Ercall Wood Technology College

‘Excellence through challenge and initiative’

Gifted and Talented provision Parent’s information Booklet

Contents

1. Our Aim
2. What is Gifted and Talented
3. How do we identify pupils for the gifted and talented register
4. What is the gifted and Talented register
5. What are the Statutory requirements for schools in terms of Gifted and Talented
6. What provision do we offer for Gifted and Talented pupils
7. The Gifted and Talented policy
8. Examples of Gifted and Talented projects and activities
9. Working with others
10. Picture gallery
11. Advice
12. Further information
13. Useful websites

What does Gifted and Talented mean?

Gifted
pupils are those who have exceptional abilities in one or more subjects in the statutory school curriculum.

Talented
pupils are defined as those who have exceptional abilities in art and design, music, PE and sports or performing arts such as dance and drama.

Gifted and Talented Aims and principles
Our overall aim is to provide the best possible provision for any child on the gifted and talented register we will achieve this by:

Aims:

• Providing opportunities that allow pupils to develop their strengths and talents
• Create access to challenging curriculum, including work at a higher cognitive level
• We will assist pupils to become independent learners
• We will acknowledge hard work, high standards and success

Principles:

• Grouping by ability
• Differentiation in group abilities and setting groups
• Differentiated homework when appropriate
• Enrichment across the whole curriculum
• Efficient transition and sharing of information
• Schemes of work and lesson plans to identify provision to meet the needs of gifted and talented pupils
• Extra curricular activities and projects
• Links with other schools and outside agencies.

How does Ercall Wood identify pupils on the gifted and talented register?
The identification process consists of three parts:

• Statistical Data- Results from previous forms of testing e.g. SATs are used.
• Teacher nominations- Staff identify pupils within their own curriculum area who seem to be excelling and working at high levels. This process is completed annually. If a pupil joins the school mid term and has not been present for the teacher nomination process staff are asked to make nominations for this child if necessary.
• Parent / guardian nominations- Letters are sent home to parents / guardians annually within the Autumn term asking them to highlight to the school any hobbies or interests that their child has that may assist us in the identification process.

The Gifted and Talented register
The  Gifted and Talented register is broken up into three sections, the top 10% of children being in the Gifted and Talented section, the second 10%  on the shadow Gifted and Talented list and then any other pupils who have received a nomination are also detailed on the register.  Children on the Gifted and Talented register have the opportunity to move up and down. The register is up dated annually.

What are the statutory requirements for schools in terms of Gifted and Talented?
The government has not as yet implemented statutory requirements regarding gifted and talented provision within schools however schools are expected to ensure all of the following is being done:

• Identify the gifted and talented pupils within the school using set criteria.
• Ensure the criteria are clear and explicit.
• Create a register with which to monitor the G&T pupils
• Notify parents of the pupils on the G&T register
• Explain to parents how the school will support G&T pupils
• Have a lead gifted and talented coordinator
• Monitor the pupils progress
• Create a gifted and talented policy
• Ensure that staff are involved in offering challenging work
• Has a nominated governor for gifted and talented

Not only does Ercall Wood achieve each one of these criteria point but we offer much more…..

Provision on offer to Gifted and Talented pupils
At Ercall Wood we do all of the above plus much more. As part of the gifted and talented program pupils will have access to:

• Extra curricular activities trips, projects and higher level master classes helping them to broaden their experiences and skills.
• All gifted and talented pupils are invited to attend the gifted and talented drop in sessions which run weekly for all years.
• Pupils can access individual mentoring opportunities.
• Pupils have access to the gifted and talented coordinator if they have need to discuss any issues or require additional support
• The gifted and talented coordinator will work with them and their subject teachers to support them in achieving their potential.
• Any pupil who has received a teacher nomination is made aware to the gifted and talented coordinator and all pupils not only on the gifted and talented register but the shadow register are tracked and monitored.
• All pupils whom have received a nomination are offered extra curricular activities during a school year and are recorded on the gifted and talented register.
• The gifted and talented coordinator tracks all pupils on the gifted and talented register and those pupils on the shadow register, tracking their termly grades against their target grades and is easily able to identify any pupils not reaching or superseding their targets and then can work with pupils and staff to implement appropriate plans of action.
• The gifted and talented coordinator works with subject teachers to support Gifted and talented pupils in class.
• The nominated governor is invited in to work with and be involved in gifted and talented activities and meets on a regular base with the coordinator.
• The coordinator offers higher level thinking activities to gifted and talented pupils during registration periods and during some lunchtime periods.

The gifted and talented school policy
Ercall Wood adopts a gifted and talented policy which all staff are required to follow. This policy is reviewed annually and can be obtained by request. The policy’s implementation is overseen by the senior management team and the designated school governor for gifted and talented provision.

Examples of gifted and talented activities and projects
Ercall Wood is keen to develop pupils’ experiences and offer opportunities for them to experience activities that will develop their skills and abilities in addition to normal curriculum work.  Listed below are just a handful of opportunities that have been offered out to pupils over the past 12 months:

Roman Film making project

This project involved a group of 15 pupils from years 9 and 11 working with two other secondary schools and four primary schools. The project brief was to create a learning resource in the form of a film for primary schools around the subject of the Romans and what they did for us. It was titled “If these walls could talk” Pupils were able to work with historians, script writers, archaeologists, the English heritage, actors re-enactors and professional film makers as well as developing relationships with other schools. This project was highly successful and primary schools use the film made as part of their Roman projects

Podcasting

20 year 10 pupils were able to work with core subject teachers after school taking part in higher level activities in preparation for exams. They then had to write and make a pod cast for other pupils giving advise on preparing for exams and sharing the knowledge they had learnt. An IT expert was brought into school to support and help the pupils and develop their skills. The project was a complete success with pupils giving a presentation to parents, staff and officials on their project from start to finish.

University Master classes

Ercall Wood has been able to offer years 9, 10 and 11 university master classes and taster sessions enabling the pupils to access higher level Maths, English and Science workshops as well as having the opportunity to look around university sites and seeing what university life might be like.

Mock Trial Competition

The Mock trial competition is an annual competition where pupils from years 8 and 9 are able to take on all roles of people involved in a court case. Magistrates and lawyers come into school to help train and prepare the pupils and learn the case in hand. The team competes against other schools in a real court room having to follow court rules.

Our first ever entry was in 2011 were we came third, a great result for our first time.

These are just a few examples of the many activities that we offer the gifted and talented pupils. All of which offer a wealth of opportunities for pupils to flourish, learn new skills and work with professionals.

Working with others
At Ercall Wood we believe that it is important to work alongside not only our teachers, staff and pupils but those of other schools. A number of the gifted and talented projects have seen our pupils work collaboratively with other senior schools and primary schools for example the “Something from nothing” film project saw us work with HLC secondary school and Lord Silkin secondary school. During the “If these walls could talk” project we linked up with Lord Silkin again plus The Sutherland school, Lawley, Crudgington, Wrekin View and Wrockwardine Wood primary schools.

By working together with other schools and external agency we can access a host of expertises, foster relationships and help the pupils to work alongside others in an effective and beneficial manner.

Photo Gallery

Enterprise / business activity,                     Representing Ercall Wood at the

Making and selling soap                                      Opening of the Roman Town

Year 10                                                      house Wroxeter Year 9

The Mock Trial Team 2011                                   Forensic science workshop

Years 8 and 9                                                                Year 7

Advice
Parents and guardians play an important role in the development of their gifted and talented children, a role which Ercall wood fully supports. There are a variety of ways that parents can help their children but as each child is unique what helps one child might not help another. Therefore we have listed below a variety of strategies for supporting gifted and talented pupils.

• Discuss your child’s progress with them
• Attend activities and events in the local area
• Use the internet or local magazines to contact societies involved in working with gifted and talented children.
• Celebrate your child’s achievements and success
• Encourage them to push their boundaries
• Visit museums and galleries and talk together about the exhibitions
• Monitor the number of engagements and formal activities that your child is taking part in. Children need free time to rest, play develop hobbies and interests and relax.
• Read with them or at the same time as your child then discuss the books
• Have a look at suggested reading lists
• Encourage them to take part and play with games that include puzzle solving, logic, reasoning, brain teasers play with them.
• Read and discuss newspapers and talk about news stories
• Gifted and Talented pupils often expect perfection of themselves and sometimes struggle if they get something wrong, encourage your child to maintain a positive outlook and learn from mistakes, encourage them to take risks, be creative and to try something new. Be supportive.

Further Information
If you require any additional information concerning the gifted and talented provision on offer at Ercall Wood please do not hesitate to contact us:

Mrs K Meiklejohn                              Gifted and Talented coordinator

Mr Carl Ward                                     Deputy Head teacher

School telephone number                01952 387300

Useful Websites

www.ygt.dcsf.gov.uk (young gifted and talented homepage)

www.ygt.dcsf.gov.uk/?stakeholders=2 (Young gifted and talented parents and carers page)

Don’t forget to access the school website for information, advice and school news.