Parents’ views of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on students of high academic ability

Balanced research and practice

In an effort to understand the impact of Covid-19 on high ability students in Ireland, the Centre for Talented Youth Ireland (CTYI) undertook a study in August 2020 of the parents of children who had attended CTYI programmes. CTYI provides enrichment courses for students with high academic ability and aims to allow talented students to reach their potential both academically and socially by providing relevant and interesting challenges based on ability and interest rather than age. CTYI developed a survey which aimed to provide an insight into how students have been learning, what challenges parents encountered, what long term impacts there may be, and what lessons can be learned. 166 parents completed this survey and the findings provided an early assessment of the impact of the sudden shift to distance learning on gifted students and their families, and allowed for CTYI to more appropriately cater to these children.