Gifted and Talented Pupil in Schools
December 2009
Ofsted surveyed a small sample of 26 schools to evaluate their capacity to respond effectively to changes in policy in terms of making provision for gifted and talented pupils, and to identify good and less effective practice.
Key Findings:
- Gifted students are not being stretched
- Teachers still believe a focus on the most able will detract from other students
- Where students are provide with extra work, it is still more often than not ‘MOTS – More of the same’
- Very few schools talked to their students, exploring student voice
- Some specialist schools had developed good partnerships, ie. Sport
- Most ‘Out of Hours’ programmes do not support and/or are not linked to the curriculum; therefore, provide little significant impact on learning.
- Analysis of different groups of identified students is limited.
Schools MUST:
- “align their policies for gifted and talented students more clearly with other developments which focus on matching learning more closely to individual student needs”
- “provide more support for gifted and talented students in disadvantaged circumstances”
- “narrow the gaps in outcomes between different groups of students, while increasing the challenge across the curriculum for gifted and talented students”
- “promote social mobility through entry to a wider range of universities”
Gifted & Talented students are a “Focus Group” for Ofsted, and their lack of progress can be a “limiting factor.”
Link to full report to download:
Ofsted Report - Gifted and Talented Pupils in Schools (2009)
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