Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Aims
Definition
There are many definitions of ‘gifted’ and ‘talented’. This guidance builds on the
work of Excellence in Cities (EiC), which identifies:
• ‘Gifted’ students as those who have abilities in one or more subjects in the
statutory school curriculum other than art & design, music, dance, drama and
PE.
• ‘Talented’ students as those who have abilities in art & design, music and PE;
and/or in sports and in performing arts such as dance and drama.
• Students who are ‘all-rounders’ are both gifted and talented. This policy
document uses the phrase ‘gifted and talented’ (G&T) to describe students
with gifts, students with talents and students who are all-rounders.
EiC targets G&T work at the top 5-10% of students in any school, regardless of the
profile of the students at the school.
Funding
Funding for the G&T initiative comes from the DfES, via EiC. Funding is intended to
be used to further the initiative within the school for the benefit of G&T students.
Running costs include:
The remainder of the annual budget is spent on a range of activities and initiatives to
further the education of G&T students. Examples of activities and initiatives include:
The school also uses money from the delegated budget to support the specialist
musical instrument lesson programme and sport/team events; to provide resources for
these activities.
Rationale
G&T students are those who achieve, or have the ability to achieve at a level
significantly in advance of the average for their year group. They are to be:
• Identified
• Targeted
• Supported
• Challenged.
The school strives to achieve the above, recognising the needs of G&T students to be
an equal opportunities issue.
Leadership
• Provide adequate resources to ensure high quality education for G&T students
• Monitor and evaluate the development of the policy across the curriculum and
year groups
• Provide opportunities for staff development to raise awareness and develop
skills in identifying G&T students, developing teaching and learning strategies
and providing resources for G&T students
• Report to governors on the progress of the initiative
• Provide G&T Co-ordinator with time and resources to fulfil the role
effectively
G&T Co-ordinator
Year Leaders
Identification
The school follows Ogilvie’s definition of ‘giftedness’ (1973), which suggests six
areas of ability to be recognised:
• Physical talent
• Mechanical ingenuity
• Visual and performing abilities
• Outstanding leadership and social awareness
• Creativity
• High intelligence.
G&T students are diverse in their characteristics and their range of attainment is
varied. However, they are more likely than most students to:
Some G&T students do well in national curriculum tests (including the extension
texts) and in world-class tests. However, the school recognises that, as the list above
suggests, being G&T covers much more than the ability to succeed in tests.
The school acknowledges that not all G&T students are obvious achievers. Many
underachieve: their potential is masked by such factors as frustration, low self-esteem,
Avoiding stereotyping
The school strives to ensure that the full range of its student population is considered
when identifying the G&T cohort. We check that the students identified as G&T are
broadly representative of the school as a whole since significant disparity might
suggest that some students have been overlooked.
Provision
Provision for all students, including differentiation for G&T students, is the
responsibility of all teaching staff. The school seeks to provide a balance of in-class
and out-of-class opportunities for curriculum enrichment. Schemes of work will
identify areas of enhanced work and extension opportunities for G&T students.
Students will be encouraged to use higher order thinking skills where appropriate, to
think creatively and to engage in independent learning. The school seeks to meet the
emotional and social needs of G&T students though offering appropriate teaching and
learning opportunities in an environment that is supportive of and celebrates the more
able.
Monitoring/Reviewing
The whole-school G&T register is updated by the G&T Co-ordinator in the autumn
tern of each academic year. This is aided by comments from faculties across the
school, in addition to various forms of data (see Identification, above). At this time,
students are added to or removed from the register as appropriate. The names of
newly identified year 7 students are added around the same time.
• Money from the G&T budget is spent each year on resources and support
materials.
• The G&T Co-ordinator regularly gives INSET to teachers within the school
and those working towards QTS.
NAGTY
www.warwick.ac.uk/gifted
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/giftedandtalented
www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications
www.thegrid.org.uk/learning/gifted
www.londongt.org/homepage/index.php
www.brookes.ac.uk/schools/ education/rescon/cpdgifted/home.html!
www.qca.org.uk/8774.html
www.espresso.co.uk/services/ overview/pol_gifted_talented.html
www.mensa.org.uk/giftedandtalented
www.lgfl.net
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/ life/sen/gifted_and_talented