GIFT Courses Ltd  www.giftcourses.co.uk

GIFT has been nurturing the brightest, most curious young people since 1978.

We run workshops and residential courses for gifted children of all ages, from all schools and none, as well as providing opportunities for schools to enrich their work with their gifted pupils. Our philosophy is that what gifted children need most is other gifted children, so we aim to facilitate intellectual and social connections that we know have in many cases lasted for decades.

The “jewel in the crown” of our provision is the annual summer school (sadly mothballed during 2020)  typically the first week in August, in which fifty or so GIFTers of secondary school age from around the UK and beyond spend Sunday to Friday together, working on a choice of full-day projects that might be on subjects as diverse as Designing an Evilometer to the Time Traveller’s Paradox to photography, space flight, literature or psychology. There are also shorter evening sessions to choose from that might be relaxing, playful or imaginative such as Creative Dreaming, Being a Code or the ever-changing Misguided Tour. We have many years of experience of creating a very welcoming, informal atmosphere in which youngsters can relax and be themselves without feeling they are being judged.

 

We also knew Zoom before it was famous, and have been running online evening Philosophy Wranglers sessions for 9-11 and secondary age students since 2017, more recently joined by Improv and Debating. These provide a low-cost way for bright young people to connect and find their tribe, even in these rather isolating times. There are also Wranglers LATE sessions for adults, which some parents like to use to see if their children would enjoy it.