The Extent, Nature and Effectiveness of Planned Approaches in ...

School F’s JourneyPrior to the present provisions for gifted and talented learners, this school was working on a limitedbudget to meet their needs. For the most part, provisions were just ‘one off’ opportunities. Many ofthese opportunities were generated through the Children with Special Abilities Committee and alsothrough the Rural Education Activities Programme (REAP). The journey to improve school practicesfor gifted and talented learners began with professional development. Two years ago, the teacher incharge of special needs programmes within the school received the school staff travel grant andattended a course in Auckland facilitated by an international educational specialist. This was to act asan impetus for developing gifted and talented programmes at the school.At the end of 2002, the Board of Trustees funded a .6 teaching position to provide out-of-classprogrammes for identified gifted and talented students. The deputy principal who had responsibilityfor gifted and talented policy and provisions within the school took up this position. In preparation forthis, she involved herself in reading and research in the area of gifted and talented education. She metwith staff and they settled on a programme that was a balance between academic programmes andresearch and problem solving type programmes.In 2002, the school became involved in a professional development contract offered by the gifted andtalented advisers. The deputy principal who was the gifted and talented programme coordinator at theschool became the lead teacher for that contract. Because of this involvement, she was able to runprofessional development sessions with the teachers at this school. This focused on a number ofthemes associated with gifted and talented education including preferred learning styles, higher orderthinking skills, multiple intelligences, integrated learning and research learning. Through thisprofessional development, a focus on thinking skills emerged. Teachers at all levels teach a particulartype of thinking skill using the sequence set down in the thinking skills resource by Michael Pohl.In terms of identification, a group of interested teachers considered a range of methods foridentification and these were trialled in 2002. The school has settled on a limited range ofidentification methods, the most common being teacher nomination. The school uses three particularforms for this. They are: a talent detector form that requires teachers to consider all the students intheir class against a number of descriptors; an extended studies programme teacher checklist focusingof specific academic and affective areas; and a teacher checklist (adopted from the professionaldevelopment contract) which requires teachers to consider a range of characteristics that may beindicators of special abilities.From these forms, and from information from running record scores, asTTle, STAR and PAT results,the coordinating teacher compiles a list of gifted and talented students in year groups and specificcurriculum areas. She then designs programmes to meet the needs of as many of these students aspossible. These programmes are offered for gifted and talented students from Year 2 to Year 6.Students are withdrawn from their regular classes to participate in the programmes. Examples ofrecent provisions include: BP Technology Challenge; mathematics problem solving; World of Mathsproblem solving; Web challenges and competitions; drama lessons; French lessons; writers’workshops with authors; silk dying; music workshops; and drumming workshops.A gifted and talented register has been established to track and monitor gifted and talented studentsthroughout the school. Additionally, a gifted and talented procedural document has recently beendrafted and distributed to all the staff for feedback.While the deputy principal provides the out-of-class programmes for identified gifted and talentedstudents, there is an expectation on the remainder of the teaching staff to not only support these specialprogrammes but to provide for gifted and talented students within their classroom programmes.However, the school recognises the need to further develop and formalise in-class provisions for giftedand talented learners:It simply isn’t enough to expect that those children will be extended by the withdrawalgroups. There’s more children than what I can cater for, all our bright children need219