Scheme of Delegation
Approval By:	Link Governor
Staff Lead Reviewer:	HT
Assigned Governor	C Clewley
Dates
Date of Last Approval	01/2023
Date of next Review	09/2025
Review Cycle	Recommended three yearly
Category
	Non-Statutory
Publication
Publish	FCVS Website

 

Rationale 

 

Article 29: Education should develop each child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 2001) National 

 

Curriculum 2014: ‘Teachers set high expectations for every pupil’ and ‘plan stretching work for pupils whose attainment is significantly above the expected standard’ (Department for Education, 2013) 

 

Farnham Common Village Schools Vision: Working together to be a caring, creative learning environment, enabling all to be excellent.

 

Challenge for All

At Farnham Common Village Schools, we are committed to working for quality and equality of opportunity for all our children. We recognise the importance of challenging pupils of all abilities so that they reach their full potential and view children as individuals with unique personalities, skills and abilities We provide teaching which makes learning challenging, engaging and investigative to achieve greater breadth and depth of understanding and enables children to reach their potential. Challenge for All is one of our curriculum and teaching drivers and forms part of our monitoring process. 

 

We also recognise that within our school there are a number of children whose performance or potential is significantly greater than that of their peers. Therefore, we have the responsibility to meet the needs of these children and this policy outlines the identification procedures and provision made. 

 

The aims at our school are: 

 

• To identify the More Able children
• To provide them with a suitably differentiated and challenging curriculum through Quality First Teaching
• To provide opportunities for these children to be independent and creative in their learning  To celebrate high achievement through display, celebration assemblies, reports to parents, awards and praise.
• To recognise the range of talents that pupils at our school have 

 

Our definition of More Able children:

 

The DfE and Ofsted define the More Able in terms of those whose progress significantly exceeds age related expectations. However, NACE and FCVS recognise that there are children working beyond this, and who are deemed Exceptionally Able.  Exceptionally Able pupils are those who have the capacity to achieve or perform at the very highest levels. Their potential will be shown in any or all of a wide range of contexts, such as different learning styles, creativity or leadership. In addition, as we try to have the widest possible view of ability, we also encourage and celebrate children who, for example, are particularly good at helping others, or noticing when children are upset and helping them. 

 

 

Text copied from NACE’s website (https://www.nace.co.uk/blogpost/1764156/367215/Moreable-learners-key-terminology-and-definitions) – perhaps we can use some of this:

More Able

 

Due to their inherently similar meanings, it is easiest if the terms more able, most able and highly able are defined in the same way or encompassed within one “more able” definition which includes the following elements:

• Learners who have the potential or capacity for high attainment;
• Learners who demonstrate high levels of performance (top 20% of greater depth group within school cohort) in an academic area;
• Learners who are more able relative to their peers in their own year group, class and school/college;
• Ability in all areas of the curriculum or in a specific subject/curriculum area, including the arts and physical activities.

Each of these elements is vital if the definition of “more able” is to be clear and encompass the breadth and flexibility needed to ensure outstanding provision. 

 

Exceptionally Able

The abilities and needs of the exceptionally able exceed those of the more able.

 

Within any definition of the exceptionally able it is important to:

• Distinguish between these and other more able learners in two ways: (1) By the use of the qualifying adjective “extremely”; (2) By the comparison with peers in all schools/across the entire population, as opposed to those within each particular school.
• Include reference to learners who have as yet unrealised potential for exceptional ability.
• Describe the needs of these pupils as going beyond those of students already deemed to require opportunities for enrichment and extension in the normal curriculum. Explain that exceptional ability may comprise both quantitative and qualitative aspects, but will certainly include high abstract reasoning ability and complexity of thinking.

 

Identification 

 

Children who demonstrate this described level of performance or potential may be identified using a range of methods: 

 

• Teacher assessment/observations 
• Data and pupil tracking processes based on test/SATs performance 
• Information from parents 
• Information from previous teacher/school or another professional e.g. sports coach, peripatetic music teacher.

 

 

School policy for identifying more able learners should include approaches to identify and support underrepresented groups and learners at risk of underachieving, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.   

Underachieving more able learners

In attempting to arrive at a useful definition for underachieving more able learners, schools should consider including the following criteria: 

• Learners whose prior attainment demonstrates high levels of ability, but whose current performance fails to demonstrate this. Underachievement may be the result of barriers to pupils’ learning, including socio-economic factors, SEMH needs, language and communication issues, etc.
• Learners whose contributions, responses and learning behaviours suggest that they are more able, although this is not reflected in their written work or assessments. This may include those learners with “dual” or “multiple exceptionality”.               Those who haven’t yet been identified due to too narrow a curriculum or limited learning opportunities. These are potentially more able learners.

Dual and multiple exceptionality

These terms describe learners who are more or exceptionally able and who also have additional learning needs e.g. dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorders, developmental coordination disorder, developmental language disorder, emotional and behavioural difficulties, physical and sensory differences. These additional learning needs or a disability can make it difficult to identify their high intellectual ability. 

It is important to include this definition in more able policies as these pupils may otherwise be overlooked. 

 

Provision In the classroom 

 

At Farnham Common Village Schools, aligned with the core principle of ‘challenge for all’, every child has access to Quality First Teaching through which differentiation (matching teaching and learning to the relevant needs and abilities of pupils) will ensure that all pupils have access to a relevant and appropriate curriculum. This may take the form of extension (providing challenges which go more deeply into a topic) or enrichment (providing other activities which run alongside the normal curriculum and go more broadly into specific areas of study). Teachers give opportunity for all learners to access extension and enrichment activities. Teachers use a range of flexible learning and teaching strategies to keep the More and Exceptionally Able children interested and provide them with challenge, such as higher order thinking skills, questioning, problem solving and independent learning. This is supported by individual target setting and appropriate grouping arrangements. 

 

We aim to create an ethos where pupils feel good about achieving excellence and both achievement and effort are celebrated. Pupils are encouraged to become independent learners and given opportunities to apply their knowledge and understanding in more indepth, complex, cross-curricular methods.

 

 

Outside the Classroom 

 

We aim to provide enrichment and challenge for all beyond the classroom. We will provide exceptionally able pupils teacher mentors who will support and guide them. We aim to tailor homework to more able pupils so that they are challenged and the work undertaken fits with the work they are doing in class. We look for opportunities to work with others in school and other school through workshops and competitions. 

 

Monitoring 

 

The progress of the More and Exceptionally Able children will be monitored on a termly Pupil

Progress Meetings and used to inform provision planning. We follow the principles of the Assess – Plan – Do – Review cycle, using assessment to inform provision and planning and then reviewing progress to once again inform planning and delivery. Information on the More and Exceptionally Able pupils will be provided on transfers between classes and between schools. 

 

Roles and responsibilities 

Class Teachers are ultimately responsible for the progress and attainment of all their pupils. 

 

Class Teachers will:

 

• Take steps to identify the More Able pupils using the methods identified in this policy 
• Write an IEP for pupils identified as Exceptionally Able
• Assess the progress of the More and Exceptionally Able pupils through normal classroom and whole school assessment cycles 
• Plan and implement appropriate provision
• Record strategies used in Pupil Progress Meetings documentation, medium and short term planning 
• Deploy TAs effectively and ensure they are familiar with the strategies and techniques that they may use when working with the More and Exceptionally Able              Review provision regularly 

The Senior Leadership Team will: 

 

• Ensure all staff involved with children identified as More or Exceptionally Able know of their particular needs 
• Our Diversity and Inclusion Lead will update colleagues on best practice or new initiatives as they arise and to meet staff CPD needs 
• The will also monitor the progress made by the More and Exceptionally Able children
• Also ensure that provision for the More Able is reflected in scrutiny and moderation activity, pupil conferencing, lesson observations, work sampling and Pupil Progress Meetings. 

 

 

 

 

The Mentor will:

 

Subject Leads will act as a mentor for pupils identified as Exceptionally Able.

 

• Have a shared interest and enthusiasm for their subject, therefore be able to set projects, homework or point towards appropriate resources.
• Support and encourage the Exceptionally Able
• Be someone that the Exceptionally Able pupils can talk to and get advice. This will be through planned discussion sessions once a half term or dependent on need. 

 

The More Able Governor will: 

 

• Have oversight of policy, provision and monitoring for the More and Exceptionally Able and review this through the Education Committee 

Working in partnership with parents

 

The school actively promotes a culture of a school-parent partnership in order to enable each child to reach their full potential. Parents are warmly welcomed to speak to their child’s Class Teacher or the senior leadership team through the school year to discuss any matter. 

 

 

Beyond this, we invite parents termly to share their child’s talents and achievements with the school, which can lead to further identification of More or Exceptionally Able children. For those identified as Exceptionally Able, parents will be informed of the extra provisions made to support their child and are invited to meet their mentor.