The English Faculty’s Gifted and Talented Policy

As a faculty, we aim to identify the individual learning needs of all our students and deliver suitably differentiated lessons that meet and challenge those needs. In accordance with this aim, we recognise Heathcote’s central register for gifted and talented students. We identify students who have exceptional ability by examining data on entry to the school, national assessment data and continuous assessment throughout Year 7. As a faculty, we are committed to discovering and developing classroom practice that best supports our gifted and talented students.

The English Faculty strives to meet the needs of these students in a variety of ways:

Delivering lessons that are challenging and varied in format and style;

Choosing challenging literature for class study and recommending literature for students’ independent reading;

Promoting the importance of independent reading;

Through constructive and formative marking, including careful consideration of drafts of GCSE, AS, A2 coursework;

Celebrating and rewarding high achievement in the form of faculty awards, letters home and words of praise in assembly;

Providing extra support both inside and outside of the classroom;

Issuing within-class extension tasks;

Supporting and providing opportunities for healthy competition;

Entering students for extension papers where appropriate;

Sharing good practice;

Taking advantage of INSET opportunities to keep abreast of current developments in teaching and learning for gifted and talented;

Keeping abreast of current literature that will inform curriculum provision for the gifted and talented;

Providing publishing opportunities for gifted writers to discover audiences and be read by others;

Entering poems and essays in national competitions;

Allowing gifted and talented students to teach other students;

Encouraging and supporting gifted students’ applications to join The National Academy For Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY) run by The University of Warwick

Encouraging students to participate in county-wide and national schemes for gifted and talented students.

Further information available from:

www.warwick.ac.uk/gifted

DEAN, Geoff, (2002), ‘English and Literacy’, in, EYRE, Deborah, and LOWE, Hilary, ed., Curriculum Provision for the Gifted and Talented in the Secondary School, (London: NACE/Fulton), 38-40.

CLARK, Catherine and CALLOW, Ralph, (2002), Educating the Gifted and Talented, Second Edition, (London: NACE/Fulton)

FREEMAN, Joan, (1998), Educating the Very Able, (London: OFSTED)

KERRY, Trevor, (1978), ‘Bright pupils in mixed ability classes’, Educational Research, 4:20.