About John Bailey John has been teaching gifted and other special needs children for nearly thirty years. He has worked as an education consultant for the past thirteen years and is Perth's most experienced consultant working in the field of gifted education. John has extensive practical classroom and administrative experience in developing and managing programs for children with a wide range of special needs (learning disabilities, ADHD and giftedness). He has taught (and continues to teach) in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors and in the state and independent sectors. His qualifications, received from UWA between 1978 and 1993, include a B.A, B.Ed (special education), & M.Ed (gifted education). John was a visiting scholar at Cambridge University in 1994 where he conducted extensive research in the area of gifted education. John's work with parents and children focuses on understanding all aspects of giftedness and the implications high ability may have for social, emotional and intellectual development at home and at school. He can also assess children, explains the implications of psychometric assessments and provides liaison and mediation services (bridging gaps between home and school). John also offers extensive professional development opportunities to schools. He is able to support the development of differentiated curricula in schools and offers a wide range of programs and strategies to staff. He can assist in developing "Individual and Group Education Plans", identifying and understanding giftedness, exploring workable acceleration options, creating ability groups, and working with learning and thinking styles. For most of the past thirteen years (including five as president), John has been an executive member of, and Education Advisor to, the Gifted and Talented Children's Association of WA (GATCA WA). He is the inaugural life member of the Association. John has been a highly successful coach (at National and International level) of the internationally respected Macquarie Bank Future Problem Solving Program, and was inaugural state coordinator of the program (a position he held for five years). John has presented at local, state, national and international conferences and holds regular seminars and workshops for educators and parents. These sessions can be tailored to very specific needs.