St John Fisher Catholic High School is launching an initiative to support the academic needs of children identified as gifted and talented at its associated primary schools. The St John Fisher Gifted and Talented Partner Primary Scheme is a series of 10-week, after-school courses developed specifically for 10 and 11 year olds and tutored by St John Fisher’s heads of departments and subject specialists.
Primary school children in Years 5 and 6 who are identified by their head teachers as gifted or talented in mathematics, science, English or art will be invited to join small groups of peers at St John Fisher to explore core subjects at a more in-depth level. Anna Diamond, co-ordinator for Gifted and Talented at St John Fisher and Darren Roberts, manager of Fisher Arts have designed the scheme to operate in a similar way to the school’s Fisher Arts community courses. Places will be allocated through headteachers of St John Fisher’s associated primaries, and will cost an average of £4 per session.
St John Fisher Headteacher Paul Jackson (pictured) , a maths specialist who will be tutoring one of the mathematics groups, explains:
Providing specialist tuition to support our colleagues in associated primaries ensures that the primary curriculum meets the needs of all learners. Children who have been identified as gifted and talented often enjoy being stretched academically, but primary schools are not always able to provide resources in specialist subjects. We are piloting the scheme with our associated primaries, but may open up places to other schools in the future.
For more details, please contact Darren Roberts on 01423 818451.
