Where This Started

For years in the classroom, most of our attention rightly went to students who were struggling. But it meant capable kids who were coping well on the surface often went unnoticed — quietly disengaging, underachieving, or just bored, because looking fine on paper isn’t the same as being appropriately challenged and supported to grow.

Then it became personal. My own son was identified as gifted and twice-exceptional, with ADHD — and even with a teaching background and postgraduate study in gifted education, getting him properly recognised and supported took far more than it should have. It’s less a story about any one teacher, and more about what happens when a system built to catch struggle isn’t yet built to notice potential hiding in plain sight.

I’m a registered teacher with a Graduate Certificate in Gifted Education, a background in psychology, and a decade teaching and leading gifted and talented programs in schools — work that’s taught me the biggest lever isn’t another specialist program, it’s giving parents and teachers the confidence and tools to notice and support potential themselves. That’s what Growing Gifted is for: translating the research into something practical, so every parent and every teacher can help the exceptional kids in their life build the resilience, skills and confidence to actually thrive — not just cope.

— Danielle Welsh