Introductory PowerPoint DES 2008 Gifted and Talented

This set of slides is designed for G&T Leading Teacher CPD. There is also an accompanying set of notes for each slide. The presentation can be found on the DES website under Gifted and Talented at: Presentation developed by Phil Creek, DES Adviser for G&T,

Slide 1 points to consider: what does this quote suggest for gifted and talented (or more able pupils) in the classroom and beyond as well as all others including SEN? the need to provide for all pupils do teachers provide equal support for the most able whether some staff may feel that able pupils do well enough already and do not need support or challenge whether some staff feel the most able are already advantaged and that there is more need to work with SEN do some staff feel that as long as pupils reach the expected level that is good enough?

Slide 2 points to consider: are able pupils just more gifted and talented and therefore they will always do well without trying (or applying) themselves? do all, or some, able pupils just simply work harder than others? there are some able pupils who are presently underachieving because they are not applying themselves fully? consider if some pupils are able to achieve well without trying hard i.e. coasting?

Slide 3 points to consider: the five Every Child Matters outcomes Being Healthy, Staying Safe, Enjoying and Achieving, Making a Positive Contribution, Economic Well Being apply equally to G&T pupils do able pupils enjoy their learning in school and if they feel they are achieve sufficiently well – will using interviews, questionnaires and other pupil voice activities help? discuss, as a group, if the whole school culture and all pupils in all classes are seeking high level achievement or if there are any pockets of anti-success culture consider the need to develop partnership working with parents and the community to further develop aspiration make sure that pupils who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, children in care (CIC) and those who are multi-exceptional (SEN and G&T) are fully supported and challenged in the area of their ability

Slide 4 points to consider: It is important to recognise under-achievement by pupils from poor social backgrounds and to review the G&T register to see if they and other minority groups are represented in proportion to the number in the whole school population do all pupils of both genders and all ethnic and social backgrounds reach their full potential in every classroom?

Slide 5 points to consider: the Sutton Trust research indicates that fewer pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds attend university. Also pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are performing well in the early years, are overtaken within two years by less able pupils from better backgrounds. It is therefore important to make sure that staff are aware of any potential disadvantage related to personal circumstance why is it that comparatively few able pupils from poor backgrounds go to university?

Slide 6 points to consider: what can and should schools do about this situation? how, as a school, can we reduce the number of pupils who do not do well enough in tests or get appropriate qualifications – especially those who have low income backgrounds? what is the role of the SLT?

Slide 7 points to consider: this statement indicates that introducing a gifted and talented policy, developing practice and setting challenge for able pupils in the classroom lifts standards for all – do you agree? what evidence do we have? it would be helpful if staff could identify specific occasions when provision was put in place for more able pupils and this has improved the achievement of other or all pupils in the class identification through provision, in this way, is one of the most accurate forms of identification

Slide 8 points to consider: this can make identification problematic as the criteria is school-based? it is important to realise that pupils will be ahead of their year group in one school but may not be so in a different school The G&T cohort on the register will be relative to the school and this needs to be explained to the pupils and parents We need to make sure we include those pupils who are presently underachieving able pupils as they may be the most able in the future. There are many able adults who were not recognised as such in school.

Slide 9 points to consider: it is important to allow staff time to complete this activity and for discussion to take place what issues did your discussion generate? this activity can help identify areas for development, particular interests or strengths follow up the points made by staff to develop school practice and provision

Slide 10 points to consider: is this system useful to us in school? should we use subjects or the Gardner definitions of intelligence to identify pupils on the register? which information will enable staff to support and challenge pupils most effectively?

Slide 11 points to consider: do we recognise any of these pupils in the classroom and school? who are these pupils in the school – can we give them names? how many do we have? do we fully support and challenge them all? are some hard to reach?

Slide 12 points to consider: do you recognise these attributes in pupils who are they? at secondary level how do the attributes differ? how and why are higher level thinking skills, such as synthesis and analysis, most important?

Slide 13 points to consider: how do your school targets and attainment for G&T pupils compare? do you know how the most able do or is the school only looking at the expected levels? (i.e. level 2, 4, 5 and grade C or better at GCSE) how do your school targets and attainment for G&T pupils compare? do you set targets for level 3,5,7 and GCSE A & A*? is your register inclusive e.g. for gender, gifts and talents, under-achieving groups. what progress is being made?

Slide 14 points to consider: How can we use the DCSF (DfES) handbook to support our work? It is to be remembered that The National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY) has now been replace by YG&T (Young Gifted and Talented) It is important to stress we are talking about ability and not just achievement. Some able pupils will not necessarily perform well in tests

Slide 15 points to consider: do you know how many you have in school, who is on the school register – do we all know? latest figures (in the 2007 school census) show that 91 per cent of secondary and 65 per cent of primary schools nationally are identifying their gifted and talented pupils, over 733,000 in total. Devon has 100% of secondary schools and 87% of primary schools with a G&T register. should we remove pupils from the register – why have they not made progress? do we have a broadly representative population?

Slide 16 points to consider: how does the provision put in place for the G&T pupils support better identification? the school should think very carefully before removing a pupil from the register as it may be the fact that the school has failed the pupil rather than the pupil failing to make progress? what do we do about pupils who are G&T but make poor progress?

Slide 17 points to consider: what role do parents play in this? how is the school using and reviewing this process to develop G&T practice and provision in school? how are pupils involved?

Slide 18 points to consider: what did/does reviewing practice using the IQS and CQS highlight for staff and the school? has the whole school been involved in auditing practice. If so, how has this helped staff to develop practice? what should we plan to develop? how has this been recorded – in the school SEF? the e-modules on the National Strategies website will help in this work see:

Slide 19 points to consider: use part of the IQS to audit practice and over time cover all the 14 strands a good place to start for staff to review practice is to use the strand Effective Provision in the Classroom staff can also us the e-modules to develop their understanding further the IQS is at:

Slide 20 points to consider: which one of these overall descriptions is fits our school best? having read the IQS table what do staff feel are the strengths of the school and what needs developing?

Slide 21 points to consider: which of these measures do you use and what does it indicate? what are we doing well and what do we need to do next? how do we know that the work we are engaged in is making a measurable impact? how can the role of the Leading Teacher for G&T be developed to support colleagues further? will coaching make a valuable contribution? will it help to use the information from The Leading Teacher Training and the e-modules?