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More Able Information

We are confident that your child’s journey through St Helen’s will be a happy time for all; that your child flourishes in every way and that your family enjoys the learning journey. The needs of able, talented and exceptional children are acknowledged as part of our overall inclusion policy. We recognise the importance of identifying a wide range of abilities and talents, and of providing opportunities to nurture them. We are committed to developing pupil’s social and emotional skills as essential elements in the development of the whole person.

We use the term ‘more able’ to refer to pupils who demonstrate or have the potential to work at a level above their peers. This may be in one or more areas.

Specifically, ‘Able’ pupils are those who have ability in academic subjects e.g. mathematics. ‘Talented’ pupils will have ability in the areas of music, art or sport. We see ‘Exceptional’ pupils as those who demonstrate exceptional ability in one or more areas, and represent 0.5% of the national population.

We also seek to identify pupils who are not fulfilling their potential. Pupils may also be recognised as ‘Good all Rounders’.

  1. Intellectual – Literacy, Mathematics, Science
  2. Artistic, creative and practical – Art, DT, Music and Drama
  3. Physical – Sport, P.E., Dance
  4. Social – Personal and Interpersonal, Leadership Qualities
  5. A pupil who could be recognised as more able but who is presently not reaching his or her full potential.

 

 more able child

Identification

We use consistent strategies to identify the More Able children in our school. These consist of:

  •  Teacher observation and assessment
  • Test and assessment results (e.g. Foundation Profile, KS1 national Tests, KS2 SATs)
  • Discussion with pupils/self and peer group identification
  • Discussion with other staff
  • Information received from previous class/school
  • Information from parents and carers.

We recognise that More Able pupils may:

  • Be high achievers in one area but unexceptional (or below average) in others
  • Exhibit poor social skills
  • Show poor motivation
  • Disguise their ability
  • Have poor coordination or motor skills (e.g. handwriting)
  • Have English as an additional language
  • Have been identified as SEN
  • Show poor behaviour

 moreable2

Provision and Planning

We offer an enriched and differentiated curriculum for all children. To assist the children in furthering/fulfilling their potential, we:

  • Have appropriate and flexible groupings within the class.
  • Setting takes place in Mathematics in Years 5 and 6.
  • Setting takes place in Phonics in Year 1 and Year 2.
  • Regular use of enquiry based/problem solving activities that are as open ended as possible to allow for maximum differentiation by outcome and a variety of extension and enrichment activities.
  • The use of the National Curriculum, including investigations which encourage higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation where appropriate.
  •  Extra provision outside the classroom, such as a variety of clubs and activities. Also opportunities are provided for the children to take part in inter school competitions and musical events.
  • Activities with our cluster schools which aim to further develop the interest and experience of More Able children in particular areas of the curriculum e.g. chess tournaments.