Story from Rijeka - an example of good practice of the network of various experts and institutions in the development of gifted program

Paper

The City of Rijeka is showing interest in solving on local level education topics which have not, for now, been resolved at the national level. The City of Rijeka have been a pioneer in implementing educational programs such as early IT education for 1st to 4th grade elementary school students (2003/2004) as well as the extracurricular program of civic education (2016/2017). For many years, the City has been supporting its gifted students through the financing of various programs intended for the gifted (E-classroom in mathematics, LIADO - art research atelier of gifted primary school students, etc.). These programs are very successful, but they do not represent the development of all areas of children's interest at the local level. Therefore, in 2019, the City of Rijeka, through the Youth Center as a project coordinator, launched a pilot project "I play, I explore, I learn". The Youth Centre, a city institution for the organization of free time children and youth, gathered a working group of various experts and enthusiasts. The entire project is implemented in cooperation with the Center for Gifted Child Development Rijeka, with eminent experts from the Faculty of Teacher Education and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka and with 13 elementary schools from Rijeka. The pilot project is being implemented in several phases. So far, a model of stakeholder cooperation has been developed, an identification procedure has been carried out, and programs have been designed in four large areas - ARTISTIC, NATURAL SCIENCE, TECHNICAL and SOCIAL-HUMANISTIC. Currently, the project is in the most beautiful phase, which is the implementation of the program and work with gifted students. The evaluation process is carried out in parallel. The value of the pilot project lies in reviewing the available resources at the local level and networking them together so that after the successful implementation of the pilot project remains a platform for upgrading quality systematic care for gifted elementary school students in Rijeka.