solar Car Challenge, WA Schools Hackathon, the Talented Young Writers' Programme, Tournament of the Minds, and various other national and international initiatives.
Students in the program will also have access to SCBC's range of electives, allowing students to discover their talents and apply learning in an inter-disciplinary manner. Some of these include, click on links below:
Entrance to the Programme
Entrance to the Secondary GATE programme is selective, and offers are awarded on the basis of performance in the Higher Abilities Selective Test (HAST) and other supporting evidence submitted in the application process that demonstrates giftedness. The HAST testing instrument has been created by the Australian Council for Educational Research and is used by over 100 Secondary schools across Australia and internationally.
Students who are in Year 5 in 2023 can apply for a 2025 intake. All other Secondary Year groups are welcome to put forward an Expression of Interest by emailing enquiries@scbc.wa.edu.au.
Application Timeline
Applications Close: February 2024
Academic Test Date: March 2024
Interview: May 2024
Intake Year: 2025
Academic Scholarships are selective and highly competitive. These scholarships will only be based on the results of the HAST test. The continuation of scholarships relies on the student's good behaviour and academic progress. Scholarship recipients will be reviewed annually.