At Sancton Wood School we aim to ensure that no student ‘slips through the net’ and that all children are given the opportunity to thrive. As such, the facets of good teaching for Able, Gifted and Talented students are, in fact, the facets that underpin all of our teaching.
Our whole school ethos recognises the worth of each student as well as their particular strength, Sancton Wood has a culture of support and high expectation which is essential for the growth of all our pupils. Labelling a proportion of our school community as ‘able, gifted and talented’ would be divisive and undermine the ethos of the school. Our stated aims and values recognise the individual abilities of all our pupils and commit us to helping them to reach their full potential, not only intellectually but also creatively and physically. We place emphasis on delivering lessons and courses which challenge pupils. Within every subject we expect teachers to teach the most able as well as provide support for the least able pupils. We hope that all our pupils will be challenged beyond the confines of our whole school curriculum.
We recognise that finding our children’s individual strength and area of expertise is an ongoing process. Some may be very easy to identify on entry to the school, with others it may emerge later. In essence it is our role as a school to work continually with all our students, finding out what makes each of them ‘tick’; thus, building self-esteem and confidence in all.
Julia Cottam, Assistant Principal (Academic)
Our A,G and T programme at SW includes:
