Gifted and talentedSupporting gifted and talented

students in the department

Aims of this session

• To establish criteria and a process for identifying gifted and talented students

• To produce a plan of action for supporting gifted and talented students

• To identify success criteria for a gifted and talented policy

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Definition

“A student whose ability is more advanced in some way than the

majority of their peers in the school”

Exam scores are not the only way to measure this. Some very able students do not shine in tests that measure performance in lower level skills

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Identification• What is considered ‘success’ in this

area by the outside world?• What skills are required

for this success?• How/when can students display

these skills?• Are the department’s highest

attainers always the same students? • Could they perform well

at a higher level? 4

Supporting students

• Resources• Grouping• Differentiation• Peer mentoring• Out of hours• Motivation

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ResourcesConsider whether resources:• allow for more challenging tasks• stretch those with higher-level

language skills• stimulate visual and

kinesthetic learners• encourage creative skills and

originality• enable the gifted and talented to

develop their skills themselves6

Grouping

• Do gifted and talented students have leadership roles?

• Do they work with other able students separately at any time?

• Are they provided with any extra adult support?

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Differentiation

• Are tasks graded in terms of must, should, could?

• Are gifted and talented students given different time directions?

• Is differentiation by outcome used as an excuse for not planning for gifted and talented students?

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Peer mentoring

• Do gifted and talented students deliberately underachieve to ‘fit in’?

• Do gifted and talented students ever support one another?

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Out of hours• Is out-of-hours experience

provided?• Could an external source provide

this experience?• Would such an experience benefit

gifted and talented students?• What would you hope to achieve in

the out-of-hours experience?• Would an out-of-hours experience

support classroom work?10

Motivation

• Are students told they are gifted and talented? If so, do they know what their particular gift/talent is?

• Do students feel being gifted and talented is a good thing?

• Do gifted and talented students behave badly or underachieve?

• Do gifted and talented students want to develop their skills?

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Success criteria

• Exam targets: Decide whether public measures of ability are achieved

• Motivation: Measure interest and degree of stimulation

• Long-term interest: Measure whether the student is continuing to develop their potential in this area

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