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18/03/24

Reception have received an egg-stremely interesting parcel this morning 🥚 the children can’t wait for their dinosaur eggs to hatch, they have started preparing a home for them in the outdoor classroom 🦖🦕🪺💥 pic.twitter.com/J8j9F00qbW

15/03/24

Year 6 were using their oracy skills today, challenging each other and having deep discussions about reasoning questions focused on time. pic.twitter.com/3hhwetDTUg

14/03/24

Reception had a great time this morning at St Luke’s church ⛪️ a big thank you to Alex and Chris for delivering these amazing sessions pic.twitter.com/xrOGzegPXX

12/03/24

A sneak peak of tonight’s trust concert 🎶 pic.twitter.com/eI3uHG6obt

11/03/24

Wishing our Muslim community members warm wishes for a blessed Ramadan 🌙 pic.twitter.com/C28AE8RlkG

10/03/24

What an incredible Book Week we had! 🐲👑📚🏝️🏴‍☠️🕵️ pic.twitter.com/xfbbzA6mja

08/03/24

Reception and Y1 had brilliant day exploring the new visitors to their classrooms 🕷️🦂🪳🦗🐌 a big thank you to for their generous funding to allow this mini-beast extravaganza to happen! pic.twitter.com/iEDVvQOQLh

08/03/24

Reading by candlelight 📚🕯️ with was a huge success; a great turn out on our final day of week. What an incredible week it has been. pic.twitter.com/RulrQrUqs6

08/03/24

Hold that thought, the squad have really gone for it this year! Love this team photo and their support for English Week and WBD. pic.twitter.com/p0HjUZrv46

08/03/24

Reading by candlelight 📚🕯️ with was a huge success; a great turn out on our final day of week. What an incredible week it has been. pic.twitter.com/RulrQrUqs6

07/03/24

An amazing world book day!! 🐲👑🐱🐰🌸🌺 pic.twitter.com/Hb2oZG86Eo

07/03/24

Hold that thought, the squad have really gone for it this year! Love this team photo and their support for English Week and WBD. pic.twitter.com/p0HjUZrv46

06/03/24

Day 3 of our week. Another gorgeous atmosphere with our families this morning. A punchy and a wonderful from ❤️📚 the flowers 💐on our entry arch just look nice ☺️ brighten up a grey day ☁️ pic.twitter.com/orMZpgHcs9

06/03/24

Really wonderful lesson with our year 9 sharing reading books with year 5. Some great moments for both age groups. Thank you for organising 📚❤️ pic.twitter.com/qUmEYkBWLj

06/03/24

Really wonderful lesson with our year 9 sharing reading books with year 5. Some great moments for both age groups. Thank you for organising 📚❤️ pic.twitter.com/qUmEYkBWLj

06/03/24

Day 3 of our week. Another gorgeous atmosphere with our families this morning. A punchy and a wonderful from ❤️📚 the flowers 💐on our entry arch just look nice ☺️ brighten up a grey day ☁️ pic.twitter.com/orMZpgHcs9

05/03/24

A little musical reminder from Year 6 to share what they are doing during our Book Week. pic.twitter.com/JfQRYLdv42

05/03/24

Day 2 of English week and we’re off to a strong start! Lovely to have our families in to enjoy breakfast and a story 📚❤️#quoteoftheday pic.twitter.com/EoOR1FFPNT

05/03/24

Day 2 of English week and we’re off to a strong start! Lovely to have our families in to enjoy breakfast and a story 📚❤️#quoteoftheday pic.twitter.com/EoOR1FFPNT

04/03/24

Red class loved their new Bug Investigation Lab in their role play area today! They cannot wait to learn all about mini-beasts 🐞🐛🐜🪲🕷️🪳 pic.twitter.com/wUeOuwoVfT

04/03/24

Year 2 Green class had a great no pen morning ✍️🚫 instead having lots of opportunities for discussion and using the iPads for their learning! pic.twitter.com/A3XloxfMu9

04/03/24

Year 1 visited Year 6 to share their information booklets from their science learning. A lot of great discussion and superb questioning from the older students to challenge the children and deepen their understanding. pic.twitter.com/XY3XweFEJD

04/03/24

Mrs Harvey has launched our very exciting book week this morning! We can’t wait to show you what we get up to. 📚📖👨‍🏫👩‍🏫 pic.twitter.com/pEQQtdcTwZ

01/03/24

Listening to at the and conference on challenge - ‘too easy’ or ‘interesting’ encourages students to take the more challenging path. pic.twitter.com/392ysvxyfI

More Able Students

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Mad Hatter asks Alice:

Q: “Why is a raven like a writing desk?“

A: ??

More Able and Talented students at SRA:

  1. All students are entitled to be stretched and challenged.
  2. Effective more able and talented provision improves teaching and learning within the classroom.
  3. By planning for MAST and talented students and scaffolding learning for all, aspirations and standards are raised.
  4. The focus on stretch and challenge is a key driver for whole school improvement.  

At Samuel Ryder Academy we are committed to ensuring all students achieve more than they ever thought possible, both academically and in other areas of their lives. To help More Able Students (MASt) meet their potential, we recognise that they need tailored challenge in every lesson as well as other opportunities to highlight their ability.

The government measure the quality of schools in a number of ways, partly by identifying groups within the student body and charting how they are catered for. More Able Students are such a group; the provision for these students is a matter of equity.

We identify our More Able Students using scaled scores stemming from their CAT and KS2 SATs results. In addition, departments are able to identify students as being talented in their specific area based on the department specific definitions.

Our More Able Students’ procedure aims to encourage the following:

  • student independence and resilience
  • an environment which enables students to learn new things
  • differentiation and challenge in lessons
  • extra curricular opportunities
  • student participation in a variety of endeavours

We understand that students shine in various areas. In order to support and challenge MASt, their grades from every subject are tracked 4 times annually to see if they are performing as they should, areas they excel in, and where they might need extra help. This can lead to discussions with the student, parents and interventions to help them get back on track.

At the heart of delivering opportunities for growth to students is the teachers and the quality of teaching and learning. As previously stated, our aim is to ensure all learners reach and ideally surpass their targets to achieve beyond their expectations. Equity of opportunity means that MASt are challenged to a higher degree and this is especially true in their daily lessons. Teachers plan higher order thinking questions in their courses and these are differentiated to scaffold students’ learning. One of the Academy’s teaching and learning priorities is stretch and challenge which creates a greater understanding of topics covered, deepens metacognition and increases independence.

As well as lessons there are ample enrichment opportunities for MASt, with a wide range of clubs and trips to cater for their needs. Different departments also run targeted MASt clubs or projects throughout the year. The curriculum is also supported with competitions, additional reading and a wealth of subject information on OneNote.         

Parents and carers play an important role in unlocking the potential of More Able Students. Some ideas to help you help your child include:

  • Watching and discussing (eg BBC4) documentaries
  • Encouraging reading generally: novels, non-fiction books, newspapers and online articles
  • Listen to an interesting podcast series and then discuss it with them
  • Visit places of cultural importance
  • Discuss what they learnt at school and how they learnt it

How can MASt help themselves?

  • Talk to your teachers about units that are coming up and prepare for them
  • Enrol in MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
  • Read around your study areas using the reading lists provided
  • Set up a study group with your friends
  • Ask your teachers if you have any questions

As co-ordinator for more able students, I welcome any thoughts or suggestions for you have for the MASt program at Samuel Ryder Academy. (Or if you want to answer "Why is a raven like a writing desk?“) Please feel free to get in touch.

James Chatterley

j.chatterley@samuelryderacademy.co.uk

 

Links:

Hertfordshire Grid for Learning 

National Association for 'Gifted and Talented' Children - student definitions

National Society for 'Gifted and Talented' - identification signs

National Association of Able Children in Education

Recommended Support for Parents of 'Gifted and Talented' Children

MENSA, the High IQ Society 

MOOCs 

 

Samuelryder53   Samuelryder14

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