Provision and Support for More Able and Most Able Learners

How do we identify our more able and most able learners?

• Ongoing formal and informal assessment of children’s performance, including formative and summative assessments
• Moderation of assessments between staff and across teams
• Analysis of children’s work, including regular marking, feedback and ‘Response Time’
• Use of questioning to delve deeper into children’s knowledge and understanding
• Use of subject-specific checklists and discussion with subject leaders with specialist knowledge (eg, SSCO)
• Information from parents (including informal, everyday discussions, discussion at parents’ evenings, ‘Wow Moment’ slips)
• Discussion with children to develop target setting and to find out about preferred learning styles

How do we ensure our more able and most able learners are challenged in every lesson?

• Challenge for all!
• More able and most able children highlighted and identified on teachers’ planning to ensure that they are always high profile. 
• Individual and group target setting. This is shared with all staff who work with those children so that all staff know who to challenge and how to do it.
• Use of ‘most difficult first’ strategy (such as a cold write to start a writing focus) to assess children’s starting points and to move them forwards, rather than repeating what they already know.
• Wide range of differentiation strategies (by task, resource, pace, support, groupings, independence, questioning, thinking skills) to ensure that children are always appropriately challenged.
• Wide range of opportunities for children to use and apply their knowledge and skills across the curriculum so that they can deepen and broaden their understanding and develop higher order thinking skills.
• Exciting and stimulating hands-on learning experiences which make use of challenging differentiated resources.
• All staff trained to use questioning in their classrooms, based upon the principles of Bloom’s Taxonomy to develop higher order thinking skills
• Differentiated success criteria which are used for self and peer assessment as well as a focus for marking.
• Focused marking and feedback, providing areas for celebration as well as points to improve.  ‘Response Time’ has made a huge impact on the effectiveness of marking and feedback.
• Use of guided groups, focus groups and targeted support (from teaching staff and support staff) to ensure individual learning needs are met.
• Setting - Maths across lower and upper KS2 and Read, write, Inc groups across KS1 – this gives opportunities for challenge and additional support where needed.
• Use of stimulating and interactive learning environments, including areas of continuous provision for children to access independently.
• Enrichment activities beyond the classroom including English Challenge Club, Intra and Inter-School sports tournaments, attendance at Drax Art Enrichment days, participation on the Joint Generation Council.

How do we track the progress of more able and most able learners?

• Use of assessment tracking systems – FLIC and O-Track
• Analysis of children’s progress and attainment (including analysis of the performance of groups such as Pupil Premium children)
• Regular pupil progress meetings
• Monitoring systems such as FABIs (Focused Actions for Best Improvements)
• Lesson observations and drop-ins
• Book audits
• Discussions with staff and children
• Analysis of children’s progress and attainment (including analysis of the performance of groups such as Pupil Premium children)
• Regular pupil progress meetings
• Monitoring systems such as FABIs (Focused Actions for Best Improvements)
• Lesson observations and drop-ins
• Book audits
• Discussions with staff and children