Pedagogic Institutetraining The Centre of Excellence Teacher Development Programme January 2015

W2D2 Recognising the gifts and talents of all pupils

Issues in Education  Recognition  Appropriate provision  Allocation of resources  Regular monitoring  Social and emotional needs  Parent and teacher shared understanding and expectations

Paired discussion  What is meant by Gifted and Talented pupils?  How are they identified in Kazakhstani schools?  Note down what you consider to be the characteristics of gifted and talented pupils.

Some definitions of gifted and talented  Gifted children are achieving at an advanced level in one or more academic subject  Talented children have noticeably advanced skills practical activities and subjects art, music, sport  May have gift or talent in one area, not in others  Intellectual ability may not be matched with emotional maturity

Pupil profiles  Is your pupil gifted or talented in any way?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of your pupil? Draws an outline of the pupil on a large sheet of paper and indicate their strengths and weaknesses

Meeting the needs of pupils recognised as Gifted and Talented All pupils may be considered to have gifts and talents which should be recognised and encouraged. However, there are certain characteristics that may distinguish a particular group of highly able pupils who need specific support.

Characteristics of highly able children  Excellent memory and use of information  Know how they learn best and can monitor their learning  May spend longer on planning but reach decisions more speedily  Get to the essentials of problems more quickly  More organised thinking but can see and adopt alternative solutions to problems  Prefer complexity in games and tasks  Exceptional ability to concentrate  May speak, read and write very early.

How can teachers meet the needs of these pupils? Read Level Three Teacher Handbook: ‘How might teaches provide for these children? Enrichment and Acceleration’.

Small group discussion  What provision is made for highly able pupils in Kazakhstani schools?  What kinds of enrichment and/or acceleration activities have you seen or do you know about?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two approaches?