Gifted & Talented

The Gifted and Talented programme at UHS addresses the needs of the most able students.  We aim to raise the achievements and aspirations for those students who are identified as having marked ability or the potential to become high performers.  This means working with the top 5% – 10% ability range in any year group. Gifted students are identified in academic subjects and Talented students in music, art, sports or performing arts.

Identification is not just based on a student’s IQ or National Curriculum test results alone; other skills such as leadership, decision making and organisation can also be taken into account.

We recognise and support these needs through a challenging personalised curriculum, where it is expected that students in lessons will strive to reach and/or exceed their potential.

Most of the day to day experience of Gifted and Talented education takes place in the classroom, where there are personalised teaching programmes.  For each subject, special extension tasks in class and/or homework are set, which focus on higher-order thinking skills.  However, there are other activities beyond the classroom which support the development of Gifted and Talented work, including partnerships with other schools and local universities.

We aim to develop students to become confident, highly independent learners capable of critical thinking who take a pride in their achievements and maximise their potential to become the leaders, organisers, innovators and policy makers of tomorrow.