More Able and Talented
More Able and Talented
The Welsh Assembly has adopted the term ‘More Able and Talented’ to describe pupils in Wales who require opportunities for enrichment and extension that go beyond those provided for the general cohort of pupils.‘More Able and Talented’ pupils, given extended opportunities, will not only discover but also develop their talents.
The term ‘More Able and Talented’ encompasses pupils who are more able across the curriculum as well as those who show talent in one or more specific areas and strengths in leadership, team working and entrepreneurial skills.
In Wales the term ‘More Able and Talented’ encompasses approximately 20% of the total school population. In every school there will be a group of pupils who require greater breadth and depth of learning activities than is normally provided for the usual cohort of learners. Ability and talent can manifest itself in many different ways, e.g. academic, practical, creative and socially.
At Burry Port School we are committed to ‘Guiding Brighter Futures.” This involves providing a stimulating, challenging and personalised curriculum to enable our pupils to reach and exceed their full potential.
We have a supportive and inclusive ethos which promotes high self-esteem and which aims to meet the needs of all pupils regardless of their emotional, social, linguistic, cultural, physical or intellectual differences. Lesson planning takes place to ensure every pupil is challenged through differentiated activities and learning outcomes with pupils often encouraged to choose their own level of challenge. This enables the pupil to take ownership of their learning. Extension and enrichment work is provided to extend the more able pupils. This is carefully monitored and assessed to ensure progress is being made.
The school promotes and encourages a range of opportunities and activities which support and extend learning and the development of talents and abilities. These include developing personal skills, social responsibility and leadership qualities through our Pupil Voice groups. We have a range of after school clubs such as Digital Leaders club, Urdd, Sport and Clwb Aur that provide a wealth of experience to extend and develop talents and abilities.The aim of our school is to support our pupils to become independent, lifelong learners.
Identification Strategies:
No one method of identification is entirely accurate. We therefore triangulate information and use a range of strategies to identify these children in an ongoing process. This may begin before children enter our nursery class (e.g. transition information from a previous setting). Discussion with parents/carers at the earliest stage is vital to the identification of children’s ability or potential to enable us as a school to nuture it.
All children undergo assessments on joining school. These give us information about skills and aptitudes across the various areas of learning, as well as ensuring that we are planning appropriately for the next stage of the child’s learning journey. We discuss each child’s profile with their parent/carer and use information about the child’s learning and development to guide school provision.
As the children progress through the school, there is regular assessment using a variety of tools to ensure that they are making the progress expected of them. Teacher observation and assessment is used on a daily basis to discover where children are making progress above what would be expected of a child of that age/unique starting point is on track. A key element of identification is the involvement of the children themselves (e.g. assessing their strengths, needs and personal learning preferences).
As a parent, what can I do to support my child?
There are many practical steps that you can take to support and nurture your child, for example by encouraging him/her to:
- Utilise the local library and the internet as learning and research resources
- Visit museums, science centres, nature reserves and art galleries
- Watch educational and current affairs programmes such as the news, wildlife/nature programmes and documentaries, and discuss them.
- Read a quality national newspaper
- Discuss and debate topics, such as politics, the environment and the media.
- Discuss homework and schoolwork in depth.
- Take part in extra-curricular activities.
- Take an active part in family decision-making.
- Listen to different types of music.
- Read for pleasure, including demanding/challenging reading material.
- Take regular physical exercise.
- Socialise and relax in between work and learn to ‘switch off’
You can also support your child by:
- Providing suitable learning resources such as books, encyclopaedias, magazines and ICT.
- Organising day trips and visits to places of cultural, historical and educational interest
- Building cultural experiences, trips and excursions into family holidays
What can I do to help the school support my child?
As a parent, you are the most constant and important factor in your child’s development. You, better than anyone else, know your child and you may feel that the school is ‘missing something’. If there is anything that you feel we need to know – for example, about ‘hidden abilities’ that your child may have please inform us.
Mrs Bennett is the More Able and Talented Co-ordinator.
Parents, teachers – and, most importantly, children – all benefit from close school-parent liaison.