GIFTED & TALENTED

About the Program

The Gifted and Talented Selective Entrance Program is a rigorous and challenging academic program where selected students study an enriched curriculum of Mathematics, English, Science and Humanities (MESH subjects) together as a stable class group from Years 7 to 10. The classes provide a stimulating environment that encourages student teamwork, motivation and engagement. The program also offers challenges outside the classroom, providing students with opportunities to develop STEM skills through activities promoting creativity, collaboration and cooperation. Throughout the program, students have opportunities to partner with universities and private and not-for-profit organisations, often in highly collaborative or competition-based environments.

Support continues into Senior School, where Year 11 and 12 Gifted and Talented students’ progress is tracked and monitored while opportunities and engagement with various universities are provided to prepare them for their selected individual pathways post-school.

At Melville SHS, the Gifted and Talented teaching team understands the need to challenge students and consistently look for innovative ways to engage the gifted learner. The collaborative partnership between parents, teachers and other professionals ensures that students have the opportunity to extend their skills and knowledge in a highly supportive environment.

Parent Information Handbook

Specific information on the Gifted & Talented program as offered at Melville Senior High School

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Application Dates

Expressions of interest for 2025 are now open.

The Expression of Interest is here.

Key Dates and Guidelines

For more information on the 2024 intake and testing details

please click here.

About the Subjects

This subject will extend students’ problem-solving capabilities and allow them to see the applicability of Mathematics in abstract reasoning while also clarifying the applications of their studied topic in the real world. Our program is specifically designed to nurture and develop the problem-solving capabilities of gifted students, empowering them to conquer real-world challenges through mathematics. By integrating practical applications of mathematics, the program equips students with the skills they need to make a tangible impact in fields like engineering, finance, and technology.

Students are provided with the opportunity to participate in competitions and extension activities such as Numero, MATHS Empowering Girls, Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC), Have Some Fun, Murdoch Careers Incursions, and Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge (CSIRO).

Our English program immerses gifted students in the realm of literature, nurturing a love of reading while honing their creative and critical thinking abilities. We inspire students to explore diverse perspectives, develop their own voices and unravel the complexities of language and storytelling. Students will develop their analytic abilities and their creative potential, setting them on a path to become perceptive readers, eloquent writers and critical thinkers.

Students in the GAT program will gain access to exclusive extra-curricular events and competitions such as Book in a Day, Future Problem Solving (FPS) International Writing Competition, as well as writing workshops held at Murdoch and Curtin University.

In Science, gifted students will enjoy an enriching experience with exposure to an enhanced curriculum with exciting experiments and topics to uncover. This course will stimulate students’ curiosity about the natural world and foster their engagement with the intricacies of the human body, ecosystems, chemical reactions, and the universe’s building blocks in the form of atoms. Students will participate in STEM-based activities such as coding, robotics and engineering, which are huge growth areas for future employment. Students will be prepared to study upper-school Biology, Human Biology, Chemistry and Physics in the coming years.

Gifted students will have exclusive access to the National Science Week Quiz (RACI), Big Science at Murdoch University, Seek Out Science Workshops with Murdoch, Scitech Incursions, and the WISE Women Murdoch Excursion.

Gifted students in HASS will investigate many aspects of our shared world and human history and build their sense of civic duty by understanding how our world functions economically and politically. Through engaging scenarios, students apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to address pressing global issues, becoming agents of positive change in their communities and beyond.

Students in GAT HASS are provided with many extension opportunities and excursions such as exploring local wildlife habitats, United Nations Youth Forum, Premier’s Anzac Tour, Mock Trials and an Interactive Waterwise Experience.

Information on Applying

Applications and testing take place when your child is in Year 6. After applying, your child must sit the Academic Selective Entrance Test (ASET) in Year 6. This is organised and run by the Department of Education’s Gifted and Talented Selective Unit (GTSU) and Melville SHS is a testing venue each year. Successful applicants will then have a choice of Gifted and Talented Selective Schools once they receive their marks. Students may attend a school of choice, even if not in the local intake area.

The offer process is explained in the following video: How the offers process works – Gifted and Talented program – YouTube

Top Up Testing

Students wishing to enter the Gifted and Talented Program after commencing secondary school must sit Department of Education ‘top-up testing’ for entry the following year. For example, a student in Year 8 can sit the testing for entry to Year 9. The Department of Education Gifted and Talented Selection Unit runs this testing.