Gifted Education Centre takes over running of Small Poppies

Small Poppies has been operating in Auckland now for over 10 years, established and developed by Sue Breen. Many of you will already know Sue, but for those who don’t (yet!), Sue has been teaching for over 30 years, and involved with gifted education for over 20 years. She has two gifted children (now adults) of her own. Sue is a lifetime member of both the NZAGC (New Zealand Association for Gifted Children) and AAGC (Auckland Association for Gifted Children, has served as NZAGC National President, edited both “Tall Poppies” and “Apex” and organized/presented at numerous workshops and conferences for teachers, children and parents. Sue is also a member of the Board for the Gifted Education Centre.

Sue has a special interest in maths, science and technology, was a member of the Writing Team for the Development Band of the Mathematics Curriculum Statement and coordinator of a writing team for ‘Supporting Scientifically Talented Students”.

Since 1996 she has worked fulltime in gifted education, including the One Day School, and now teaches almost exclusively for Small Poppies.

Sue is passionate about these young ones, and wishes to secure the future of the programme. She is working on training and mentoring new teachers, and it is hoped that by 2008 we can begin to introduce the programme to areas outside Auckland.

The key objectives of Small Poppies are:-

• To challenge and “feed” the minds of the children present, at a level that is appropriate to their needs
• To provide an opportunity for gifted children to develop social contact with their peers
  
• To provide support for parents of young gifted children and to assist them to meet the needs of their children at home.
  

Children do not require any formal assessment to attend Small Poppies. Sue conducts a very gentle ‘interview’ over toys and equipment, and then the child remains for a full session (at no charge) to see if everyone is happy/suited. Naturally, parents attend as well.

Currently, sessions are held at St John’s (Remuera), Mt Albert, Mairangi Bay, Sunnyvale (Henderson) and Mangere Bridge – including a very popular Saturday morning session, for which a waiting list is common! These sessions work with children from 2 – 6 years of age.

Click here for more information on Small Poppies.