Burnage Media
Arts College Policy For More
Able Students
Beliefs and Values
At Burnage Media Arts College we believe
that all children are entitled to an education that will enable them to develop
their full potential, be that intellectual, physical, aesthetic,
creative, emotional, spiritual or social, finding appropriate
challenge in our learning environment.
All students have individual needs, which
puts personalised learning at the heart of our teaching and learning.
Burnage Media Arts College is committed to
providing a sufficiently challenging curriculum for all its students. In
addition, we will provide opportunities to identify and in turn nurture those
who are more able and their abilities.
All students have an entitlement to the
following:
· Staff commitment and
training to develop students’ full potential at all times.
· Lessons that
stimulate, engage, challenge, inform, excite and encourage through partnership
and dialogue with teachers and other students and active participation in the
lesson.
· Courses that lead to
examinations and accreditation.
· Skilled, well‑prepared
and informed teachers who have a perspective and understanding of whole‑school
needs, problems and policies, especially those concerning issues related to
those students identified as more able.
· An
entitlement beyond subject teaching, including preparation for adult life and
preparation for the world of work. This should include extra curricular
activity, personal and social education, careers guidance and counselling,
visits to local industry and work experience.
Definition
In defining what is
meant by the term ‘more able’, we have adopted the following definitions:
·
Those
students who achieve, or have the ability to achieve, above average in one or
more subject areas or domains. This might be
in a curriculum area such as mathematics, music, art or sport or be a less
easily acknowledged talent such as leadership, creative imagination or social
maturity.
·
Those
students who possess a general academic learning ability that is significantly greater
than that of most of their peers.
The above list is, of course, not
exhaustive and students may display exceptional abilities in a wide number of
areas.
Identification
The more able cohort
will be no more than 10% of each year group and will be a true reflection of
the school, in terms of ethnicity and socio economic status. Identification of
the cohort will be made through:
·
information
from any previous schools
·
internal
and external assessment and testing
·
teacher
nomination based on subject specific checklists and departmental criteria
·
parent/peer/self
nomination.
All pupils will be
interviewed by the Lead Teacher and all staff, the pupils involved and their
parents will be informed. Underachievement will not prevent inclusion in the
cohort.
In addition to the
school cohort, each department will identify its own cohort.
Departmental Involvement
All departments will
have a named link teacher who will attend termly meetings, liaise with the Lead
Teacher and establish mechanisms for coordinating and monitoring progress of more
able students. Each departmental handbook will contain:
·
A
checklist of qualities to aid identification of the more able pupils.
·
A
departmental policy.
·
Schemes
of work which make provision for the more able pupils.
·
Examples
of enrichment activities.
·
A
portfolio of outstanding work.
Curriculum
We
endeavor to provide a curriculum that is suitably challenging for our most able
pupils, whilst meeting the needs of all learners.
Schemes
of work and lesson plans will incorporate differentiation and activities which:
·
Allow
higher order and critical thinking skills.
·
Encourage
creativity and imagination.
·
Provide
elements of choice
·
Involve
abstract reasoning, problem solving and decision making. · Have
a built in opportunity for reflection and
evaluation.
· Encourage
learners to reflect on the process of their own learning and to
understand the factors that help them to make progress (Assessment for
Learning). ·
Involve
learners in working in a range of settings and contexts - as
individuals, in pairs, in groups, as a class, cross-year and cross
institution.
Evaluation
We
will fully evaluate our G&T provision annually, through whole-school audits
and the careful monitoring of pupil progress. Pupils will be offered support
and intervention where needed. Annual evaluation and action planning will be
shared with the Leadership team and the link teacher group.
Enrichment
We aim to provide a full
enrichment programme for more able pupils (and in doing so for many other
pupils also) within and outside of the curriculum. We will provide this
through:
·
A
Key Stage 3 enrichment club. All subjects will contribute, either with staff,
resources or ideas to the club.
·
A
minimum of one enrichment activity each year outside of school for every pupil
on the cohort, led by the Lead Teacher.
·
All
subjects to offer at least one enrichment activity during the year.
·
Mentoring
schemes to be in place to offer academic enrichment to Key Stage 4 pupils.
·
All
pupils on the cohort to be offered membership to Young, Gifted &Talented
and their participation in events to be monitored.
Arrangements
for coordinating provision
·
The
Lead Teacher in Gifted and Talented Education to coordinate the school’s
response to meeting the needs of more able students.
·
An
audit of enrichment and extension opportunities provided by the wider extra
curricular programmes, led by the Lead Teacher.
·
The
encouragement of students to enter local and national events, including residential
courses and competitions.
·
The
provision of mentoring, where appropriate.
·
Opportunities
for more able students to work together.
·
Recognition,
celebration and rewarding of achievement of all students.
·
Close
liaison by the school with external support agencies and the home.
·
Mechanisms
to identify and address underachievement.
Responsibilities
Link Teachers
·
To
prepare subject specific criteria with departmental heads, inform
departmental staff of these criteria
and to pass on to the Lead Teacher. Heads of Department
·
to
identify students who meet the criteria
·
to
pass these names on to the Link Teacher and to the Lead Teacher
·
to
provide schemes of work that contain enrichment/extension material for
identified students
·
to
ensure that teachers have registers that recognise who has been identified as
more able
·
to
ensure that the enrichment/extension material is being used by subject
teachers.
SMT (teaching and learning)
·
to
monitor the schemes of work.
·
to
work with the G&T coordinator to oversee the process and activity
·
to
include items concerning provision for more able students on meeting agendas.
Lead Teacher for G&T
·
To
prepare and maintain a register of the top 10% of each year group, circulate to
staff and act on feedback.
·
To
gather names of identified students from all areas.
·
To
monitor the provision for more able students.
·
To
lead the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of an effective
whole-school policy for meeting the needs of more able pupils.
·
To
evaluate the progress made by students and provision generally on an annual
basis.
·
To
offer advice and support, as well as coaching, to staff throughout the school.
|
Tel: 0161
432 1527
