Most Able Students

MOST ABLE STUDENTS
All staff have a responsibility to provide all students with a sufficiently challenging curriculum, along with opportunities to nurture any exceptional talents and abilities they may have. All students have an entitlement to:

•  staff commitment to develop their potential to the full at all times
•  stimulating and interesting lessons which inform, challenge and develop thinking skills
• careers and personal and social education which prepares them for adult life and the world of work.

DEFINITION
Most able are those who meet set criteria based on KS2 Reading/Maths scaled scores and CAT test results.
Talented students are those who show exceptional ability in one curriculum area or have qualities that are less easily definable such as:

• outstanding leadership and social maturity
• mechanical ingenuity
• creativity
• visual and performing abilities (e.g. exceptional skills in music)
• physical talent (e.g. sporting excellence)
• keen powers of observation and reasoning
• an ability to grasp new concepts quickly
• possession of an extensive vocabulary.

These students can be nominated by Heads of Year/Head of Faculty.

IDENTIFICATION
Several methods of identification will be used as no one method alone can be entirely accurate. The Pingle Academy will therefore endeavour to obtain as much information about individual students as possible. The methods used are as follows:

• information from primary schools/academies including KS2 teacher assessments and KS2 SATS (scaled scores)
• CAT test results
• teacher observation and recommendation
• subject specific criteria 
• information from the academy’s Data Manager for students who move into a year group during an academic year.

PROVISION
The provision aims to include the following:

• curriculum design documentation in each Faculty specifies how higher attaining students are stretched
• all staff will be aware of their role in the identification of more able and talented students based on subject specific criteria
• in-service training will be provided
• opportunities for more able and talented students to work together both in and out of academy
• close links between home and academy and external agencies where appropriate 
• the creation of a register of most able students and talented students which will be distributed to all Faculties.