Menu of Opportunities (September 2011 – July 2012)
Background
 Highcliffe is a Lead School for Gifted & Talented (Summer 2009)
 Lead Teacher member of the LSG Team (Particular Needs)
 Lead teacher attending network meetings in Dorset & New Forest &
annual G & T Dorset Conference.
 Lead Teacher to chair SPP termly group meetings.
 Delivery to NQT’s & SCITT teachers.
 School, early member of NAGTY with 450 students on the register
 Inclusion register for whole school: capacity to build into revised
School Information System (SIS) for easy access, referral and
monitoring
 Comprehensive programme implemented with feeder schools with all
faculty areas participating.
 Summer of 2011 saw introduction of the ‘Galaxy Room’ – a learning
space to deliver Gifted & Talented provision to small cohorts.
Mathematics
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Mathematics Challenge now in place for top set mathematicians.
(UKMT) run from Leeds University;
Junior = Years 7 & 8
Intermediate = Years 10 & 11
Senior = Years 12 & 13
As a consequence students now regularly get into the kangaroo
round for the highest achievers.
Senior Maths Team Challenge. Yrs 12 & 13 take on all other high
achieving schools.
KS 4 Modular exams. New GCSE specification started in Sept 2010
unit1,2 and 3.
Setting in all years.
Year 7 – KS2 results used + FFT data + sub-levelled assessments
at end of each half term. New initial assessment in 1st week.
Years 7 & 8 have Higher & Foundation sets.
Year 9 are based on levelled assessments; Top 2 sets for Levels 68; sets 3 & 4 for Levels 5-7; sets 5 & 6 for Levels 4-6; set 7 is a
crossover between Levels 4-6 & 3-5; Bottom set for Levels 3-5.
Years 10 & 11 – 3 top sets for Higher paper & 1 Foundation set.
Early A/S. C1 & parts of C2 module from ‘Further’ Maths is taught in
Year 11, extension for the most able including logs, quadratics,
algebraic fractions and parts of applied.
Taster sessions for year 11 give a fun way to introduce topics from
core and mechanics and allow Year 13 students to teach the year 11
students.
Year 12 is Open Forum – Monday, Tuesday & Thurs lunchtimes dropin.
Brain Teasers – publicised in H2U.
The UK Mathematics Trust and the Further Mathematics Support
Programme awarded Highcliffe School 3rd place in the 2009 Regional
final of the UKMT FMSP Senior team Maths challenge.
STEP now on timetable for Yr 13.
July 2012 VDN
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Working with Heidi Whitney County Maths advisor.
To improve Maths Challenge by increasing student numbers.
KS4 S of W – modular throughout Yr 10 include application of Real
Life Maths include; finance, income tax, mortgages, APR, pricing
etc.
Outstanding ALPs again in Yr 13 and Yr 12 3rd year running 2011.
A level 56.6% at A* & A 2011 (44% nationally).
Further Maths achieved a 100% A*/A pass rate
60 students in Year 12 studying FM and Mathematics, now biggest
provider in 6th form.
Doubling the national average on A* grades at A level (see attached
spreadsheet)
Project challenge work undertaken with 6th formers whereby
materials were produced to deliver to Yr 9 students, through CQS
internal bid.
Range of projects planned with Highcliffe St Mark School over
academic year using staff and 6th formers for Maths challenge
activities.
‘Highcliffe High Flyers’ now established and ready for other feeder
schools. (Yr 11 working with Yrs 5 & 6 from Highcliffe St Mark).
IBN & JAS - primary liaison with other feeder schools & G & T
students.
New subject – Economics - taught at A level from Sept 2011.
‘Outbreak’ Challenge in Activities Week – Yr 8 G & T students
supporting ‘Highcliffe High Flyers’ on a problem solving whole day
activity (MPE).
English
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‘Bookies’ – book club for all years but G & T students are specifically
invited to attend. Runs every other Wednesday during lunchtime,
manned by staff at present with a G & T student taking the lead in
this. Some students have taken ‘Bookies’ forward to ‘Carnegie
shadowing’ & writing for the Carnegie Book Award.
Poetry /Creative Writing Anthology. This is an in-house annual
publication open to all with G & T students being recommended by
teachers to participate.
Poetry/writing: other publications (H2U and external). Opportunities
are given to enter competitions e.g. Short Story competition.
(External anthology competitions tend to be too expensive).
Public speaking competition i.e. Mock Trial.
Debating Society. Initially for the 6th form but has been extended
down to Years 10 & 11. G & T students are specifically invited to
attend. Lunchtime. To be extended to KS 3.
Theatre trips
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London University study days for A Level.
Stratford on Avon study days for A Level.
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July 2012 VDN
Science
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STEMNET Project (Year 9 only)
NAGTY: sponsored activities: IBM, every year. Year 10 – National
Science Week in March.
Science Clubs, range of – ALL abilities
A level challenge with Navy/Physics (EES & CREST)
Institute of Physics lecture –Yrs 10,12 & 13 in-house with other
schools attending (Nov ’09)
Fieldwork: Biology (Yr 13 residential).
Setted grouping; Yrs 7 & 8 top ability groups, rest are mixed ability.
Yrs 9 -11 are properly setted. Yrs 10 & 11 have top, middle &
bottom sets whilst ‘A’ level is mixed ability.
Triple Science – Year 9, 10 & 11 can opt for 3 separate Sciences.
Special weeks: focus e.g. Chemistry (Nov), Physics (Summer term).
University of Southampton visits – careers in Science. Yr 12 Biology
and Chemistry visits.
Participation in Chemistry & Physics Olympiads @ KS5.
Participation in Biology Olympiads @ KS5 & KS4. (SJS).
Students have participated in Nuffield Bursary Summer Schools at
Southampton University – Biology A Level students.
Do you have a question? KS5 students are able to email staff.
G & T Science Teatime lectures at Southampton University for Yr
11/12 on various topics (Nov ’11 – Mar ’12) KBY.
Advanced Extension Award for Physics ‘A’ Level students.
Eco Club. Eco link on website – live from Mar 12
Science & Engineering Week (13.3.09), visit by (AECC) Chiropractic
College Scientists working with 6th formers & Yr 11 separate
scientists investigating nerve & muscle activity.
Engineering in Education Scheme – Sixth form students participated
in the Celebration and Assessment Day at HMS Sultan in Gosport. A
great day with some fantastic feedback to the team.
Use of electron microscopes at university – Biomedical Sciences @
Southampton University.
Work Experience placement organisation for Medics and Vets.
Mock interviews for Medics and Vets with practitioners within the
industry or field of specialism
Visit to Pathology lab at University Hospital
Twinning programme with undergraduates to help with UCAS
statements and interview preparations
Oxbridge student twinning scheme
Residential Medlink courses at Nottingham University
GCSE Science Live Conference. – Yrs 9 + 10 and to be attended
again this year.
Yr 8s working with Yr 6 from Highcliffe St Mark in twilight sessions
(ABY).CREST award 2010 & 2011.
Yr 10 IBM Blue Fusion competition Mar ’11 (RBR). So’ton Univerity.
Salter’s Festival of Chemistry @ So’ton University Yr 8 students –
Chemistry Challenge.
Bright Sparks at IBM – Yr 8 students (Blue Fusion programme).
Students have attended Salters Company offer ‘Chemistry Camps’ for
Yr 10’s.
July 2012 VDN
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Attendance at series of Physics lectures (Feb/Mar) @ So’ton
University - Yrs 11 & 12.
Bronze CREST award scheme Yr 7 students after school (KBY).
BAe Systems ran Engineering workshop in May ’12, with 30 x Yr. 9
Gifted Scientists, entitled ‘Marble Run’. Hoped to roll this out as an
annual event (KBY).
Planning stages;
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Open-ended topics in class on laptop. 6 questions per topic.
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Differentiation.
Art, Design, Technology
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Exhibitions. ‘Celebrating Achievement’ and annual Art exhibition at
Highcliffe Castle in Feb. (focusing on talented achievement). Biannual exhibition at the Red house museum, focusing on technique.
These are across a range of year groups.
Work exhibited at Bournemouth hospital. This has now been
extended from out- patients/ reception area to the hospital Theatre
area. This year alex Eatough’s work has been used for the display in
the entrance of the new stroke unit.
Workshops giving access to support: extension lunchtime, after
school, holiday clubs for extension/catch up.
Yr 7 & 8 work on the Lions Peace Poster plus various competitions.
Trips and visits programme. Royal Academy in London for a Yr 9
practical workshop. Visiting speakers coming into school e.g. graphic
designer. Japanese artist came into school to work with Yr 8 talented
students for a one day workshop. Students going out into the
Christchurch community working on the ‘railway mural’ project.
Electronics/control Cars Clubs. Race track set up in school grounds.
Artist in Residence in collaboration with Artsway; February – March
working with small cohort of Year 10 GCSE art students.
Project offered in spring 2010 to Yr’s 7, 8, 9 & 10 for Art Textiles
culminating in a visit to gallery in London during Activities week.
Cohort of 30 students~ 2 grps of 15 once a fortnight after school
(ATT). Through CQS internal bid.
STEMNET activity is hosted in Da Vinci. Students have made radio
controlled boats and Hovercrafts so far.
Planning;
 Formalise trips & visits programme onto the school calendar and
extend the provision to a) travel abroad and b) liaise with MFL
faculty.
 Life drawing @ AIB with KS4 & 5 talented students.
 Differentiation offering different levels of challenge
July 2012 VDN
Humanities
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All activities such as fieldwork, trips and visits are offered to all
abilities and a range of year groups.
 Teaching groups are arranged into 4 sets in both halves of the year
where possible (KS 3).
 Yr 11 Philosophy conference in Yeovil (November)
 Yr 12 and 13 Philosophy and Ethics conferences (November and
February).
 Yr 8 visit to Bournemouth Islamic centre.
 Yr 7 Hindu experience day.
 Additional G & T tasks on resource bank.
 A Level revision conference offered in London (Geog & RE).
 A Level Geog. Conference @ BU (Dec) e.g. ‘Coastal Management’
Targeted revision sessions for invited A* & A grade students in Geog.
 Reward postcards sent home regularly for outstanding work,
extended work & attainment across all subjects.
 Letters of Commendation sent home.
 ‘Star of the Week’
 Stickers & stamps awarded.
 Congratulation cards sent out to students regarding their exam
results.
 VML to run trip to Natural History Museum, London for Yr 8 & 10 for
targeted G & T cohort. KBL to offer similar trip for History students.
 Animation club offered to Yr 8 G & T cohort using new software,
through CQS internal bid project. 6th formers to take a lead in this.
 Personalised timetabling for 6th formers.
 Support from G & T 6th formers with lower school Geography
students. Assisting on trips.
 Pilot scheme introduced whereby G & T 6th formers from Humanities
Support Yr 7s with home study.
 6th formers teaching/ supporting in Yr 7 History classes.
 Extension activities in curriculum areas e.g. Must, Should, Could.
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Enterprise Challenge offered to all but elements targeted to G & T.
 Booster and Master Classes offered for all GCSE Humanities subjects.
 Tutorials and coaching offered for Oxbridge candidates.
 Opportunities for students to submit articles for H2U from
Humanities subjects.
 Research projects on modern History topics e.g. A History of 9/11
offered to Year 10 students after their exams.
Citizenship
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Yr 11 study AS modules for those students who achieved GCSE in Yr
10.
Citizenship Fair. G & T cohort take a leading light in this.
July 2012 VDN
MFL
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Primary Language programme. Half of language staff visit Primary
schools once or twice a week to deliver French, German or Spanish to
Years 3 – 6.
 Exchanges for French and Spanish.
 Italian photography trip in activities week
 Language College Special Events – European Day of Languages.
 Access to range of Languages KS3 – 5.
 FCSE (Foundation Certificate in Secondary Education) end of KS3
qualification in French, German, Spanish and Italian.
 Saturday revision workshops for Yrs 11, 12 & 13. Students are
encouraged to attend.
 Latin classes take place during lunchtime & Twilight sessions for Yrs
9,10 & 11.
 Booster & Master classes during lunchtime & after school in Spring &
Summer terms for Yr 11.
 Twilight Language programme. These are run for adults and
students;
French Intermediate (Mrs Walton) Weds 3.30 – 4.30pm
Talk French (Mrs Walton) Weds 3.30 – 4.30pm
Talk Mandarin (Mrs Peggy Doble) Mon 3.30 – 4.30pm
Fast Track Beginners Japanese (Mr Bryden) Weds 3.30 – 4.30pm
Japanese Intermediate (Mr Bryden) Tues 3.30 – 4.30pm
Essential Italian (Mrs Trent) Thurs 3.30 – 4.30pm
Get Started in Spanish (Mrs Khalil) Tues 3.3.0 – 4.30pm
Intermediate Spanish (Mrs Snell) 3.30 – 4.30pm
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Foreign Language Leaders Award in Yr 12.
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German Christmas market trip – yrs 8 – 10.
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Bi-annual trip to France – Yr 7
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Yr 13 Work Experience in France – 1 week.
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University of Southampton language talks
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S W Regional MFL speaking competition, Bath (Mar ’12). All
years.
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Y7 Spelling Bee – regional finals (Three finalists and one overall
winner all through to national final)
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Y7 Spelling Bee – national finals (5th July)
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G&T Speaking competition – regional finals (Two overall winners)
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G&T Bande Dessinée (comic book club)
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Y7 & Y8 French tennis club
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MFL Pop Video competition (Both overall winners from Highcliffe)
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Y12 G&T student Spanish work experience
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Sixth Form European Union Translation competition
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Routes into Languages G&T visits
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Y8 G&T linguist trip to Christchurch Harbour Hotel
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Y10 G&T languages day
July 2012 VDN
ICT
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Joint project working with geography department and cohort of G
& T students from Yr 9, producing presentation of local area for St.
Patrick’s School in Kenya. This is a collaborative project working with our
Olympic Dreams link school. Presentation was given to St. Patrick’s
when Highcliffe visited in April 2012. It is hoped to document this work
into a book.
Planning:
 Newsday. This is a competition run by the times education
Supplement. The idea is to produce a newspaper in 1 day (KS3
possibly?) and/or to produce a news website in 1 day (KS4
possibly?). Open to any year. The idea may to train a small group of
invited G & T students in a club environment to take on specific roles
e.g. editor and then complete the task on a chosen date. This would
lead to cross-curricular working i.e. writing with English dept., IT
skills and a possible an international dimension too.
 Extension tasks for KS3 & KS4 in Schemes of Work.
 School radio station.
 Awareness of internet safety through assemblies, written & delivered
by G & T cohort. (Oct 10).
 Podcast. Produce weekly or bi-monthly podcast. EQUIPMMENT HAS
BEEN SECURED & PLANNING WELL UNDERWAY.
Expressive Arts
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Christchurch Schools Sports Partnership: SSCO has put in place
Action Plan and G/T Register. Latter is being updated.
Peripatetic music programme; wide range of instrumental lessons
offered.
Range of concerts/performances
Music soirees for G & T. These tend to be classical.
Recital for parents and staff.
Entry into the Global Rock competition is an annual event through
Expressive Arts. Yrs 9 – 13. (For all abilities).
Involvement of practising professionals in activities. Visiting
professional dancers come into lessons. Badminton coach invited
into classes. Twilight sessions – change on a 10 week cycle;
currently Table Tennis coach comes in every Monday to work with
Year 9 girls and boys. Have had Rugby, Tennis, Aerobics etc..
Building links to specialist clubs/agencies to support talented
students.
Mrs Elkins works with musicians & dancers after school who then
perform in school concerts.
School Fitness Studio part of excellence support facilities. Sixth
form can use the facilities at will and students who excel in their
field are invited to take an induction programme and can then use
the facilities.
Help with fees for competitions at National level. Subsistence
offered when competing in school time.
July 2012 VDN
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‘Identity’ activities promote excellence (sweatshirts etc). Team
strips, rugby socks, tops for 6th form coaches.
Expressive Arts Celebration Evening. An annual event in the
summer term where certificates & trophies are presented to
students representing all areas of Expressive Arts. Videos shown.
Range of sports on offer, extensive practise programme
Range of staffing expertise to match this programme
Additional Music GCSE option (after school) – to be withdrawn.
SEN reviews to cover G/T element where relevant
H2U categories for achievements of particular students
Celebration/recognition for achievements: comprehensive range of
strategies. Postcards sent home, merits awarded, half & full
colours awarded on a termly basis, extended to all year groups
now.
Enter leagues where appropriate.
Enter County Golf tournaments.
JAE (Junior Athlete Programme) offered to national athletes to
support their training programmes.
Display of photographs for ‘Sporting Heroes’ (MWR) i.e. talented
students.
PE scholarships for students entering 6th form.
Sports tour for girls & boys to Italy – rugby & football (Oct ‘11)
6th from snowboarding trip to USA (Feb ’12).
Ski trip to Italy (March ’12)
Enrichment
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Sixth Form – Oxbridge Conference (April) hosted by Thomas
Hardye School for Year 11 & 12 G & T candidates with potential to
apply to Oxford/Cambridge.
 Oxbridge visit to Emirates Stadium (April)
 Oxbridge residential for Yr 12 students. July ’12.
 Oxbridge Shadowing schemes run.
 Christchurch Student Council - Citizenship (CSE)
 UK Youth Parliament Elections, open to all to apply – February.
(CSE).
 Mock Trial Competition (MCP). 13 Yr 8/9 students to act as
lawyers, magistrates, witnesses etc in connection with a criminal
case. Enter Dorset local heats.
 5 evening lectures in collaboration with Ballard School in Spring
term, on a variety of topics aimed at G & T students and parents.
Hugely successful.
 Increasing take-up of students attending residential G &T courses
at Leeson House throughout the year.
 EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) Yr 12 & 13 students.
Delivered by H O’Connor & D M Powell. AS stand alone
qualification. Some are using this as a ‘roll on – roll off’
programme. This is growing year on year.
 EPQ forums offered to G & T cohort from Yrs 9, 10 & 11 to
promote debate and higher order questioning.
July 2012 VDN
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Young Enterprise Challenge for Yr 10 students @ BU to participate
in Global Trading Challenge with other local schools. More of these
planned for the future.
GCSE Latin offered as part of extended & personalised curriculum
in Yr. 11. ‘A’ Level Latin offered in 6th form.
Japanese & Mandarin Chinese offered as enrichment activities.
Exchange with link school in India. 6th form cohort. (Oct. ’11; CSE
& PWY)
Exchange trip to Japan every 2 years (Oct) DBN. Johoku School to
visit Highcliffe Mar ’12.
‘I wonder............’ (a thought provoking question) in both weekly
bulletins and displayed on LCD screens in corridors.
Working with Ballard & Arnewood Schools, identifying ‘Able
Underachievers’ in Yr 8, mapping progress and putting strategies
in place to support attainment.
Talks in discussion about vision of a school radio.
Arts & Literacy evening – collaborative work between ADT &
English faculties – inviting students & parents from Year 5 from
feeder schools to work in a twilight session in the Da Vinci suite.
More of this type of enrichment activity is planned.
June ’12 Physics & Music evening working with appropriate Yr. 7
students + parents (VDN, KBY, ERY).
Planning;
 To put G & T link on school website.
 Highcliffe to host Oxbridge Conference in April 2013 for East Dorset
Schools.
July 2012 VDN