Gifted and More Able

At St Luke’s school, we sow seeds of aspirations through our continual ‘Learning for Life’ strategy which is central to our curriculum and mission. As a one-form entry primary school we know every child very well and they are treated as individuals, able to develop their confidence and personalities and achieve the best they can. We bring professionals and artists into school from RAF Tornado Pilots to ballet dancers to pediatric nurses as well as people who work in the community- anyone who will be a shining example of what can done through hard work and determination. We invite past pupils to return and share their journey post being at St Luke’s- what led them to go to university or to get a particular job. We have made a conscious decision to place aspiration as our foremost value because we want our children to want to succeed, to dream and then make it happen. We believe it is not about being born “talented”, but about the desire to be so. Out of this aspiration comes endeavor. Our vision is therefore to encourage aspiration and then support and reward endeavor.

It is our expectation that parents/carers, staff and governors are aspirational for the children and we work together to identify, support and extend children’s learning to meet their full potential. We identify children who we consider to be talented or have the capacity to soar, or who are particularly interested in something and do our best to give them the opportunity to succeed. We use our local EC1 community, local secondary schools, law firms, City and London University and Islington borough as a resource and opportunities and trips are mapped out so children can join up their learning and find their place, raising their self-esteem and opening doors of opportunity wherever we can.

Gifted and More Able Coordinator

The school’s Gifted and More Able coordinators are Monica Dickman and Bisi Damolekun. If you would like to find out more about our identification process and provision for the more and most able learners, please explore the resources on this website or make an appointment through the school Reception.

Achievement or Ability?

At St Luke’s, we focus on achievement and ability to ensure that children who are underachieving also realise their potential. There may sometimes be big differences between a child’s ability, the progress he or she makes, or in their achievement. We actively seek to remove any obstacles leading to underachievement by:

• ensuring there is a breadth and depth of opportunity to develop abilities, and to show what the child knows and can do
• strongly encouraging and fostering each child to take advantage of their talents
• we use specialist subject teachers as well as sports, dance/ drama and music tutors to provide quality first teaching and opportunities for all children to enjoy themselves and develop their learning and talent.
• putting in place effective transition systems so what is known about a child’s learning – from home or from a previous school or setting – is not lost
• ensure children who are exceptional in an area but have difficulties in writing have opportunities to highlight their abilities
• contact with local secondary schools
• contact with universities
• making full use of Pupil Premium funding to remove any economic barriers
• working in partnership with parents/carers and the local community to promote and celebrate aspiration, ability and achievement
• providing high quality social and emotional support to those more able and or talented learners especially with SEND who require it.

Provision for the More Able: What to Expect

We provide a rich and varied bespoke curriculum that can be accessed by all, regardless of ability across a range of subjects. Through skillful teacher assessment of learning and achievement, we identify those with high potential (both those who are maximizing their potential and those have not yet done so. These children are then provided with extensions for learning, which can include:

• richer and deeper questions
• more complex problem-solving
• access to a broader range of texts
• opportunities to express themselves fluently and confidently
• opportunities for independent and collaborative learning
• enrichment opportunities and competitions 
• opportunities for pupil led learning and leadership opportunities

We also include in our school teaching and learning policy, criteria to be mindful of in various subject areas, so that earlier and more ongoing identification is further supported.

We encourage our children to aim high and achieve more than they ever dreamed they could so they remember their time at St Luke’s as the foundation, the solid platform which prepared them for secondary school and beyond. We know this is true because past pupils come back and tell us.