Practical strategies for
ensuring effective
provision for the most able
students.
What strategies do you already use in
the classroom?
Aims.
To recap best practice in differentiating for
the most able students.
 To demonstrate practical strategies which
can be used to extend the most able
students in lessons.
 To stimulate your thinking on how best to
cater for the most able students in your
own subject.
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Background and key principles.
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Gifted students are identified as the top 7% of
students in each year group. They are identified
based on a range of assessment data, including
MidYis testing and examination results.

Talented students show a particular aptitude in
one subject area, usually the arts and sport.
In an outstanding lesson…
All students, including those that are gifted
and talented, should be challenged
throughout the lesson and activities should
include a suitable amount of challenge.
Some characteristics of the
most able students.

Possess superior powers of reasoning and able to deal effectively with
abstractions and generalisations. (Laycock)

Originality and initiative in intellectual and practical work. (Montgomery)

Ability to process information quickly to develop coherent and complex
arguments. (NAGC)

Keen powers of observation, allowing them to identify analogies and
mismatches. (Montgomery)

Exceptional curiosity and desire to know why things happen. (Wallace)
The most able students have a cognitive ability to learn and to think.
Model for effective provision at
Macmillan Academy
Effective classroom
provision for the
most able students
Problem solving
Thinking skills
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Critical thinking
Creative thinking
Questioning
Evaluation
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Current best practice.
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What provision do we already make?
How do you challenge a
gifted student in a subject where
they appear to struggle?
Practical strategies.
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What if?
How is this like?
Code breaking.
Concept mapping.
Core principles.
Creative writing.
Create _______ to solve a problem.
Construct a different problem/question using the same data/to generate the
same answer.
Before, before, after,after.
Dingbats.
Whats the rule.
Questioning techniques.
Code Breaking
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Can you break the following codes?
Practical strategies.
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What if?
How is this like?
Code breaking.
Concept mapping.
Core principles.
Creative writing.
Create _______ to solve a problem.
Construct a different problem/question using the same data/to generate the
same answer.
Dingbats.
Before, before, after,after.
Whats the rule.
Questioning techniques.
Dingbats
1-0
Each picture shows one of the reasons why the First World War ended.
Why did the First World War end? How did you reach that conclusion?
Practical strategies.
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What if?
How is this like?
Code breaking.
Concept mapping.
Core principles.
Creative writing.
Create _______ to solve a problem.
Construct a different problem/question using the same data/to generate the
same answer.
Before, before, after,after.
Dingbats.
Whats the rule.
Questioning techniques.
Questioning techniques for the
most able.
Planned Higher Order questions.
 Piggybacking.
 Challenge thinking process.
 Challenge answers – what if?
 Students generate their own questions
(using a stimulus).
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What do you perceive are the
remaining barriers to effective
provision for gifted and talented
students?
Review
What positives
have come
out of the session?
What ideas do you
have to help future
development of
gifted and talented
provision?
How are you
feeling now about
provision?