CTY Ireland and ECHA 2018
Orla Dunne, Residential Coordinator at Centre for Talented Youth, Ireland
Centre for Talented Youth, Ireland was established in Dublin City University in 1992 to respond to the needs of young students with exceptional academic ability and is currently one of the largest programme providers for high ability students in Europe. The Irish centre was set up in close co-operation with the Centre for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who have developed programmes for young students with exceptional abilities over many years. As a European Talent Support Network Talent Centre, CTY Ireland is a hub for Talent Points across Ireland and has served over 60,000 students since its founding.
CTY Ireland aims to provide an atmosphere which strongly supports the needs of gifted and talented young people, both academically and socially. The organisation’s courses are intended to be student orientated, fast paced and stimulating; all of which opens participants up to new ideas and challenges them beyond what they are used to. Most students at CTY Ireland have taken assessment tests and achieved exceptional scores in either or all of mathematical reasoning, verbal reasoning and critical thinking. On this basis they have been offered places on one of CTY Ireland’s programmes. They will intensively study one subject for either a semester or as part of the summer programmes. Class sizes are small, 15-20 students approximately, with each class having both an instructor and a teaching assistant, giving plenty of scope for individual attention. The courses are structured so that each student has the opportunity to work at their own pace. Students on the secondary school (aged 12-17) also have an opportunity to stay residentially on Dublin City University (DCU) campus and truly experience what university life is like! The residential team run a full schedule of activities both after class and on the weekends. CTY Ireland welcomes all international students to the residential summer programme and details of how to apply for 2019 can be found here: https://www.dcu.ie/ctyi/secondary-summer-programmes.shtml. CTY Ireland is a gifted education research hub and has collaborated with universities and organisations around the world, including on the recent book ‘Providing for the Special Needs of Students with Gifts and Talents’, published in 2017.
This year CTY Ireland is delighted to be hosting the 16th Conference of the European Council of Higher Ability (ECHA) in Dublin, from 8th-11th August. The theme of the conference is ‘Working with Gifted Students in the 21st Century’ and will hopefully be an opportunity for a broad cross-section of researchers, teachers, parents, programme coordinators and students to network and exchange ideas. ECHA 2018 will also feature an official meeting of the Talent Points of the European Talent Support Network and we hope to host many representatives from across the Network! The conference will be held in Croke Park, the hub of Irish sport for over a century and a location steeped in history and cultural legacy. As a city that can trace its origins back over a thousand years, Dublin offers guests an impressive range of museums, galleries and historical sites. Delegates can also take advantage of events organised within the ECHA Conference, such as a night in EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum and the Conference Gala Dinner in DCU’s Mahony Hall.
Although Ireland is a small country, we have a long tradition of looking outward and our history of transcontinental migration means the Irish diaspora are spread across the globe! To all delegates, whether this is a first visit, or you have experienced our fair shores before, we extend ‘céad míle fáilte’, a hundred thousand welcomes to join us for ECHA 2018!
