In any discussions with your child's school, it may be beneficial to have some data to support decisions around the best supports to be offered to students.
A trained professional can provide a report outlining what supports may be most beneficial for your child to achieve their best. This can be a good starting place for a productive discussion with school leadership and your child's teachers. It should be noted that some academic accommodations, whilst clearly beneficial, may lie outside the permitted options for various reasons. Particularly, this is why having a professional report can provide balance and insight in negotiating accommodations and differentiation strategies.
QAGTC, with the generous support of the GBK Foundation, is embarking on an exciting opportunity to support families with gifted youngsters who may not have the financial resources available to devote to accessing professional educational testing.
Parents are now able to apply to QAGTC for a grant to cover 95% of the cost of IQ testing for their child if they are able to meet the requirements for the grant. Parents will source their own psychologist and contact QAGTC providing evidence listed below. QAGTC will then provide documentation to the psychologist's office outlining our commitment to cover the 95% of the total testing fees. Once parents have paid the residual 5% of the cost, QAGTC will cover the remaining fee directly with the psychologist.
To apply for the grant, please make contact with the QAGTC Office via the contact information form below with the subject line "Subsidised IQ Testing". DO NOT send any private information via the form other than requesting further information. We will then reply with the more complete process.
To be eligible for the grant...
- Your child must be currently attending a primary school in Queensland
- The main carer of the child must be able to provide evidence that the carer is already in receipt of government support (Health Care Card or other special benefits card for lower SES families)
That's it!
And now, the conditions...
- Parents must source their own professional psychologist (QAGTC cannot do this for you but there is some further information found here - https://www.qagtc.org.au/resources/testing-and-psychologists )
- There is a finite amount of grant money available each year - families who miss out for this reason will be prioritised in the following financial year, pending grant funds.
- Parents must be willing to pay the cost of the remaining 5% of the testing fee to the psychologist
About our generous benefactor...
The GKB Foundation “The Foundation” is a charitable foundation founded in 2006 by Dr Kirsten Baulch and Graeme Baulch and is registered with the Australian Charites and Not-for-Profits Commission.
The Foundation’s purpose is to promote the psychological well-being of financially disadvantaged children who are suspected to be gifted, and who require IQ testing, by contributing to the expense of their IQ test (psychologist-administered psychometric tests such as the WISC-V and the WPPSI-IV).
The Foundation understands that giftedness occurs across all socioeconomic groups, although children experiencing financial disadvantage are less likely to be identified as gifted and are less likely to access IQ testing.
Identification of giftedness enhances understanding of the child’s unique needs, which helps the parents and school to respond accordingly.
More information about the GKB Foundation (Trustee for the GKB Foundation) is available here:
https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/dcece56d-39af-e811-a963-000d3ad24077/profile
About Kirsten and Graeme Baulch...
Dr Kirsten Baulch MBBS FRACGP is a medical doctor who was born and educated in Queensland. Graeme Baulch MBA is a business person, born in the Northern Territory and educated at Queensland University of Technology.
Their lived experience as parents of a gifted child, who required early IQ assessment and significant modifications to their education, exposed them to the disparity in educational and psychological outcomes among the gifted who are identified and subsequently appropriately catered to, and those who are not.
