Highfields Gifted and Talented Strategy - Highfields | Stockport ...

Highfields
Gifted and Talented Strategy

Overall Vision
 • Although students are ostensibly referred to Highfields because of difficulties within a
   mainstream setting – difficulties which then need unpicking and addressing – we
   should proactively avoid adopting a ‘deficit model’ approach to our students.

  See here for more: http://www.humansnotrobots.co.uk/p/disability-or-difference.html)

 •   In plain English, this means we look to uncover amongst each student what might
     be their particular strengths and particular areas of interest in academic and
     subject-specific terms.

 •   In looking for these, it is not necessarily about finding ‘gifts and talents’ which on      Deficit Model - Young person is defined by their difficulties – these
     tests or other assessments would score them over and above their peers. Rather it                      are focused on with a view to ‘fixing them’.
     is about uncovering what they are good at / particularly interested in relative
     to their overall ability levels.

 •   This means we are not necessarily looking for Man City or Man United’s next
     striker (or Stockport County’s for that matter!) – but if a student particularly enjoys
     football and this is a highlight of their week in terms of engagement and
     performance, then this could be considered their personal gift and talent.

 •   In turn, it is our duty – as much as it is our duty to address weaknesses - to
     try to develop these strength areas further.

 •   For some of our students, they have rarely or never thought about themselves in
     terms of strengths – or the onset of disruption to their education and wider lives
     has resulted in them losing sight of this aspect of themselves. Part of our strategy
     is often to bring students to a point where they are thinking and talking
     about strengths.
                                                                                               Difference Model - Young person is viewed as a unique combination of
                                                                                                different characteristics, which through particular environments and
                                                                                                activities lead to the presentation of both strengths and difficulties.

Uncovering Gifts and Talents – In Practice
 At Highfields we look to find gifts and talents through the
 following ways:

 •   All students undertake a ‘baseline assessment’ on their
     arrival to Highfields. This allows staff – and in turn the
     students – to have a clear view of their academic strengths
     and weaknesses. The scoring is collated on a central
     dashboard and traffic-lighted to help teachers with cohort
     planning.

 •   All referral paperwork is looked at carefully with a view to
     noting any strengths.

 •   All students, with their Form Tutor, also create a Personal
     Development Plan which documents what they are like as
     a learner – both in terms of strengths and areas for
     development:

 •   We use various student voice tools (surveys, flowcharts,
     scripted conversations, mind-maps) to draw out each
     student’s views on themselves – as we recognise it can be
     hard to think and talk about ourselves in this way.

 •   Achievement data is collected half-termly and this allows for
     emerging gifts and talents to be noted.

Uncovering Gifts and Talents – In Practice
                           As outlined in our Curriculum Design Policy, Highfields places emphasis on
                           uncovering gifts and talents through ongoing development of a broad curriculum
                           that seeks to open doors (‘this is a fresh start - let’s see what you can do in this
                           subject’) rather than closing doors (‘you’ve already struggled in this subject so
                           we might as well not offer it’).

                           For this reason, the universal Highfields curriculum offer to all students includes
                           a wide variety of subjects. Every student attending a regular placement at
                           Highfields has opportunity to study:

                                  •   English
                                  •   Maths
                                  •   Science
                                  •   ICT
                                  •   PSHE and Citizenship
                                  •   Careers
                                  •   Art
                                  •   Design Tech
                                  •   Performing Arts
                                  •   Food Nutrition
                                  •   Sports

                           By ‘keeping every door open’, we hope to both pique interests in subject areas
                           and provide successive opportunities to achieve in subject areas.

                           We also offer high levels of personalisation – particularly at KS4, ahead of Post-
                           16 transition – to try boost further any areas of strength and interest each
                           student has. This often takes the place of funded external placements at
                           providers such as music studios, gyms, salons etc. It may also include additional
                           tuition.

Celebrating Emerging Strengths,
                    Validating Success
           To recognise achievements in specific subjects – and motivate
           our students to aspire even further – we have a weekly
           assembly on a Friday afternoon in which ‘Student of the Week’
           awards are given for every subject. All students across the
           school participate in this.

           At Year 10 and Year 11, participation in subjects leads to layers
           of formal accreditation reflective of engagement, time available
           (when the student came to Highfields) and ability levels. In all
           subjects there is an opportunity to sit GCSEs alongside other
           accreditations such as Functional Skills, BTEC, Open Awards –
           this affords students the opportunity, where reasonably
           possible, to achieve the highest formal accreditation possible.

           Furthermore, every student at Highfields receives an
           ‘Achievement Portfolio’ which evidences their achievements
           whilst at the school. This is with a view to raising their
           awareness of their own strengths and achievements, which in
           turn may act as a impetus and platform for pursuing further
           study in specific subjects.