Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy Policy Statement on Able, Gifted and Talented Children (reviewed Autumn 2014)

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1 Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy Policy Statement on Able, Gifted and Talented Children (reviewed Autumn 2014) K Vale Autumn

2 A Rationale The 2005 White Paper Higher Standards, better schools for all sets support for Able and Talented pupils clearly within the context of personalized learning. A tailored education means addressing the needs of the most able and talented just as much as those who are struggling.thus our provision for able and talented pupils is not intended to be elitist or divisive but should be seen within the context of meeting individual needs and raising standards for all pupils. We are aware that it is a practical issue for all schools and all classrooms. Able and talented pupils who are not appropriately challenged can lose confidence and motivation and easily become bored or disaffected. It is also an equal opportunities issue every pupil has the right to receive the educational support and assistance they require in order to achieve their full potential. In summary, the governors, Headteacher and staff at our school, recognize that all pupils share the right to a broad and balanced curriculum. The school aims to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to reach their full potential and that suitable provision is made to meet the need of our able pupils. B Purpose and Aims At Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy we shall aim to: help our able and talented pupils to develop their personalities, skills and abilities, intellectually and socially; regardless of ethnic origin, gender or disability. create opportunities which will aim to help children to develop their desire to learn to work at higher cognitive levels. provide teaching which makes learning challenging and enjoyable and enables our able and talented pupils to achieve their potential. We will aim to provide good quality learning experiences for our Able and Talented pupils through the following approaches; 1. Within the School 2. Within the classroom 3. Beyond the School 1. The Whole School Approach Our aims a climate of encouraging achievement within the school that ensures pupils feel good about achieving high standards. K Vale Autumn

3 agreed identification and monitoring strategies, reviewing individual progress regularly. (Pupil s inclusion on the Able and Talented register will be regularly reviewed by the relevant staff and discussed with the pupil s parents). appoint a named teacher responsible for co-ordinating and monitoring our school policy and attending/providing INSET as necessary. to produce/update a register of all Able and Talented pupils identified or nominated by teachers, parents or pupils. to achieve open communication and partnership with parents of children on the register of Able and Talented pupils. the inclusion of subject specific guidance in subject policies. the provision of general and subject specific resources/materials for Able and talented pupils to ensure successive class teachers/secondary schools are advised of a pupil s inclusion on the Able and Talented register. 2. Within the classroom Our aim is to provide good quality learning experiences for all our pupils. This is not about extra provision for a few select pupils but a whole school issue. Extra programmes and enrichment are only part of the provision it is what happens everyday, within the classroom, that is most important. We believe that effective provision for able, talented children is one facet of effective provision for all pupils within a school. Provision must include access to appropriate opportunities whether they are provided in, or beyond, school. We aim to create opportunities for all pupils to demonstrate their potential talent or ability. Provision for our able and talented pupils should be considered in the following areas: i)whole school approach There is a general positive climate of high expectation and extended provision, it is cool to succeed and high achievement is promoted. At Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy we celebrate achievement in many ways including Celebration Assembly, Pupil of the Week, Star of the Day ii) Within the classroom All pupils respond better in a positive supportive learning environment. We believe provision in the classroom is key to the effective identification of AG& T children. At Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy provision for AG&T pupils in the classroom includes; 1) Different forms of differentiation e.g. by outcome, resource, task, dialogue, support, pace, content, self i.e. adapting a task to make it more complex, create challenge and make it more sophisticated, etc. 2) Teaching and learning programme enrichment (breadth), acceleration (pace), extension (depth), avoiding more of the same. K Vale Autumn

4 3) Differentiated homework with opportunities for open ended investigation and research tasks. 4) Links with other subjects, children are encouraged to use their skills to make connections across the curriculum. 5) Questioning, explaining and challenging to extend thinking. 6) Inclusion of higher order thinking skills i.e. synthesis, analysis, evaluation and providing activities to develop investigative and exploratory approaches. Examples of such activities include; group problem solving, Thinking Skills Starters/Morning Tasks and Challenge activities. 7) Grouping/setting. 8) Target setting, targets are agreed with the child and set at a sufficiently high level to extend and challenge pupils and to avoid repetition. 9) Opportunities to develop own interests and learning strategies (metacognition), enabling pupils to become more independent participants in their learning. 10) Classroom environment - development and promotion of high achievement; empowering a community of learners with permission to fail, take risks etc. 11) Provision of creative, open ended or abstract tasks. 12) Access to high quality, challenging resources. 13) Use of TA for example to deliver Extension Activities to small groups of children. 14) Encouraging the use of A&T pupils as lead learners. NB We will use the Classroom Quality Standards to monitor our provision 3. Beyond the School Provision at our school includes: 1) Use of the wider community i.e. governors, parents etc. 2) Extension and enrichment opportunities extension groups; extra-curricular clubs/activities 3) Master classes, Summer Schools etc 4) Residential experiences 6) LEA support and organised activities 7) SW Gate/Excellence Hub workshops 8) Specialist sports coaching after school 9) Inter school and city wide sports competitions 10) Sports festivals School Sports Coordinators scheme 10) Mfl courses N.B. All provision for pupils identified as able and talented is embedded in the overall practice of the school, and is not viewed as a bolt-on activity. C Guidelines and Proceedures (i) IDENTIFICATION WHO? There are many definitions of able and talented. According to the Dcfs The pupils K Vale Autumn

5 identified in the cohort will be achieving, or have the potential to achieve, significantly in advance of the average for the year group in their school. At Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy we have decided to follow the latest Dcfs guidance which states that schools are free to determine the size of their able and talented population, but should be able to justify this in terms of improved standards for all learners identified. We have adopted the following definitions; Able: Able pupils are defined as having particular academic ability in one or more subjects in the statutory school curriculum other than art and design, music and PE. Talented: Talented pupils will have aptitude and skill in art, performing (e.g. dance and drama and visual), music or sport. We will look not only at high academic ability but at the full range of artistic and sporting talents, outstanding leadership, personal and social qualities etc. when identifying Able and Talented children in our school. Identification in our school is a continuous whole school process and does not focus exclusively on the current cohort. We make provision for movement into and out of the cohort as necessary. This is likely to be more frequent for younger pupils and reinforces the need for careful monitoring, as well as mechanisms for ensuring continuity of provision. K Vale Autumn

6 HOW? At Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy we believe that pupils may demonstrate a wide range of characteristics there is clearly no such thing as a typical able or talented child. We have decided that no single method of assessment or identification process will accurately identify a pupil s ability profile or learning needs. It will therefore be necessary to gather information from a variety of sources (a portfolio of evidence) to understand these needs more clearly. We will only use general, subject, personal & Social and Early Years checklists as a secondary source of evidence*. At our school we have decided as a staff to use the portfolio approach, utilizing the following strategies and methods; Quantitative data Results of National Curriculum assessments National Curriculum levels of attainment Optional SATs results Foundation Stage Profiles Reading tests results Rate of progress including value added data and reference to prior attainment/achievement (Raiseonline) *NB Teacher Assessment will be used to inform any Quantitative Data Qualitative data Class teacher nomination (knowledge of background and of pupil as a whole person) Discussion with colleagues (following moderation/examination of work) Classroom observation (teachers, TAs..) Parental nomination Peer nomination/referral (currently being trialled) Outside/specialist referral e.g. clubs; checklists We aim to ensure that the identification process is rigorous, transparent, and fair and does not discriminate against particular groups (e.g. by gender, social class, ethnicity and subject specialism). It is also flexible enough to deal with pupils who join the school from other primary schools or are late or early developers. At Smith s Wood Community Primary School it is our intention to systematically identify Able and Talented children using the evidence above, in addition our teachers are always talent spotting! Underachievers We acknowledge that high ability does not necessarily result in high attainment and high attainment does not always indicate high ability, particularly when considering younger children. Some children fail to demonstrate their full potential within existing educational provision. A variety of social, domestic, emotional, behavioral or motivational problems can mask ability. Thus abilities and talents may only become K Vale Autumn

7 apparent when opportunities are created for them to excel. At Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy we aim to provide these opportunities (see provision). It is particularly difficult to identify able and talented underachievers: our school carefully monitors identification procedures to ensure that they are not simply identifying those who are already high achievers. Our identification process takes into account factors such as motivation, personality and home background, which are significant in converting potential into performance. We therefore aim to ensure that pupils are included in the cohort who have the potential to achieve, but are not regularly demonstrating high achievement. Special Educational Needs (Multiple Exceptionality) Our staff are aware that there may be those pupils whose special educational needs mask their high ability e.g. those with dyslexia. There may also be those pupils on the autistic spectrum who have very specific talents e.g. exceptional artists, musicians or mathematicians. We realise therefore that it is important to ensure that there is effective liaison with the school s SENCO and that provision for these pupils is written into their IEP and communicated to all staff. Register Pupils who are identified as being able and/or talented are entered on to the school register and the provision map so that staff and parents know who these pupils are, how they are identified, what provision is being made and how progress is reviewed. The register records SEN, ethnicity, preferred learning styles and planned provision. Since relative ability changes over time, pupils move on/off our Able and Talented register as appropriate. Able shadow group There are pupils we know have the potential to be part of the cohort, but have not demonstrated their ability and thus have not been identified formally and nominated. We therefore have a shadow group of pupils who appear on the register, who may have access to some/all of the experiences and opportunities that are on offer, and whose progress is monitored when the register is reviewed. (ii)transfer AND TRANSITION At Smith s Wood Community Primary Academy we have effective links with our local secondary schools. Information about Year 6 pupils on our AG&T register, (preferred learning styles, strengths and weaknesses, work covered, targets ) is forwarded in the Summer Term. The able and talented coordinators from these schools are invited to meet this school s coordinator to discuss pupils on our register and to agree ways of ensuring a smooth transition for pupils on the register. To aid transition between key stages we encourage members of staff to liaise in order to ensure that all relevant information related to Able, Gifted and Talented pupils on the register is transferred/ disseminated. (iii) PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS We believe that it is important to involve parents. Parents views are considered as K Vale Autumn

8 part of the identification process. They have a unique perspective which adds to the total picture of a pupil. Involving parents increases the likelihood of co-operation between school and home, which is in the best interests of the child. Parents and carers are made aware of their child s inclusion on our AG&T register but are also informed that a place on the register does not automatically guarantee academic success! (iv) GOVERNOR Our nominated governor for Able, Gifted and Talented is.she has a specific interest in A&T children in our school. (v) MONITORING AND EVALUATION This policy will be monitored for its impact on the quality of teaching and pupil achievement and will be reviewed on a regular basis to allow our school to celebrate and build on its provision and to encourage continuous improvement. Our Senior Management Team/AG&T Coordinator have completed the National Quality Standards. The results of this have been used to identify areas of strength, and three target areas for development (see National Quality Standards summary sheet) in terms of the school s provision for Able and Talented children. Our SMT analyse pupil performance using school data on Raise online. This enables them to evaluate identification methods, current provision and to identify barriers to learning, under representation and underachievement. Lesson observations will be carried out with a particular emphasis on effective provision for children who have been identified as Able, Gifted and Talented (vi) NEXT STEPS Our AG&T Coordinator has completed a school Action Plan for Able, Gifted and Talented provision in our school. This Action Plan has been agreed by all staff will help our school to achieve the aims and objectives of this policy. Progress against our Action plan will be reviewed by the Able, Gifted and Talented Coordinator termly. (vii) AGREED ROLE OF OUR ABLE, GIFTED AND TALENTED COORDINATOR The nominated Able, Gifted & Talented Coordinator within our school will; coordinate and update the Able, Gifted and Talented policy ensure that the able and talented policy is an integral part of the school s Teaching and Learning policy and is linked to other relevant school policies maintain and update the register in consultation with other staff. ensure that staff have the knowledge and resources necessary to identify K Vale Autumn

9 Able and Talented pupils support staff, where necessary in the identification of Able and Talented pupils monitor the school s provision for identified pupils provide advice and support to staff on teaching and learning strategies for Able and Talented pupils ensure that the school s Able and Talented Action Plan and Aim High Plans are completed liaise with parents and a nominated governor will manage a budget and allocation of resources; will provide advice and support to staff on available resources arrange Inset, CPD for staff in response to identified need will liaise and discuss the pupil s needs and arrange for the forwarding of all relevant documentation on transition between key stages and on the child s transfer to another school K Vale Autumn