More Able, Gifted & Talented

At Hadleigh High School, we fervently believe that all students should be provided with a challenging and tailored education, designed to help them achieve the highest grades possible. This differentiation encompasses our most able, gifted and talented students. We aim to give these students the opportunities to reach their full potential and in doing so, create benefits for their fellow learners, the school and the wider community.

'More Able, Gifted & Talented' describes students with an ability to develop to a level significantly ahead of their year group (or with the potential to develop those abilities).

'Able' learners are those who can excel across a range of subjects (currently recognised by Ofsted as those with two Level 5s at Key Stage 2);
'Gifted' learners are those who have abilities in one or more traditional academic subjects, such as Mathematics, English, Science and the Humanities;
'Talented' learners are those who have practical skills in creative an expressive subjects, such as PE, Art and Music.

Identification

Upon arrival to Hadleigh High School Year 7 students are identified through a rigorous process using:

Year 6 SATs results;

Individual subject recommendations from staff (via subject leaders) - these may be backed up with further testing, for example reading tests;
Demonstration of a high level of performance in talent areas, such as PE, Art, Drama and Music).

Challenge

At Hadleigh High School we strive to provide an outstanding learning environment for all students through high quality differentiation. Furthermore, each department has a member of staff who maintains an overview of the A,G&T register, promotes excellent approaches for those students and flags up extension opportunities within their subject area (both in school and outside of school).

Our class provision centres on the following teaching and learning approaches:

Providing relevant and engaging learning opportunities, backed up by interesting stimuli where possible;
Maximising ownership of learning by providing opportunities for choice and variety of learning pathways in the lesson;
Students are also encouraged to take leadership roles in the lesson and foster collaboration;
The use of high order questioning to encourage analysis, evaluation and creative thinking;
Signposting opportunities for students to develop their knowledge further through independent study;
High quality feedback focused on achieving the highest possible grades.

Enrich

High quality challenging classroom teaching is supplemented by the opportunity for students to extend their understanding beyond the curriculum through enrichment activities and trips run by departments. There are a wide variety of opportunities, including:

Extra-curricular clubs;
Master classes and challenge days;
Invitation to undertake the Extended Qualification Project (EPQ);
Participation in local festivals, eg. the Schools Shakespeare Festival;
In-school competitions and advertisement of national competitions;
Visits to local colleges and universities;
Differentiated activities and extension tasks designed to stretch and challenge students within the classroom.

Hadleigh high School has its own dedicated ‘More Able, Gifted and Talented’ website which includes key information of events and opportunities. To visit this website, please follow the link:

http://vwoolven.wixsite.com/agt-hhs