The innovative program has identified hundreds of gifted and talented primary school children from Illawarra public schools and provided a program, one day a week in a collegiate classroom environment outside of their home school.

Founder and AG program coordinator Chester Meurant, who is retiring with the end of this year’s program, said in its final year, the AG class had continued to provide strategies for developing independent learning skills through information literacy, problem solving and higher order thinking based on thematic learning.

A passionate advocate for gifted education, it was Mr Meurant who campaigned to the Department of Education for a designated program for students all those years ago.

With support from cluster directors Chris Carroll and Graham Blunden, the concept was endorsed, policy meetings held and modelling undertaken for the AG classes to begin in 1992.

“In 1992 it took off and it hasn’t stopped ever since,” Mr Meurant said. “Since those heady days we have amassed a whole family of AG supporters, graduates and stalwarts all of whom have been integral to the success of the program.”

Mr Meurant said data and modelling consistently showed the AG program could never fully accommodate all the academically gifted students that were detected. 

The Department of Education announced this week an alternate academically gifted program will be introduced in 2016 with classes to be held in Northern Wollongong, Wollongong and the Shellharbour area. Details about the classes will be released next year.

Mr Meurant said the AG program’s long term legacy was the future of academically gifted education in the Illawarra and how local high schools would benefit over the next few years.

“It gives me great satisfaction to know that for the next six years the high school bases will be loaded with AG students.”