Epsom Primary School – More Able, Gifted and Talented Policy

Epsom Primary School –More Able, Gifted and Talented PolicyAims:At Epsom Primary School, we recognise the diversity of the needs of the individual and theimportance of providing a personalised curriculum.As teachers, we will:Raise aspirations for all childrenMaintain high expectations of achievement for all childrenPromote enterprise, self-reliance and independence for all childrenRecognise that gifted and talented pupils have particular educational needs that mustbe met to realise their full potential.Promote the use of differentiated educational provision in the teaching environmentthrough curriculum enrichment and extension.Encourage children to become involved with the curriculum and their own learning andto use higher level thinking skills of analysis, evaluation and synthesis.Ensure that teaching methods for gifted and talented children are taken up, adaptedand used across the school and in each curriculum area.Definition:Our policy for more able, gifted and talented is directed towards those children capable ofexcelling in one or more area, which place them in the highest achieving 10% of our schoolpopulation.What constitutes a ‘more able’ learner?A more able learner is one who is performing above the average for the classroom in one ormore curriculum area. This should be around 1/3 of the class and learning should bedifferentiated accordingly.What constitutes a ‘gifted’ learner?A gifted learner is one whose learning excels the national average by one level for theparticular year group.What constitutes a ‘talented’ learner?A talented learner is someone who has ability in art and design, music, sport or performingarts.IdentificationEpsom Primary identifies its more able, gifted and talented children by: Using baseline data to identify the top 10% of each year group. These will be childrenwho are achieving, or have the potential to achieve, significantly in advance of theaverage of their year group in their school. Ensuring that the identification process is rigorous and does not discriminate againstparticular groups (i.e. ethnicity, gender) Ensuring that those who are more able, gifted and talented, but underachieving, areidentified and their progress monitored

Ensure that the parents of more able, gifted and talented children are updated on theirchild’s progressTeacher nominations: when a child is recognised as being able in one area of thecurriculum or more, the teacher will use the school identification form (see appendix 1)and pass it to the more able, gifted and talented co-ordinator.Parental nominations: The opinion of parents about their children is highly valued andis taken into consideration during the identification process. In order to validateparental nominations, these will be checked by the Gifted and Talented co-ordinatorand approved by classroom teachers.Organisation and ProvisionThe Co-ordinator for gifted and talented pupils is responsible for monitoring the school’sprovision for pupils and works closely with the Inclusion Manager.Gifted and Talented Coordinator: Provide advice and support to colleagues by keeping ahead of current knowledge inthe field of more able, gifted and talented provision; Review and update the gifted and talented register; Review and update the more able, gifted and talented policy; Audit whole school provision for more able, gifted and talented children; Identify and address any training needs; Work with more able, gifted and talented children to challenge through acceleratedlearning sessions in English and Maths; Ensure that more able, gifted and talented children are presented with inspiringopportunities outside the classroom (e.g. visits to other schools/programmes) Communicate with parents about more able, gifted and talented provision; Nominate children to any external organizations/competitions as they arise.In the classroomClass teachers and support staff are to enhance the learning of the gifted and talented pupils.This enrichment and enhancement may be achieved through: Establishing what pupils can already do or have already done so that we are notwasting children’s time in duplication or repetition Use of stimulating and challenging questioning by the teacher to skilfully develophigher order thinking in the pupils Provision of appropriate challenge through high quality tasks for enrichment andextension which will always be available, not “more of the same Flexibility over pupil grouping, ability, mixed ability, individual. Differentiating appropriately through stimuli, resources, tasks, outcomes andresponses Providing opportunity for independent learning by allowing pupils to organise their ownwork, to carry out tasks unaided, evaluate their work and become self-critical. Providing wide variety in what we prepare for pupils and in what we ask them to do. Setting individual targets

Whole school approachWe will provide: A climate within the school that ensures children feel good about achieving highstandards The identification of the particular needs of more able and gifted children in ourplanning. The provision of appropriate resources Providing opportunities for performance e.g.o Reading aloud in class (class presentations of work or achievements)o Celebrating achievements in assemblieso Drama in the classroomo Taking part in whole school productions and class assemblies. The encouragement of children to be independent in their learning. This will includethe provision of opportunities for them to organise their own work, access theresources they need, work unaided, make their own choices about their work, evaluatewhat they are doing and be self-critical. The teaching of intellectual skills, which will include oral and written communicationand information an handling as well as problem solving, hypothesising and otherthinking skills The celebration of achievement whilst maintaining the highest possible expectationsOutside the classroomAt Epsom Primary School, we recognise that it is important for gifted and talented pupils to beaccelerated beyond the curriculum. In addition to our classroom practice, we make thefollowing school provisions for gifted and talented pupils: English and Maths sessions for gifted children to ensure accelerated progressis made. Use of specialist art, dance and music teachers during PPA time Entrance to national competitions e.g. maths challenge competitions Involvement in county G&T workshopsGroups taken for extra sessions will be decided upon by the class teacher and throughdiscussion with more able, gifted and talented co-ordinator and also by identifying thesechildren during Pupil Progress Meetings.Working with parentsParents are informed about the identification of their children as being more able, gifted andtalented on a yearly basis. They will receive feedback during the parents evenings (held twicea year).Secondary transferThe school will liaise with the local secondary school and inform them of the needs of thegifted and talented pupil.Policy reviewed: July 2013Date of next review: July 2015

More Able, Gifted and Talented Registration – Appendix 1Please could you let me know of any children in your class who you feel should be on theMore Able, Gifted and Talented Register, It can be for academic or sporting/art abilities etcwhich the child displays within school or during extra-curricular activities.Please return to Strategic Teaching and Learning CoachDavina HollandName More able/gifted/talented Reason for identificationWhat constitutes a ‘more able’ learner?A more able learner is one who is performing above the average for the classroom in one ormore curriculum area (by a minimum of 2 N.C. sub-levels per year).What constitutes a ‘gifted’ learner?A gifted learner is one whose learning exceeds the national average by 2 N.C. levels for theparticular year group. (Beyond 5a+ in Y6, 5b in Y5, 5c in Y4, 4a in Y3, 4b in Y2 and 3a in Y1.)What constitutes a ‘talented’ learner?A talented learner is someone who has ability in art and design, music, sport or performingarts.