Ann Bridgland offers some key points for you to consider.
Some key questions for OFSTED – and for G&T generally
- How are the needs of our gifted and talented pupils being met alongside those of all pupils at our school?
- How, when focused on progress for all pupils, do we plan lessons that challenge our gifted and talented pupils?
- What is our policy for gifted and talented provision? Is it a generic version from other schools or the local authority, or is it targeted at improving the performance of all pupils at our school, and especially the gifted and talented?
- How do we ensure that pupils’ views are sought? Do we take these into account when planning tasks and curriculum provision to meet their interests?
- How consistent is the level of challenge across pupils’ lessons? How is more challenging work provided?
- Do we fully engage with the parents/carers of gifted and talented pupils to help them understand their children’s needs? How do we help them provide effective support?
- Does our G&T Lead, along with the school’s senior leaders, involve everyone in developing a vision of what could be provided for gifted and talented pupils?
- What is the status of our leading G&T teacher/coordinator across the school? Does this enable them to influence and implement policy?
- How effectively do subject leaders interpret and implement the school’s G&T policy?
- If any subjects and curriculum areas are at different stages of readiness for establishing further G&T provision, how are we trying to prevent any inconsistency and lack of coherence?
- How strong is the drive or commitment from senior and middle leaders to develop or sustain provision for our gifted and talented pupils?
- How are we accessing support to identify the most appropriate regional/national resources and training to meet our particular G&T needs?
- How are we planning to use the proposed more accessible catalogue of opportunities available locally, regionally and nationally? How will staff, pupils and parents access this?
- How effectively is our CPD Lead working with the G&T Lead and the senior team to improve the level of challenge in lessons? Are staff accessing practical, subject-specific training to help them refine planning and teaching for individuals and groups?
- In what ways do we support and guide staff in judging what gifted and talented pupils at different ages should be achieving and how well they are making progress towards attaining their challenging targets across key stages?
- How are we working with our SIP to scrutinise provision for gifted and talented pupils?
- Have we established good partnerships with others to ensure that the needs of our gifted and talented pupils are met?
- Have we established good links and collaborations with other local schools for enhancing G&T provision, and to what effect?
- Do we ensure that any out-of-hours provision/enrichment programmes for G&T are linked with our school-based provision? How effectively are we evaluating their impact?
- How do we analyse whether different groups of pupils on our gifted and talented register are progressing as well as they could, to inform planning and the improvement of teaching and learning?
- How effectively are we using data analysis to inform G&T provision and identification?