More Able and Motivated
Monkston Primary School has devised a programme to establish a clear and consistent approach to helping more able and highly motivated pupils achieve their full potential. We have added the term ‘motivated’ to the well known 'gifted and talented' title, since we believe that, in order for extra provision to have any significant impact, a pupil must wholeheartedly commit, or ‘buy into’, the programme. We fully appreciate that the role of teachers is to motivate pupils and that is what we seek to do every day in every lesson for every pupil. However, some pupils respond better than others to our attempts and a pupil would need to have developed a strong degree of self-motivation before being considered eligible for the extra provision outlined below.
What is a ‘more able and motivated’ pupil?
By ‘more able and motivated’, we simply mean a pupil who has demonstrated clearly above average ability in a particular area [see below] and is judged by their class teacher to demonstrate a high level of self-motivation in that area. Currently, we have 6 main areas of focus:
In future, this list may expand to include other curriculum areas.
Inevitably the self-motivation of a child is a difficult area to judge, so class teachers first produce a provisional list of pupils on the basis of ability and then conduct brief interviews with selected pupils to determine whether or not they have sufficient motivation to benefit from the ‘More Able and Motivated’ programme. Lists will be updated – i.e. with names added or deleted – every July, before the children start their new year group, enabling their current class teachers to use their knowledge of the children's ability to ensure a solid judgement. Parents of identified pupils will be informed in writing in the new academic year.
Please see our policy below for more details on our current provision.
The Monkston More Able and Motivated Fair
3rd April 2019!
Every year, we hold our annual More Able and Motivated Fair (at the end of the spring term) in order for the More Able and Motivated groups to showcase their work and have an opportunity to share their knowledge and passion for their chosen subject. All children in the school get an opportunity to come along, during the school day, and visit the fair in their classes and see for themselves what the groups have been studying the year. Its always a highlight for all, seeing outstanding examples of writing, maths investigative work, science projects, musical creations and new sports or activities devised by the PE group.
This year's fair was a roaring success with an amazing selection of projects across each of the subjects!
It is 50 years since the first moon landing and the first part of the project was to research and present information about the moon landing and the findings. They had to have as much information about the rocket they used, how it worked, gravity, what they discovered and what it meant for science/mankind. They also had a chance to think about what living on the moon in another 50 years might look like!
Groups created their own test of fitness activities. They had a go at current fitness tests that are out there, like the bleep test (a child friendly version) and other flexibility challenges. They then used some of these ideas to design and develop their own fitness tests. At the end of the project, children tested each other in their group and competed against their peers.
The children used their own instruments and the iPad app ‘Garageband’ to compose a piece of music. Children recorded this using non-standard or standard notation (depending on understanding) and came up with a piece about a minute long. They then visited Oakgrove School to record their piece and played it for visitors at the fair.
Children wrote their own fantasy story for a specific audience. During their lunchtime sessions, Mrs Wood provided the children with resources to plan their story, create their own fantasy world and was even able to ‘magic’ up some magnificent creatures! The children had to be as creative as possible to make their stories exciting and imaginative. When the stories were finished, they were published and created into a story book for all to read and enjoy in the magical fantasy reading corner at the fair.
Children discovered what happened to rubbish once it was been thrown away and then understood what could be recycled and why recycling is so important. The group investigated how everyday items could be reused in order to create pieces of art. By researching various artists (particularly Jane Perkins) and attending a trip to Oakgrove, they gained a further understanding of techniques which helped them create art of a similar style.
Children worked on two investigations -
An investigation to test their mathematical skills through concepts such as halving and adding and their understanding of odd and even numbers, as well as their reasoning with their final conclusions.
An investigation to explore how to arrange numbers in the cross to make the horizontal and vertical lines the same. By choosing to represent the underlying patterns in different ways, such as with Numicon, digit cards and templates, the children were able to persevere and find convincing arguments and proofs to explain the patterns they notice.