Disappearing Genius

Disappearing Genius
Try moving away from the screen and watch the genius vanish. The first person to post a comment explaining how this illusion works gets a fabulous prize (honest!)

Saturday 24 April 2010

Information Evening for Parents of Gifted and Talented Learners April 28th

Date: Wednesday 28th April
Time: 6pm until 7.30pm
Venue: The Refectory, Sawtry Community College


This event is designed to give parents of Year 7 students identified as Gifted and Talented for the first time information about the College's approach to provision for the very able. It is also a chance for me to update my data on the students in the Gifted and Talented cohort at Sawtry Community College as part of our commitment to social inclusion.


Notification letters were sent out on Friday 23rd April. Reply slips should be given to form tutors are handed directly to me (Mr. Davies) in his office in L7.


I hope to see you there!


As ever, if you would like to discuss the evening with me or if you can't make it that night and would like alternative provision, please email me on gareth.davies@sawtrycc.org.uk






Key Information from Information Evening for Parents of Gifted and Talented Learners April 28th


‘A rising tide elevates all ships…’: achievement at the higher grades at SCC
Professor Joan Freeman, in her 40-year study of Gifted and Talented education, has concluded that schools with good G&T Programmes consistently achieve better exam. results for students of all abilities in comparison with like schools that do not specifically provide for the Gifted and Talented.




At Sawtry Community College, Gifted and Talented provision began in November 2005


2006 GCSE 11% of students achieved at least one grade A or A*


2006 GCSE 33% of students achieved at least one grade B or above


2007 GCSE 17% grade A or A*


2007 GCSE 48% grade B or above


2008 GCSE 17% grade A or A*


2008 GCSE 49% grade B or above


2009 GCSE 20% grade A* or A


2009 GCSE 43% grade B or above




At SCC, we use these definistion of 'Gifted' and 'Talented':
Talented:  Top 5-10% of pupils per school as measured by actual or potential achievement in the subjects of Art, Music, PE, Games and Drama.


Gifted: Top 5-10% of pupils per school as measured by actual or potential achievement in the other curriculum subjects.
This is from the DCSF and has been adopted by the LEA.


a) The definition is relational. Being 'gifted' and 'talented' is not necessarily a matter of possessing an objective quality which would mark a pupil as being gifted and/or talented in any other school. It is simply a matter of being amongst the most able 5- 10% of pupils in a particular school.
b) The cohort is not immutably defined. Pupils develop at different rates and with pupils joining and leaving a school it may well happen that a particular pupil will fall within the scope of the definition 'gifted and talented' in one year, but may not fall within that category in a subsequent year. Alternatively just because a pupil has not been identified as 'gifted and talented' in one year that does not mean that the pupil will not be so identified at a later point.


How are Gifted and Talented students identified at SCC?




Quantitative data: each department is provided with a list of the top 10% of its Y7 students in terms of levels before Christmas. This is derived from AfL Start Level information.


Qualitative data: each department then refines this list so that it amounts to about 5% of its students in Y7.


Departments use teacher assessment, pupil observation and work scrutiny to arrive at their ‘5-ish’ %.


The ‘Gifted in…’ and ‘Talented in…’ documents from QCA which describe the characteristics of the Gifted or Talented student in each subject are used to inform this process


The Gifted and Talented Register




Entry Qualification:


Any student identified as having more than one Gift and /or more than one Talent is included on the Gifted and Talented Register.


The GTR is organized by Year Group, and in each Year by Gifted, Talented and Gifted and Talented (All-rounders).

Purpose:


Students on the Gifted and Talented Register should be known by all their teachers, their form tutor and their Head of Year. There should be suitable differentiation for them in the subjects that nominated them. The pastoral team should be aware that students on the GTR may experience bullying, stress, discontent or alienation.


Students on the Gifted and Talented Register should not be provided with trips, visits or other extra-curricular activities that are not available to other students. They should, however, be involved in the organization of such activities. They may also be given first refusal on trips and visits.


The Gifted and Talented Register is updated bi-annually, and students can also be added to it on an ad hoc basis as Gifts or Talents appear. Shortly after each bi-annual update, the Gifted and Talented Register is reported to the DCSF.



The Gifted and Talented Watch List




Entry Qualification:


Any student identified as having one Gift or one Talent is included on the Watch List.


Purpose:


Experience has shown that too many students are identified as Gifted and / or Talented if one teacher nomination is sufficient. However, the students identified as having a single Gift or Talent should still be recorded and monitored.


Students on the Watch List should be well known by the teachers in the subject that nominated them and there should be suitable differentiation for them.


The Watch List is updated bi-annually, and students can also be added to it on an ad hoc basis as Gifts or Talents appear (this, of course, may generate a move from the Watch List to the GTR). Students can be removed from the Watch List but this is in only in the case of misidentification.


Students on the Watch List are to be considered first reserves in the bi-annual review of the Gifted and Talented Register. This is especially relevant where subjects share similar skills: for example, a student on the Watch List after being identified as Gifted in History may need to be scrutinized for signs of giftedness in History and perhaps English as well.


How can you help him to achieve?
Your child spends no more than 17% of his or her time in school. 33% is given over to sleep. For the other 50%, the single most important influence on him or her is you.
Every parent have an understanding of their child that is far superior to any ‘expert’ opinion: but these gifted ‘types’ might help you crystallize your own thoughts about your child and give you some strategies to support him or her.


Captain Keen
Indulge his enthusiasm- this needn’t mean rushing off to the Fitzwilliam every weekend. Ask one question about whatever it is he’s keen to explain to you.


‘Don’t get it right, get it writ.’ Limit his time doing homework and reward successful results within that time limit. Not everything has to be excellent, not every homework has to be submitted typed and in plastic binders, not every lower-case ‘i’ needs to be dotted with a heart!


Lauren Notbovvered
Don’t use reason or persuasion- Lauren likes verbally sparring with adults, she’s good at it and even if you do out-manoeuvre her, she can always play the ‘Teen Trump Card’ and tell you she ain’t bovvered. Ask her to describe the behaviour that is of concern, tell her what the consequences will be, make them stick. If she refuses to describe the behaviour, do that job for her.


If she’s being offensive, tell her- if she embarrasses you or says something witty but rude, tell her it’s a shame she can’t use her intelligence for something useful and then ignore the behaviour as much as possible. If you can't, see above!


Praise her positive behaviour- if she says something clever, tell her so. If she does well in a test or does her homework in time, tell her so. Despite all appearances to the contrary, she does value your opinion.


Mr. Mouse
Praise him whenever you can- he may appear not to value your praise. He does.


Let him know that tests aren’t everything- self-esteem, prosperity and happiness might be improved by getting excellent test results. They might not. Albert Einstein and William Churchill both did poorly in school but are now recognised as geniuses.


Let him play ‘Runescape’ for 10 more minutes- computer networking with others, even on games like ‘Runescape’, gives the child the chance to co-operate and interact with others purposefully in an anonymous environment. Of course, if it’s a school night…




Little Miss Smartypants

She can do better and you know she can- her underachievement is an issue. Make sure she knows it is.


Don’t accept her laziness and arrogance- if she doesn’t tidy her room and get her bags packed for school, take action: delete all her save-games from Grand Theft Auto; tell everyone to get her vouchers, not cash; don’t get her any more ‘phone credit. You’re paying for her upkeep and she’ll cost you more than a Ferrari by the time she’s 18- she does owe you (you are allowed to laugh when she says, ‘I never asked to be born, did I?’) !


Be on her side- praise her whenever you can. Note that she’s being witty, even when telling her off for being rude!



A note on reading…




Reading and discussing books- fiction or non-fiction- is a very effective way of furthering your child’s knowledge, understanding and enthusiasm for learning.


Please buy your books from us! - here's how:


http://www.lovereading4schools.co.uk/


1. Go to red 'for parents' registration column on the right. Click on box marked 'If you are a parent, register here.'
2. Fill in the details on the registration screen.
3. Lovereading4schools will then send you an email with a link to verify your account.
4. To take advantage of the bespoke SCC pages, which will also direct 5% of cover price to school fund, enter  'Sawtry' in the blackboard box titled 'Search'. Find and click 'Sawtry Community College PE28 5TQ'. The password for these pages is 'readallaboutit'




It is extremely useful to know the readability of the books your child reads.


Here's a simple way to calculate the readability of any text.


  1. Select the text.
  2. Open a page at random. Count ten sentences.
  3. Count the number of words that have three or more syllables in those ten sentences.
  4. Multiple this figure by three.
  5. Find the number closest to your answer: 1  4  9  16  25  36  49  64  81  100 121  144  169
  6. Find the square root of the number:        1  2  3  4    5    6     7    8    9    10   11    12    13
  7. Add 8.
  8. This gives a Readability Level (not a Reading Age- that is far harder to determine). Anything below 10 is likely to be perfectly understandable to an average Y7 student. The average Y7 student will find anything with a score of 14 or higher quite challenging.