More Able Gifted and Talented Students

More able pupils

are those whose academic performance is significantly above age expectations in two core subjects.

Gifted pupils

are those who demonstrate significant attainment in a specific subject or prodigious performance in the arts/sports.

Talented pupils

are those who demonstrate exceptional performance in one or more of the following although a pupil may be considered to have all three.

• the arts or design (grade 4 or higher in one or more musical instruments, recognised excellence, published or public performance in art, literature or drama)
• sports (local, regional, county or national representation)
• a high level skill in a particular field outside the curriculum.

Our approach

We recognise that our More Able, Gifted and Talented students (MAGT) need access to broad, balanced and challenging curriculum opportunities to enable them to reach their true potential. With this in mind, we aim to develop the curriculum for them. We will achieve this by offering activities that extend and enrich their learning and promote high attainment and good progress.

Where appropriate, students will move through their learning at a faster rate than their peers. Particularly able students will be able to complete additional courses (e.g. AS Politics, Languages etc) and the entire cohort will take GCSE RP in Year 10. Students will also have the opportunity to take part in extra curricular activities such as STEM club.

Students on the MAGT register, alongside other higher attaining students, will be supported to reach their full potential through high-calibre, differentiated tasks and activities.

Supporting our Students

To support our More Able, Gifted and Talented pupils we will have:

Setting 

Students will be set by ability in core subjects and some foundation subjects such as languages. Other subjects will be taught in banded sets (e.g. geography, history and RE as humanities sets) and some subjects will be taught in mixed ability groups (e.g. Art, Music, Drama, PE).

Department Policies and Plans

All departments have a responsibility to ensure that they are catering to the needs of the more able, gifted and talented. This will include the means of identifying these students and strategies to cater for their needs.

A register of More Able, Gifted and Talented students 

We will use a range of data to identify more able, gifted and talented students (MAGT):

• We will analyse results from National Curriculum Tests and Cognitive Ability Tests to identify MAGT students.
• We will also ask subject teachers to identify MAGT students and nominate them to be registered through department identification policies.
• We will provide a questionnaire for parents to complete at the year 7 induction event in July. This will enable parents to tell us of their child's abilities and will be used to inform the register.

The MAGT register will specifically indicate a the curriculum areas in which the student has been identified as having strengths. Subject teachers and tutors will be informed so that progress can be monitored closely.

Parental Support 

When students are placed on the MAGT register parents will be informed and provided guidance on how they can support children with their learning.

Targets

The school will have targets, overall and at subject level, for attainment and achievement of MAGT students.

Websites to support More Able Gifted and Talented students and their parents:

• The Literacy Trust - http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/able.html
• London G&T - http://www.londongt.org/homepage/index.php
• NACE - http://www.nace.co.uk/
• Young Gifted and Talented - http://ygt.dcsf.gov.uk
• World Class Arena - http://www.worldclassarena.org/v5/default.htm

Since our inception we have offered the following activities for our more able gifted and talented students;

• MENSA testing
• Links with Future Foundations regarding an early introduction to aspirations and careers
• UK Maths challenge
• EEP Robotics Challenge
• Coder Dojo
• Hampton FC event
• Mensa puzzle in the newsletter
• Senior Student/Subject ambassador
• Global Social Leaders
• Enrichment assemblies for example Oxbridge
• STEM Club
• Maths in Motion
• Science week…including Rat dissection!
• CSE Aim Conference
• Diamond Challenge
• Cut Films drama project
• we have also become a member of NACE (National Organisation for More Able Children in Education) 
• Trip to Oriel College Oxford
• Careers talks
• Bristol, St Mary's, Royal Holloway, Surrey University trips
• Genocide awareness days
• Evening enrichment trips

Curriculum Enrichment for the Most Able