Tonbridge Grammar School

The aims of our work with gifted and talented students supports our central ethos of educating and preparing for life able students of all backgrounds.

• To ensure that each student achieves of her or his best and realises their potential.
• To nurture a life-long love of learning and an intellectual resourcefulness.
• To recognise that even in a school in which all or most students may be statistically defined as gifted, there is a cohort of students of exceptionally gifts and talents.
• To encourage a spirit of appreciation and acceptance of different abilities, both within the school and beyond.
• To recognise prior learning
• To provide challenging learning experiences for all students, both in lessons, across lessons through cross-curricular links,  and through the wider curriculum.
• To be creative in providing stimulating enrichment opportunities for all students, whatever their special gifts and talents
• To foster links with the wider community – local, national and international – to provide enrichment and opportunities to apply learning.
• To have high expectations of all
• To encourage students to take responsibility, to be self-motivated and show initiative so that learning arises naturally through enquiry and research
• To encourage divergent thinking and problem solving abilities
• To ensure there are appropriate systems to track student achievement
• To maintain a high profile as a school in the national debate on gifted and talented education

Legal recommendations if any/guidelines

We work within the DFES definition of G and T students representing the top 10% o their age cohort nationally. We use the DfES publiations, the Institutional Quality Standards and Classroom Quality Standards to guide and monitor our work with G and T students.

While the DFES guidelines suggests that each school identifies 5-10% of students in each year group as gifted and talented, regardless of the institution’s ability profile, the particular nature of TGS students means that the school is not bound by such parameters. TGS falls within the top 8% of the national profile, and all of our students are highly able academically.

Our exceptionally gifted students have very high ability across the curriculum. The whole ethos, structure and curriculum provision of the school caters for students of high academic ability. However, the school also recognises that there will also be students with specific talents and aptitudes who may need additional provision, enrichment and support.  

Definitions

Gifted is defined as being highly able academically.

Talented is defined as being of high ability in practical subject areas such as sport, drama, art, technology etc.

Procedures/Implementation

Identification
We  identify the needs of students through;

• The use of NAGTY eligibility criteria for membership of the National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth (11+  scores, CAT scores, GCSE scores, SATs, Maths Challenge Gold, teacher identification, parental identification)
• The school’s subject criteria for gifted and talented students
• The provision of a variety of teaching and learning opportunities

We record and distribute identification lists to staff in order to further provide for the needs of the gifted and talented students, and keep this information on the school’s data system.  

We keep these lists under annual review, and aim to be  open to potential that may not be obvious.

Provision  

• We aim to  ensure that schemes of work include provision for the very able, including extension activity, independent study, and open ended lines of enquiry based on higher order thinking skills.
• We aim to  ensure that lesson planning takes account of the need for challenge and a variety of learning strategies
• We enrich the curriculum through activities including trips, visits, fieldwork, conferences, masterclasses, summer schools and enterprise and work related learning.
• We aim to  make best use of new technologies to enhance learning and autonomy.
• We aim to  exploit the potential of outside providers such as NAGTY, VilliersPark, NACE to extend the learning opportunities on offer to the gifted and talented.
• We aim to  support personalised learning by building flexible pathways into the curriculum.
• We use the Classroom Quality Standards to support and train staff in meeting the needs of the gifted and talented.

• We aim to  ensure that assessment policies reflect progression routes within subjects and are shared with the students
• We ensure assessment procedures allow sufficient challenge and reward for even the exceptionally able
• We aim to  engage students in evaluating their performance against targets related to clear criteria
• We aim to enable students to take responsibility for their progress through assessment for learning

• We provide training and guidance to enable staff to meet the needs of very able and gifted learners
• We collaborate with agencies and other schools that provide guidance and support for gifted and talented provision
• We share good practice with colleagues across the country and internationally, through running support forums and speaking at national conferences

• We aim to  ensure that all departments have appropriate resources to meet the needs of the gifted and talented
• A central library of resources is kept in the staffroom for use by allteaching staff

• We collaborate in the sharing of good practice and innovative approaches to the curriculum through the school’s networks, including the cluster, the LEA, the SSAT, the AST network, G and T support groups, NAGTY and the QCA.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• We aim to keep opportunities within schemes of work and classroom provision under constant review (Subject leaders and G and T coordinator)
• We monitor involvement in extra-curricular activities (tutors and G and T coordinator)
• We use the CQS, classroom observation and professional development as monitoring tools
• We use the Institutional and Classroom Quality Standards as a monitoring tool, and work towards specified targets each year. (G and T coordinator)
• We aim to  keep the policy under review in the light of the national agenda.