Gifted and Talented A Guide for Parents
Gifted and Talented at Tallis
Welcome to the Gifted and Talented Guide for Parents. Inside you will find •Thomas Tallisʼ Gifted and Talented Policy •How we identify and support Gifted and Talented students •Advice •Useful Contacts Thomas Tallis School aims to provide ʻexcellence for allʼ ensuring that all students, including the most able, have access to a curriculum which is interesting, stimulating and challenging in order to meet each studentʼs individual needs. What does ʻgiftedʼ and ʻtalentedʼ mean? The words 'gifted' and 'talented' have meant many things to many different people. The DfES definition is as follows:
Talented Top 5-10% of students per school as measured by actual or potential achievement in the subjects of Art, Music, PE, Games
Gifted Top 5-10% of students per school as measured by actual or potential achievement in the other curriculum subjects
This definition has two important elements: a) The definition is relational. Being 'gifted' and 'talented' is not necessarily a matter of possessing an objective quality which would mark a student as being gifted and/or talented in any other school. It is simply a matter of being amongst the most able 5- 10% of students in a particular school. b) The cohort is not immutably defined. Students develop at different rates and with students joining and leaving a school it may well happen that a particular student will fall within the scope of the definition 'gifted and talented' in one year, but may not fall within that category in a subsequent year. Alternatively just because a student has not been identified as 'gifted and talented' in one year that does not mean that the student will not be so identified at a later point.
Our Gifted and Talented Policy Summary Our ambition at Thomas Tallis is that all our students including our most able students experience quality first teaching and need to be presented with work that challenges, stretches and excites them on a daily basis, in an environment that celebrates excellence. We want our teachers to understand and acquire expertise in a pedagogy of G&T to apply to all their teaching and our students to benefit from a programme of enriched, challenging learning that is targeted at their needs as well as their strengths. This policy underpins the concept of Excellence for All and is an integral part of the school’s broader development of inclusion of educational opportunity for all students and states our commitment to providing an environment in which all students are enabled to realise their potential. Our aims are: • To identify gifted and talented students both within specific subject areas and those who excel in more than one. • To improve gifted and talented students' outcomes in terms of attainment, aspirations, motivation and self-esteem. • To improve the coherence and quality of enrichment and out of school hours opportunities for gifted and talented students. The staffing structure aims to realise our ambitions for these students. • We have a lead teacher for gifted and talented education. • We endeavour to assign a G&T coordinator in every subject area who will audit and develop the provision in their area. • Our deputy pastoral leaders monitor the progress and have general oversight of the students who are displaying talents in more than one curriculum area. • The two deputy head teachers have oversight of G&T initiatives. The lead teacher will support and monitor the learning activities designed for G&T students across subject areas. She will also work with deputy pastoral leaders to track the progress of these students and to ensure that enrichment opportunities are linked to the curriculum. Parent/carers need to be informed each time the lists are refined. This can happen at various stages across the year(s) and thus ensures they are informed about their child’s progress. Identifying G&T Students The following definition enables us to distinguish between the terms gifted and talented: • ‘Gifted’ learners are those who have abilities in one or more subjects in the statutory curriculum other than art and design, music and PE; • ‘Talented’ learners are those who have abilities in art and design, music, PE or performing arts such as dance and drama
There are differences between a child who may be referred to as ‘bright’ and one who is gifted or talented. The following table, taken from the National Association for Gifted and Talented Children, highlights some of the key differences, and could be helpful in identifying gifted and talented students: Bright child
Gifted child
Knows the answers
Asks the questions
Understands ideas
Constructs abstract theories
Copies accurately
Creates a new design
Is interested
Is extremely curious
Good at memorising
Good at guessing
Has good ideas
Has unusual “silly” ideas
Works hard
Plays around, yet tests well
Listens with interest
Shows strong feelings and opinions
Grasps meaning
Draws inferences
Examples of Learning and Teaching strategies include: • The coherent management of student groupings (whether in mixed ability groups or ability sets) and recognition that whilst there may be a higher concentration of gifted and talented students in some groups there will be students who have gifts and talents in all groups. • The provision of opportunities for gifted and talented students to work with students of similar ability. This will mean that we will endeavour to set up vertical groups where appropriate. • Mentoring and additional provision for students of exceptional ability. • The provision of enrichment/extension activities and tasks. • Differentiation within subject areas. • The development of independent learning by allowing students to organise their own work, to carry out tasks unaided, evaluate their work and become self-reflective. • Provision could also include, in class provision for G&T students, small group provision for G&T outside ‘lessons’ and small group provision for G&T learners with personalised interventions based on gaps in their learning and interventions put in place to plug these gaps. January 2011 You will be able to access the complete policy at http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=431925
How we identify Gifted and Talented Students ular areas, Some children excel in partic have high learn faster than others or
ving. Find out potential but are underachie and talented how we identify our gifted students
How do we identify the gifted and talented students? Currently, identification begins in term two for Year 7 and Year 12, allowing students to settle and giving teachers the time to assess their abilities. All other Year Groups are identified annually. We identify students in two ways:
Statistical information - Firstly, we use quantitative data to identify the top 10% within the cohort and those that fall into the top 10% according to national statistics.
Teacher recommendations - Subject staff to collate an evaluation of students who present as particularly able in their subject area.
The 驶Gifted and Talented Register始 is compiled from this information and circulated to subject teachers in the Autumn Term. The resulting register is revised and updated at the end of the academic year to take into account students始 progress and the arrival of new students.
How do we provide for our most able students? Within lessons It is expected that all teachers are aware of the students that they teach who appear on the Gifted and Talented Register and ensure that they are given appropriately challenging tasks. Opportunities for differentiation and extension should be noted within Schemes of Work. Pastoral Teams Deputy Pastoral Leaders are responsible for targeting our most able gifted and talented students and encouraging them to participate in challenging activities. Each year group will experience a range or enrichment sessions which provide challenge for the students including various levels of extra qualifications. There are also workshops and conferences which more able students may be invited to attend.
Clubs and enrichment We offer a wide range of clubs and a broad enrichment programme (for KS4&5) which would appeal particularly to more able students, including: • Arts Award • The Project Qualification • Tallis TV
Who is responsible for the Gifted and Talented provision? The Lead Teacher for Gifted and Talented Students has overall responsibility for the various courses specifically for gifted and talented students and for overseeing the Register. It is the responsibility of the Heads of Faculty and all subject teachers to ensure that the needs of all more able students are met through the mainstream curriculum through the use of differentiation and extension material as appropriate to that subject. Monitoring and evaluation Monitoring of gifted and talented students takes place on various levels. The review of the Register allows us to monitor the perceived performance of students and highlights students who may be underachieving compared to their statistical potential. Pastoral monitoring takes place following scheduled reports and Tutors and Deputy Pastoral Leaders will work with underachieving students.
What happens if my child is identified as being gifted in one subject but not in others? Some students may be identified as talented in a subject such as drama but not be recognised as gifted or talented in other subjects. This does not mean that they are forgotten – far from it. We attempt to offer enrichment opportunities for all subjects. Therefore a student who demonstrates a talent for drama can still take part in school productions and work with outside agencies to augment their skills. Most departments offer their own enrichment groups, societies, and projects.
Advice What Parents can do to support their child Parents play an essential role in the development of their Gifted and Talented children, a role which the school fully supports. There are a variety of ways in which parents can facilitate the development of their children but as each child is unique then factors which help one child to develop will not always be appropriate for facilitating the development of other gifted and talented children. Therefore, this page offers some suggestions of strategies for supporting Gifted and Talented children. Research suggests that those children with the most positive approach to learning – and those who were most successful – were supported by parents who: • • • • • • •
encouraged a variety of interests and activities helped the children to organise their time and put an emphasis on self-discipline showed sensitivity to their childʼs interests and abilities without trying to mould them provided the necessary materials to enable their child to develop their abilities to a high standard helped children to discover what fun learning can be were able to judge when to intervene, when to apply some pressure and when to stand back demonstrated pride in achievement.
How you can support your child • • • • • • • • • • • • •
utilise the local library as a learning and research resource visit museums, science centers, nature reserves and art galleries watch educational and current affairs programmes such as the news, wildlife/nature programmes and documentaries read a quality national and local newspaper discuss and debate topics, such as politics, the environment and the media discuss school work and homework and provide support, where appropriate consider participation in voluntary work (usually 16+) or community involvement take part in extra-curricular activities such as clubs and societies inside or outside school take on a part-time job or jobs around the home, in order to develop a sense of responsibility and skills such as prioritising and time management take an active part in family decision-making listen to different types of music exercise and exercise with them (walking, swimming, cycling) socialise and relax in-between work
Parents can also support their child by: •
•
providing suitable learning resources such as books, encyclopedias, magazines, computer software, and other materials such as paint, puzzles, running shoes or musical instruments (where financially viable) organising day trips and visits to places of educational interest, building cultural experiences, trips and excursions into family holidays
How you can help us to help your child Please share with the school: • any relevant documentation/information from previous schools • information on any activities, hobbies and interests that are undertaken by the student outside school, which students may not inform us about • any information on what may be causing any anxieties or behavioural difficulties for your child.
Encourage your child to take risks, be creative and try something new!
Gifted and Talented students often expect perfection of themselves and therefore struggle to cope when they get something wrong or stick to what they know so that they donʼt make the mistake in the firs place. Encourage your child to maintain a positive outlook when something goes wrong and try to learn from their mistakes.
Useful Contacts Lead Teacher for Gifted and Talented Students: Kate Hawkins E-mail: khawkins@thomastallis.org.uk Trish Dooley Deputy Head Teacher E-mail: pdooley@thomastallis.org.uk Doug Greig Deputy Head Teacher E-mail: dgreig@thomastallis.org.uk Pastoral Leaders Deputy Pastoral Leader Year 7 E-mail: dfyfe@thomastallis.org.uk Deputy Pastoral Pastoral Leader Year 8 E-mail: lpollit@thomastallis.org.uk Deputy Pastoral Pastoral Leader Year 9 E-mail: npankhurst@thomastallis.org.uk Deputy Pastoral Pastoral Leader Year 10 E-mail: Khawkins@thomastallis.org.uk Deputy Pastoral Pastoral Leader Year 11 E-mail: jshelley@thomastallis.org.uk Pastoral Leader Year 12 E-mail: cbarton@thomastallis.org.uk Pastoral Leader Year 13 E-mail: jbradshaw@thomastallis.org.uk