HIGH POTENTIAL LEARNING

At Ruyton, we support every student to achieve their educational potential through quality differentiated teaching in a supportive learning environment and a rich co-curricular program. We understand that there are students whose innate potential exceeds that of students of the same age in one or more domains – creative, physical, socio-emotional and intellectual. Our approach to developing potential into high performance involves ongoing identification of potential, evidence-based specific teaching and learning practices from the field of gifted education, and pathways that increasingly become more personalised as these students progress through to their senior years at Ruyton.

Identification of high potential begins with our youngest students, using a range of objective and subjective data, and continues across all levels of the School in recognition that potential and development is dynamic and that appropriate and timely talent development opportunities are provided to meet specific learning and wellbeing needs.

Student choice, co-creation, breadth, depth, complexity and pace of learning options are hallmarks of the way in which we support the high potential learner. Informed by their individual learning profile, our approach matches the learner to her best fit program and pathway. For some, acceleration will provide the necessary increased pace and complexity of learning. For others, extended standards beyond the core curriculum will provide the required rigour and complexity, while for others still, opportunities to deal with abstractions and employ higher order thinking skills will yield the depth of learning and understanding these learners seek.

For the high potential learner, access to appropriate content and programs, as well as the progression of their learning through pace and pathways is important. Some examples of what this can look like at Ruyton include a group of highly skilled young readers responding to complex texts usually reserved for more senior students in a literature circle, highly able mathematicians who have already exceeded the expected learning outcomes of the curriculum will focus on advanced problem solving, and Year 9 to 12 students in our Ruyton Scholar Program engaging in learning that is beyond the scope of the curriculum and co-curricular program. We are currently exploring ways to extend this program to our Middle Years students, with a pilot credentialling program being developed this year.

Our learning environment supports the socialemotional and wellbeing of high potential and gifted students, enabling them to connect, succeed and thrive. Optimising the growth and achievement of high potential and gifted students across all domains of potential, through evidence-based talent development opportunities and differentiated teaching and learning practices, ensures that the specific learning and wellbeing needs of these students are met.