Gifted and Talented Provision
Mr. Gareth Davies, Lead Teacher for the Gifted and Talented

What has been achieved?

This is the fourth year of the College’s drive to provide suitable provision for Gifted and Talented students. The nominated representatives in each department and the rolling programme of ‘in-house’ training has meant that the momentum has been maintained and it is heartening to see the amount of work that has gone in to Gifted and Talented provision within and between departments, across the College as a whole and between the College and outside agencies such as HSEP, YGTLA, Excellence East, Villiers Park and The Prince’s Teaching Institute.

The College continues to develop its capacity to provide a challenging and interesting subject curriculum for the very able and to tailor College infrastructure, including staffing and timetabling, to the needs of the very able. A rich programme of clubs, trips and events continues to develop.

The College is particularly keen to extend the involvement of parents in the Gifted and Talented programme: contact in the first instance should be made to Mr. Gareth Davies, Lead Teacher for the Gifted and Talented, either by telephone or email on gareth.davies@sawtrycc.org.uk

The College was involved in July 2009 with a national survey conducted by OfStEd into the capacity of comprehensive skills to provide for our most able young people. The framework for this survey is a document called the Institutional Quality Standards (sometimes called the National Quality Standards), which rates provision for the Gifted and Talented against 14 criteria at three levels of achievement: Entry, Developing and Exemplary. It is a testament to the hard work, commitment and professionalism of all the staff at Sawtry that, at least informally, the HMI said that Sawtry Community College’s provision is, ‘Developing strongly with many exemplary features.’

A. Achievements 2008/09

1. Policy for Gifted and Talented provision in place and revised.
2. The English, Science and Mathematics Departments have been trained on provision for the Gifted through the subject-specific materials devised by the DCSF. This was part of the College’s rolling programme of in-house training and complements the general training provided in ’06-’07.
3. All parents of Gifted and / or Talented children were invited to an evening on the 29th January ’07, explaining G&T provision in the College. This was attended by nearly 500 parents. The new Y7 cohort was given an updated version of the evening on 26th March ’08.
4. The parents were surveyed at the evening on their educational, ethnic and financial backgrounds. These data were then analysed and will inform G&T policy in the future, especially in terms of applications for AimHigher and other funding and in matters relating to social inclusion.
5. The SCC G&T Handbook has been established on the H drive and Portal and has been updated several times.
6. The college has established and embedded a sophisticated and effective method of identifying and tracking Gifted and / or Talented students.
7. Students formally members of the now defunct National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth have been transferred across to Young Gifted and Talented Academy (YGTLA). The rest of the Gifted and Talented cohort, all of whom are eligible for YGTLA, have been given their registration packs from YGT.
8. All departments have a Gifted and Talented Link Officer with responsibility for academic provision for the Gifted or Talented in his or her subject.
9. Best practice has been shared cross-school through training given to other Lead Teachers for G&T by Mr. Davies at HSEP meetings and at a day course at Villiers Park January 14th.
10. Provision for Gifted and Talented students have been observed in most subjects and advice and resources given on appropriate differentiation for them.
11. Enrichment in the VIth Form successfully includes the challenging new courses of YASS and EPQ. These have both proved very successful.
12. Several events have been organized in conjunction with HSEP, including: art events at St Ivo school; Junior Challenge for students in Y7 and Y8; HSEP GT students also have the opportunity to communicate with each other and with appropriate staff using the HSEP GT weblog.
13. The English Department is about to graduate in The Prince’s Teaching Institute Schools’ Programme. Mr. Tooley is has also applied for Schools’ Programme status for the Maths department.
14. Various trips, clubs, visits, competitions, talks and other Enrichment activities for the very able have been organised this year.
15. Differentiation for all abilities, including the most able, continues to be at the heart of the College’s programme of in-house training.
16. The College audited its provision for gifted students through a student survey of the core subjects of English, Maths, Science and Information and Communications Technology, using the criteria of the Classroom Quality Standards, in July 2009. The results of this survey will inform curriculum development and will be followed up with surveys of other subjects.

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