English.

Identifying gifted pupils.

Pupils who are gifted in English are likely to show some or all of the following characteristics.

Creative flair.

·        writing or talking in imaginative and coherent ways.

·        elaborating on and organising content to an extent that is exceptional for their age.

Stamina and perseverance.

·        using any suitable opportunities to produce work that is substantial and obviously the product of sustained, well-directed effort.

Communicative skills.

·        involving and keeping the attention of an audience by exploiting the dramatic or humorous potential of ideas or situations in imaginative ways.

·        taking a guiding role in helping a group to achieve its shared goals, while showing sensitivity to the participation of others.

·        writing with a flair for metaphorical or poetic expression.

·        grasping the essence of particular styles and adapting them to their own purposes.

·        expressing ideas succinctly and elegantly, in ways that reflect an appreciation of the knowledge and interests of specific audiences.

·        using ICT to research ideas and create new text.

Ability to take on demanding tasks.

·        researching, comparing and synthesising information from a range of different sources, including ICT.

·        engaging seriously and creatively with moral and social themes expressed in literature.

Arguing and reasoning.

·        creating and sustaining accounts and reasoned arguments at a relatively abstract or

            hypothetical level, in both spoken and written language.

·        grasping the essence of any content and reorganising it in ways that are logical and offer new syntheses or insights.

·        justifying opinions convincingly, using questions and other forms of enquiry to elicit information and taking up or challenging others' points of view.

Awareness of language.

·        understanding the nature of language and showing a special awareness of features such as rhyme, intonation or accent in spoken language, and the grammatical organisation of written texts.

·        showing an interest and enthusiasm for language study, including an awareness of the relationship between the sounds and words of different languages that are not apparent to most of their peers.

Policy through Key Stages 3 and 4.

The National Curriculum frameworks are applied in order to identify gifted pupils. Pupils thus identified are normally taught within the whole class rather than separately. Lists of pupils are kept to maintain consistency through the passing years.

Years 7, 8 and 9

At Key Stage 3 pupils’ English Record Books augmented by the Passport to Fiction and Book Trek wider reading schemes (operated in conjunction with the school library), provide opportunities for extension work, as do formal group work and peer tutoring. In Year 9 Patchworkings and Silences (see English Department web page) offer further opportunities. The Carnegie Shadowing scheme is also employed.

Monitoring –  Each teacher’s application of above, their experience and judgement, plus marks for Oral and Written work enable identification and can provide evidence of development.

Banding – from Year 9 pupils are banded, allowing further opportunities for Gifted pupils to develop their skills at a faster pace.

Years 10 and 11

Both GCSE English and English Literature Specification A courses are followed. The criteria for A and A* candidates (see AQA website) indicate the degree of sophistication which can be reached and also monitored by the end of Year 11.

En 1-3 – The subdivisions of En1 (Speaking and Listening), En2 (Reading) and En3 (Writing) afford the possibility for pupils whose gifts lie particularly in one or two of the above areas to have them independently fostered.