Extension & Enrichment / Gifted & Talented

The school provides a wide variety of programmes for children who require learning enrichment  in various areas of the curriculum. 

On the basis of good quality assessment information, we identify

• students and groups of students who have special learning needs (gifted/talented) or who require extension or enrichment in their learning.

Extension/Enrichment

At Paparimu School children are taught to their individual level in the classroom situation - teachers provide appropriate extension activities for our more able students.

As our classrooms are multi-level, we are already well set up to cater for your child's extension or enrichment requirements. 

To ensure effective provision for individual students who are gifted, state schools need to consider a range of options for their curriculum and their school organisation. These include identification procedures, differentiated curriculum and acceleration.

When we recognise the diversity of the learners in our classrooms and provide for their diverse learning needs in our planning, we differentiate the curriculum. In a way, it's just shaking up the classroom so it's a better fit for more kids.

We firmly believe all students should be given an opportunity to develop to their full potential.

Gifted & Talented

DEFINITION - WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE GIFTED OR TALENTED?
Our School definition is:
"Gifted students at Paparimu School are those with the potential to achieve outstanding performance related to other students of the same age, in one or more areas of human endeavour. Talented students are those who demonstrate exceptional ability in one or more areas. They require differentiated educational programmes and/ or services, (such as social and emotional support) in order to realise their contribution to self and society."

Our task is to identify these children and give them the appropriate opportunities to enable them to reach their potential. 

​The following information deals with identifying and catering for children who are academically gifted and talented. We recognise that children can be gifted and talented in other areas, such as the arts, or sports . 

IDENTIFICATION
Students are identified in a number of ways - teacher nomination, observation and discussion, test results assessment of student work and parent nomination. Ongoing assessment occurs throughout the year. 

PROVISION
Children who meet our school definition of gifted or talented are identified in teacher Class Descriptions and are included on the school's GATE register. This allows leaders and teachers to easily identify the children that we feel would benefit from special learning and extension. The purpose of defining and identifying giftedness is to uncover individual abilities, qualities, and interests, and the objective of differentiation is to further develop them.

There are several ways gifted and talented children may be provided for. See the below extra opportunities list.

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Extra Opportunities Offered at Paparimu School

Class Based

CURRICULUM COMPACTION
Streamlining the curriculum by basing instruction on pre assessment of skills and knowledge. Previously mastered curriculum that might otherwise be repetitious is eliminated, giving students opportunities for enrichment and acceleration.
Curriculum compacting is a three-step process implemented by the teacher for one or (a small group of students) who have shown mastery in the topic being taught.

1. Use pre-assessment to determine what a student knows about content/skills to be taught;
2. Then modify learning activities so that student is being taught only about what he/she does not already know
3. Then provide alternative learning activities that offer acceleration of meaningful, challenging enrichment

More info here


LEARNING CENTRES
Learning centres can be designed to both challenge and stimulate gifted and talented students (Winebrenner, 1992). By creating a range of activities suitable for many ability levels and learning styles, these centres allow for personalisation and independence. Centres may be a library corner, science table, file folder, or a colourful box containing activity cards, books, magazines, or other equipment. A centre might also be in a digital format.
Centres should:

• focus on important learning goals
• provide instructions for students
• include a system of monitoring for completion and quality
• include means of assessment.

More info here


INDEPENDENT LEARNING
Key terms for catering to the needs of gifted/talented students are: “choice, variety, flexibility, appropriateness, relevance, comprehensively planned, enriched, accelerated, real, meaningful, inclusive, integrated, stimulating, complex, depth, and breadth” (Riley, 2009).
The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007, p.8) reflects the trend toward student-centred learning and aims to create students who are “confident, connected, actively involved’ lifelong learners. McClure (2006,p.81) as cited in Riley, 2009, p.633) defines personalised learning as:

• designing teaching, curricula, and school organization to address the need of the individual student;
• a learning offer to all children that extends beyond the school content into the local community and beyond; and
• an approach to teaching and learning that focuses on an individual’s potential and learning skills.

More info here


ACCELERATION
Academic acceleration is generally regarded as proceeding through the stages of schooling at a pace faster than usual. Accelerated students are able to progress with their ability peers, rather than being grouped with their age-peers. The pace and depth of their learning can be better matched to their individual needs.
Acceleration has been described as vertical extension/development, as opposed to horizontal extension/lateral development, which is commonly called enrichment. A combination of the two approaches benefits gifted students. It is said that any acceleration includes some enrichment and good enrichment should include some acceleration. The degree of each is dependent on the individual needs of the student.
More info here

School Based

CROSS GROUPING
Cross grouping cuts across classrooms, with students moving in and out of their regular setting to one that enables further, in depth pursuit of ability areas. Grouping of this sort capitalises not only on student strengths and interests but also on those of staff and community members. These groups may be academic in nature, such as a maths specialist working with a mixed age group of high ability mathematicians, or interest derived, such as a photography buff working with a group of budding photo journalists.
The level that these groups work at should be at a level that is too advanced for most students, i.e. accelerated rather than enriched so that the GATE programme is not seen as a privilege for ‘good kids’.
More info here.


VLN PRIMARY ENROLMENT
A programme where a student can be enrolled in the VLN Primary School and receive specialised tuition online (usually weekly) via Skype and Adobe Connect.
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In 2016, we are offering regular weekly tuition (in addition to effective classroom teaching) by an online eTeacher in: Mandarin, French and Extension Mathematics.

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GIFTED ONLINE
A programme through the New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education Gifted Online is a unique online programme for gifted learners in Years 4-10. Gifted Online is designed to bring a specialist education experience to gifted children who live in rural or isolated communities or who are unable to access a face-to-face programme in their region.
More info here.


CLUBS & ELECTIVES
Clubs, electives and cluster groups are good for gifted/talented students as they allow students to pursue their passions. They can provide challenge and enrichment as well as help teach team building and leadership skills. 

In 2016, we are offering The Science Award Trust Science Badges to gifted/talented and Year 7 & 8 students. More information here.
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ICAS
The International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) are independent skills-based assessments with a competition element.
Commonly referred to as the UNSW tests, ICAS is unique, being the most comprehensive generally available suite of academic assessments and school tests for primary and secondary school students.
The assessments comprise eight Digital Technologies tests, eleven English tests, eleven Maths tests, eleven Science tests, five Spelling tests and ten Writing tests.


MATHEX
Involvement in the annual Mathex competition against other local schools.

ECCS
Involvement in East Counties Cluster Sports events for able athletes. Sports include Cross Country running, Rippa Rugby, Netball, Soccer etc.

LEADERSHIP ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Students in Year 3 - 8 are able to take on a wide variety of leadership roles and responsibilities throughout the school. 

ONLINE PROGRAMMES
Enrichment via online programmes, for example Mathletics or Study Ladder where the teacher sets learning tasks specific to the individual’s needs. This allows the student to progress at their own rate, separate to the rest of the class.

Outside School

CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL ENROLMENT
Gifted and talented students may be enrolled in correspondence courses when the school they attend is unable to provide appropriate enrichment and acceleration. The Correspondence School provides for gifted and talented students, allowing those in the top 5 percent of their age group to study extra subjects in a variety of areas. Distance education allows students to pursue subjects outside the normal school offerings and in a manner that matches individual rates of learning and completion. The courses can be facilitated in the student's usual classroom environment, with guidance and flexibility from the teacher. (MoE Handbook, 2000)