The Institute for Talented Students (ITS) is this weekend going to be searching for gifted youngsters in need of some additional tutoring.

The out-of-school programme was launched for the first time last year, but now the institute is looking for more students for its second year and is appealing for all children in both private and public schools to take notice.

The institute aims to stretch the minds of creative and intelligent students by providing them with extra lessons in English and math. It prides itself on being available for children of all walks of life, backgrounds, religions and schools. The only thing that it asks is that the students are talented and have a willingness to learn and work hard.

Co-ordinator of the school Riquette Bonne-Smith said the search would be held on Sunday, when children aged between ten and 14 will be academically tested at Bermuda College between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.

"Mathematics courses, including individually paced programmes, including geometry and algebra, and creative writing courses with journalism, to engage the students in active and in-depth enquiry," (are provided for students who are accepted, said Ms Bonne-Smith.

"The students respond to the challenge and unfailingly seek further demands on their abilities. A recent survey indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the course content and the methodology of delivery, while, most excitingly, the students were insisting on an even greater challenge."

Ms Bonne-Smith said students were pushing the boundaries of their grade levels in courses designed to complement and supplement their regular school work. And she said college lecturers, who are also instructors at the institute, found their classes sometimes exceeded the insight of college students. Last year's class consisted of equal numbers of students from the public and private sector, which Ms Bonne-Smith said had purely been down their academic achievement. But she said it proved that a lot of talented students were in the Government education system.

She said students already in the institute last year would be eligible to join classes this year, and would not need to re-sit the tests.

However, she said as the first term was coming to a close this year, students needed to re-register for the next one, starting in April. This weekend, however, will also be a time for instructors to be re-trained by the Institute for Talented Students' affiliated centre, Johns Hopkins University Centre for Talented Youth in Baltimore. Qualified and experienced maths and English experts will be on the Island to talk to lecturers about teaching talented students in the next few days. She added: "Plans are underway for September 2003 to restructure the after-school programme to allow students to study more subjects, as courses in science, humanities and art are introduced.

"But Sundays have become an important feature of the ITS programme, allowing a partnership with actuarials in Bermuda to inform the students of the insurance industry and its vital importance to the Island. "Actuaries also work with math classes through the week to add a real life dimension to the theory of mathematics."

Ms Bonne-Smith thanked the many sponsors of the programme and said the school hoped to soon be able to offer scholarships to some students.

All talented students are encouraged to turn up at Bermuda College on Sunday for the test - the fee is $40. For more information, teachers and parents can call the institute on 296-5676.