Nurturing gifted and talented children at Key Stage 1

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What do we know about successfully supporting gifted and talented children?

Enriching provision at key stage 1: Gifted and talented children need opportunities for in-depth enquiries to be able to explore their potential. When the curriculum is very structured and studies are limited to short sessions this is difficult. In all 14 projects teachers offered enrichment opportunities and many undertook flexible curriculum planning as part of the learning and teaching strategy for gifted and talented children. Staff within the pilot schools in Devon LA overcame initial concerns about identifying a curriculum theme from the children’s interests and building a flexible plan around this interest. As teachers started to see the results, they increased their confidence and gradually developed curriculum projects which were less and less influenced by the established subject and other curriculum boundaries. With increased flexibility and opportunities for cross-curricular, open-ended activities, the projects reported that many children accelerated their learning. One age 6 girl said, ‘I don’t actually know how clever I am and when I do it surprises me’.

In many instances, it was reported that the flexibilities built into the curriculum as part of a strategy for gifted and talented children also had a positive impact on the majority of learners in the classroom.

Developing ‘challenge’: Gifted and talented children often disengage from learning because they are not presented with sufficient challenge and cannot express this frustration. Verbally reasoning is often more of a challenge for younger children. Many of the projects demonstrated benefits linked to increased skills in questioning children’s thinking and understanding the different levels of challenge. For example, the gifted and talented children improved their cognitive, creative thinking and problem-solving skills as well as their oral skills.

Parental involvement: Many projects reported that parental involvement in the process of identifying and supporting gifted and talented children was crucial. Parents provided valuable insights into the interests and learning preferences of the children and became more involved in their children’s learning.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What skills did teachers find useful in identifying children’s gifts and talents? What helped children to demonstrate and develop their individual gifts? What do we know about successfully supporting gifted and talented children? What is gifted and talented? How was the study carried out? What are the implications? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To find out more about collated digests click here Get Word Reader Nurturing gifted and talented children at Key Stage 1 This digest found in Gifted and Talented Send to a friend Word doc 70KB Printer friendly Collate for later What do we know about successfully supporting gifted and talented children? Enriching provision at key stage 1: Gifted and talented children need opportunities for in-depth enquiries to be able to explore their potential. When the curriculum is very structured and studies are limited to short sessions this is difficult. In all 14 projects teachers offered enrichment opportunities and many undertook flexible curriculum planning as part of the learning and teaching strategy for gifted and talented children. Staff within the pilot schools in Devon LA overcame initial concerns about identifying a curriculum theme from the children’s interests and building a flexible plan around this interest. As teachers started to see the results, they increased their confidence and gradually developed curriculum projects which were less and less influenced by the established subject and other curriculum boundaries. With increased flexibility and opportunities for cross-curricular, open-ended activities, the projects reported that many children accelerated their learning. One age 6 girl said, ‘I don’t actually know how clever I am and when I do it surprises me’. In many instances, it was reported that the flexibilities built into the curriculum as part of a strategy for gifted and talented children also had a positive impact on the majority of learners in the classroom. Developing ‘challenge’: Gifted and talented children often disengage from learning because they are not presented with sufficient challenge and cannot express this frustration. Verbally reasoning is often more of a challenge for younger children. Many of the projects demonstrated benefits linked to increased skills in questioning children’s thinking and understanding the different levels of challenge. For example, the gifted and talented children improved their cognitive, creative thinking and problem-solving skills as well as their oral skills. Parental involvement: Many projects reported that parental involvement in the process of identifying and supporting gifted and talented children was crucial. Parents provided valuable insights into the interests and learning preferences of the children and became more involved in their children’s learning.