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School Policy
Gifted and Talented Students |
Text last issued/revised: 5 March 2005
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| This web page
is provided for information only and is an adaptation from the
original Policy Document maintained by Comberton Village College.
Where differences exist in text and/or presentation between
the two versions, it is the wording and presentation of the
original Policy Document that shall prevail in any dispute. |
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  Introduction
and General Rationale |
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This document is a statement of the aims, principles and strategies
for provision for the Very Able and Gifted and Talented Child
at Comberton Village College. |
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Comberton Village College aims to develop the full positive
potential of every individual pupil in its care and it recognises
that this means the full development of the different parts
of individuals' lives. It is the duty of the College to provide
opportunities, through its mainstream academic and pastoral
organisation, that ensure that the skills and understanding
of all pupils may progress at an appropriate pace, and we are
committed to raising the achievement of all our pupils. |
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It is a vital strength of Comberton Village College that it
has students who display a whole range of abilities and talents.
Our definition of ability and talent recognises academic, practical,
creative, musical, physical, sporting and social performance.
It also recognises that a child may possess this potential although
performance may not currently reflect this. |
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Since we strive to cater for students of all abilities, this
must necessarily include a significant number judged to possess
'high' ability in a particular area or several areas. To this
end, we have drawn up the following objectives that relate specifically
to Gifted and Talented Provision: |
| 1. To work within our
own setting and with other professionals to ensure that Gifted
and Talented students are identified early and provided for
accordingly. |
| 2. To provide opportunities
for all pupils to take an active role in their own learning.
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| 3. To encourage an active
partnership with parents in their children's learning. |
| 4. To offer every pupil
the special educational provision he/she requires, so that the
continuum of need in the school is matched by a continuum of
provision. |
| 5. To provide continuity
of learning for every pupil and to use regular evaluation of
pupil progress to inform future planning. |
| 6. To co-ordinate support
for Gifted and Talented pupils across the College and to undertake
regular monitoring and review of our allocation of resources,
the provision made for individual pupils and the progress of
those pupils identified. |
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Providing well for able students is ultimately an issue of equal
opportunities. It should thus be seen as overlapping with the
school's Equal Opportunities Policy and also as reflecting the
school's provision for students with Special Educational Needs.
As such, we are committed to taking all reasonable steps to
ensure that the inclusion of pupils with identified talents
or abilities is not incompatible with the efficient education
of other pupils and that their entitlement to a broad, balanced
and high quality education is maintained. |
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| Policy
for Identification |
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We aim to implement a process of identification that is continuous,
rigorous, transparent, fair and flexible. |
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The definition of 'high' ability within this process should
be wide and encompass all appropriate students in the school.
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A range of sources should be used to identify able students
as early as possible in different areas. These include: |
(a) Primary School information
(b) Objective tests, particularly CATs and SATs
(c) Teacher identification made in conjunction with Subject
Specific Criteria held by individual departments
(d) Information from parents
(e) Clubs, Societies and other relevant external agencies
(f) Peers |
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A range of abilities and talents exist. A student might be identified
as having high ability in one, several or all of these areas.
Gardner (1983) identified nine areas of intelligence: |
(a) Linguistic
(b) Musical
(c) Logical-mathematical
(d) Spatial (e) Bodily-kinaesthetic
(f) Intrapersonal
(g) Interpersonal
(h) Emotional
(i) Spiritual |
| He argues that there is a particular type of giftedness
associated with each form of intelligence. |
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Departments will keep their own subject specific criteria for
the identification of Gifted and Talented pupils and will maintain
a register of identified pupils. Pupils may be added to or removed
from this document - staff involved in the process should be
especially mindful of those who may be regarded as underachievers
or who may be 'missed' by the use of such criteria. The document
is further intended to enable a continuous process of effective
provision within departments through the dissemination of relevant
information about the needs of particular pupils. |
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Registers are reviewed twice during each academic year. Departments
are encouraged to monitor instances of those individuals who
have been removed from registers during this process and, if
necessary, to report any concerns to Heads of Year and the G&T
co-ordinator. |
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| Curriculum
Provision |
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The school curriculum reflects a principle of 'opportunity for
all'. As such, it must be capable of serving the needs of able
students while ensuring that these students retain complete
access to the full curriculum. We are confident that our current
curriculum provision combined with appropriate differentiation
has the potential to meet the needs of each individual. However,
we recognise that, in a small number of instances, it is appropriate
to operate with a certain degree of curricular flexibility so
that we can offer adapted curricula to particular individuals.
We further recognise that, in exceptional circumstances, this
may involve appropriate programmes of acceleration. Such a decision
is taken only after thorough consultation with the pupil, parents,
staff and pastoral teams involved. |
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The principle of differentiation, in its various forms, is fundamental
to the good teaching of able students. Schemes of work aim to
address opportunities for differentiation in planning for the
teaching of able students. |
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In providing for very able students, staff seek to promote a
spirit of enquiry in the classroom. This regularly includes
opportunities for students to engage in higher order thinking
skills, involving applied and critical thinking. Provision will
also reflect the school's commitment to best practice in the
fields of Teaching and Learning and Assessment for Learning.
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A number of subject areas employ a setting policy as a mechanism
for helping enable students to move through the curriculum at
a suitable pace and in appropriate depth. Grouping according
to gender also takes place in English classes to refine these
aims further. Differentiation remains a high priority in these
groupings, however, as teaching staff look to meet needs of
every pupil including, at the highest level, the Gifted and
Talented individual. |
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The use of extension and enrichment activities is encouraged
as a highly desirable and appropriate way of providing effectively
for able students. |
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There are occasions during the school year when an alternative
curriculum is offered to pupils. Occasions such as the school's
Curriculum Extension Days and Activities Week enable pupils
to focus on particular subjects in greater depth and effectively
serve as extension activities. |
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As an Ambassador and Leading Edge School the school is fully
committed to sharing good practice in the field of Gifted and
Talented education and to using the expertise of its staff to
deliver outreach programmes in regional and national contexts.
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| Extra-Curricular
Provision |
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Extra-curricular activities provide valuable opportunities for
pupils to develop their talents. The school is committed to
providing a broad range of opportunities in a number of areas,
particularly in music, sport and the arts. This may variously
involve use of staff from within the school or experts and specialists
from external institutions and organisations. |
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The school works particularly closely with the National Academy
for Gifted and Talented Youth to provide additional opportunities
for students. These range from online materials and support
services to access to specialist Outreach seminars and Summer
Schools. |
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The school aims to provide its own annual Summer School for
Gifted and Talented pupils, including those from its feeder
Primary Schools, and will seek funding from appropriate sources.
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| Leading
Edge Provision |
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As an Ambassador and Leading Edge School the school is fully
committed to sharing good practice in the field of Gifted and
Talented education and to using the expertise of staff to deliver
outreach programmes in local, regional and national contexts.
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| Pastoral
Issues |
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Able students need to be developed as fully rounded and balanced
human beings as with all other students. The school's pastoral
system has a vital role to play in delivering an affective (sic)
curriculum which expresses a concern for the whole child - emotional,
social, spiritual, intellectual and health-related. |
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Able students function best in an ethos that recognises and
encourages achievement. At Comberton Village College we recognise
that we all have a part to play in sensitively fostering such
an ethos. |
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We recognise that pressures on able students can, at times,
be very great. The school's pastoral system aims to ensure that
full and proper support is given to any students in this situation
throughout their time at the school. The tutorial system plays
a vital role in this: as part of the ILP programme (Year 8 onwards)
tutors are allocated time to meet with tutees in order to discuss
and assess their individual learning needs. Additional advice
and support is offered by members of the Learning Support Centre.
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Through the pastoral system we aim to respond to the needs of
every individual. Accordingly, we recognise that it may be appropriate
in some instances for certain identified pupils to be afforded
a mentor who might personally address the needs of the individual
and assist them in balancing their commitments and pursuing
their goals. |
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We are particularly mindful of the heavy burdens of practice
and competition faced by many of our talented students. Through
the Junior Athletes in Education programme we are able to assign
mentors to our most talented young sportsmen and women in order
to help them manage their time and commitments. The programme
has been adapted to provide similar support for our talented
musicians and dramatists. |
S. Leggott
Revised 5/03/2005 |
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This page was last updated on: Thursday 13 July, 2006 |
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