Jasna Poeszus

The Southport School

Students identified with a gift or talent show great potential with their creativity and learning and Jasna Poeszus has taken the responsibility of making sure those students achieve to the best of their unique abilities.

In her leadership role within the gifted and talented enrichment & extention programs at The Southport School (TSS), Jasna has built a program that is not only rigorously challenging but most importantly enhances students’ motivation towards their learning, and belief in their ability to do so.

She has made sure her lessons are creative, innovative and dynamic, keeping individual needs in mind while also ensuring they meet the expectations of the curriculum. 

​In building a strong support network between the school and parents, as well as with community groups and professionals outside of TSS, Jasna has ensured her gifted and talented students are deeply supported.

This support goes beyond the school community and includes students and parents outside of TSS, where she has been invited to present parent support group information and discussion workshops with the Gold Coast branch of the Queensland Association of Gifted & Talented Children.

She also takes leadership in advising her colleagues on how to ideally support students identified to be gifted or talented.

Jasna understands the complexity of each individual in any given classroom and the difficulties teachers face daily in delivering curriculum that meets their students needs.

Through the development of trusting relationships and effective communication skills, she uses a strength based approach to building teacher capacity.

In addition to being a classroom teacher, she coaches her colleagues and provides and creates resources to support them and their students.

​She is responsible for the early identification of these students.

Jasna has organised and delivered professional development sessions, and often reviews the school’s overall gifted education policies using current research-based best practice, which she takes upon herself to continuously engage in.

Jasna is committed to improving her own practice.

She regularly attends professional development sessions and shares the knowledge she gains with her colleagues.

As a result of her efforts, she has been invited to present at conferences across Australia and the world.
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Jasna is currently completing a PhD in Gifted Education at Griffith University.

The needs of our future innovators, that is, the students in her care, is always at the forefront of Jasna’s decision making and practice.

She was also nominated last year for A Day Made Better Teaching Awards.

Congratulations Jasna on your nomination.

Written by Mark Zita.