The Balcatta Senior High School Gifted and Talented Visual Art Program is a scholarship program offered to students identified as Gifted and Talented in the Visual Arts, usually in Year 6 for entry into Year 7.
Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance Program
Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance Programs extend and enrich learning and let creative talents flourish.
Applications for Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance programs for 2027 intake ARE CLOSED.
Limited places may also be available for students who will enter Years 9, 10 and 11 in 2027.
Applications close 6 pm Friday 6 February 2026. Late applications are not accepted.
For more information or to apply, go to www.education.wa.edu.au/giftedandtalented
Applications for the 2027 intake for Years 7, 9, 10 and 11 have closed.
To receive information about the 2028 intake, register your interest (this is not an application).
Key dates, applicant guidelines and information to support you through the application, testing and placement processes.
Key dates and guidelines are updated regularly and are subject to change.
Key dates:
Applications close 6.00 pm Friday 6 February 2026. Late applications are not accepted.
- Key dates for the 2027 intake
- Applicant guidelines – Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance programs for entry to Years 7, 9, 10 and 11 in 2027.
Gifted and Talented Visual Art Program
The Gifted and Talented Visual Art program was established at Balcatta Senior High School in 1979. In 2019 we celebrated 40 years of excellence of our prestigious Visual Arts program.
Our Visual Art program provides students with outstanding creative opportunities to enrich and extend their artistic ideas, skills and processes. They learn through a differentiated curriculum with a variety of visual inquiry, studio work, exhibitions and critical and historical reflection.
This unique Visual Art program provides our students with the opportunity to engage themselves in a range of highly specialised studio areas during their Saturday morning art workshops. Students explore and experiment with a range of media including; Portrait painting in oils, ceramics, photography, digital art, animation, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and urban street art. They are all run by professional artists, designers, illustrators and practicing crafts persons.
Our students are exposed to traditional and contemporary Visual Art practices through excursions to current exhibitions and school workshop extensions by local and international artists.
One of the notable alumni of Balcatta Senior High School’s Gifted and Talented Visual Art Program is Academy Award–winning illustrator and author Shaun Tan, who attended the program from 1987 to 1991. Now internationally renowned for works such as The Arrival and the Academy Award–winning short film The Lost Thing, Shaun’s success continues to inspire our current Gifted and Talented students.
Read more about Shaun Tan and his achievements here.
For more information, view our Gifted and Talented Visual Arts Information booklet.
Application and Selection Process
The selection process is managed by the Gifted and Talented Selection Unit, through the Department of Education. If your child would like to apply for this program, applications can be made through the Department of Education Gifted and Talented Secondary Selective Entrance Team.
The selection process starts when students are in Year 5, testing in Year 6, with placement starting from Year 7. Limited vacancies may also be available for entry into Years 9, 10 and 11.
Dates to remember
- Visual Art Camp to Rottnest – Monday 30 March to Thursday 2 April 2026
Dates – Semester 1 and Semester 2, 2026
| GIFTED AND TALENTED ART – SATURDAYS TERM 1, 2026 | |||
| Week | Dates | BSHS | Young Masters |
| 1 | 7 February | NO Art | |
| 2 | 14 February | Week 1 | Week 1 |
| 3 | 21 February | Week 2 | Week 2 |
| 4 | 28 February | Public Holiday – NO Art | |
| 5 | 7 March | Week 3 | Week 3 |
| 6 | 14 March | Week 4 | Week 4 |
| 7 | 21 March | Week 5 | Week 5 |
| 8 | 28 March | Week 6 | Week 6 |
| 9 | 4 April | NO ART – SCHOOL HOLIDAYS | |
| Term 1 Holidays | Friday 3 April – Sunday 19 April |
| GIFTED AND TALENTED ART – SATURDAYS TERM 2, 2026 | |||
| Week | Dates | BSHS | Young Masters |
| 1 | 25 April | Public Holiday – NO Art | |
| 2 | 2 May | Week 1 | Week 1 |
| 3 | 9 May | Week 2 | Week 2 |
| 4 | 16 May | Week 3 | Week 3 |
| 23 May | Week 4 | Week 4 | |
| 5 | 30 May | Public Holiday – NO Art | |
| 7 | 6 June | Week 5 | Week 5 |
| 8 | 13 June | Week 6 | Week 6 |
| 9 | 20 June | Week 7 | |
| 10 | 27 June | NO Art | |
| 11 | 5 July | NO ART – SCHOOL HOLIDAYS | |
| Term 2 Holidays | Saturday 4 July – Sunday 19 July |
| GIFTED AND TALENTED ART – SATURDAYS TERM 3, 2026 | |||
| Week | Dates | BSHS | Young Masters |
| 1 | 25 July | NO Art | |
| 2 | 1 August | Week 1 | Week 1 |
| 3 | 8 August | Week 2 | Week 2 |
| 4 | 15 August | Week 3 | Week 3 |
| 5 | 22 August | Week 4 | Week 4 |
| 6 | 29 August | Week 5 | Week 5 |
| 7 | 5 September | Week 6 | Week 6 |
| 8 | 12 September | Week 7 | |
| 9 | 19 September | Week 8 | |
| 10 | 26 September | NO Art | |
| Term 3 Holidays | Saturday 26 September – Sunday 11 October |
| GIFTED AND TALENTED ART – SATURDAYS TERM 4, 2026 | |||
| Week | Dates | BSHS | Young Masters |
| 1 | 17 October | Week 1 | |
| 2 | 24 October | Week 2 | |
| 3 | 31 October | Week 3 | |
| 4 | 7 November | Week 4 | |
| 5 | 14 November | Big Art Day Out | |
| 6 | 21 November | Week 5 | |
| 7 | 28 November | Week 6 | |
| 8 | 5 December | NO Art | |
| 9 | 12 December | NO Art | |
| 10 | 19 December | NO ART – SCHOOL HOLIDAYS | |
| Term 4 Holidays | Friday 18 December – Sunday 31 January 2027 |
