Most Able
At Springfield we are committed to recognising, developing and celebrating the successes of all of our pupils, which includes our most able pupils. We strive to deliver an enriched curriculum which is matched to their needs through;
- Establishing a school ethos where all marked abilities can flourish and are celebrated.
- Developing an educational environment that promotes divergent and independent thinking, where pupils learn through exploration and questioning.
- Ensuring that every child is treated as an individual, enabling the realisation of talents and abilities that may be higher than the majority of peers.
- Developing long-term educational provision for high attaining pupils.
- Identifying and monitoring a child’s needs at the earliest possible stage.
- Ensuring that all procedures for identifying gifted and talented children are known by everyone in the school community
- Ensuring there is an involvement with parents at an early stage and that they are encouraged to be involved with their child’s education
- Raising pupils’ level of achievement
- Continuously improve classroom-based provision
Identification of the most able
Before identifying any child gifted in a particular area, we aim to ensure that all children have had the opportunity to learn and succeed in this area. This makes the identification process fair. Identification of pupils as most able is a judgement which applies to the current class/school context and refers to the current level of performance only. This means that ‘at this time this child is showing ability in a particular area’. The school recognises this and will try to foster this ability where possible. Identification at Springfield does not mean that another school or context the child would be identified.
Teachers will select children for the most able register based on one or more of the following:
- Parent nomination
- Observation
- Assessment
- Tests showing exceptionally high results
- Questioning
- Responses to lessons
- Attitudes towards learning – self motivation, questioning,
- Teachers judgements
- Peer nomination
Provision for Most Able Pupils
At Springfield we are committed to meeting the needs of the most able learners. Strategies for this may include:
Classroom differentiation
- Teachers having high expectations, ensuring work is challenging; allowing for the development of personalisation and independence.
- Ensuring tasks are designed to take account of levels of existing knowledge, skills and understanding
- Planning extension opportunities or open ended tasks
- Facilitating small group work
- Grouping by ability
- Setting differentiated homework
School based provision
- The school provides club activities, most of which happen after school. These provide opportunities for all pupils but may particularly enhance and extend the more able child’s education. Most able pupils may be signposted to attend these clubs.
Enrichment opportunities
The school works in partnership with other primary and secondary schools providing enrichment opportunities: These include;
- Opportunities for performance – drama productions, assemblies
- Musical tuition and opportunities to perform
- Sports coaching and competitions
- Specialist teaching / enrichment days
- Partnerships with other Primary schools and secondary schools
If you do have any questions which you would like to ask and which have not been covered on the information on this web page then please contact the school and we will be more than happy to answer them.