Acceleration and Enrichment

A variety of approaches

Scott Johnson

The goal of the Acceleration and Enrichment programme at Medbury is: For all boys at Medbury to be suitably challenged and extended in all areas of their education.

As a school, we do not affiliate ourselves with one specific programme but rather use a variety of approaches to help extend the wide range of abilities and interests shown by our students.

Gagne’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (2015) makes a distinction between gifts and talent, in which ‘gifts’ refers to a student’s innate potential and ‘talent’ refers to their current level of ability. We aim to extend not only those who are already achieving well but also those with innate abilities who need extra support to unlock their potential.

The term ‘Acceleration’ means teaching boys at higher curriculum levels than expected for their age. This is achieved through Streamed Mathematics classes and differentiated instruction within the classroom. The term ‘Enrichment’ means increasing the depth and complexity of instruction and learning tasks. This is achieved through the way in which our teachers deliver thought-provoking lessons, together with a selection of extension programmes. Extension opportunities that are provided at Medbury include:

• Future Problem Solving • Philosophy for Children (P4C) • EPro8 Science and Technology Challenge • CREST Science Fair

• Cantamaths Problem Solving Competition • Aristotle Emotional Intelligence Program (Swinburne University) • Scenario Writing (science fiction writing competition for Years 7-8) • Writing Workshops from the School for Young

Writers

• Banqer (financial literacy) • Speech and Drama • Specialist Music Itinerant Programmes.

There is also a broad range of extra-curricular opportunities, including, but not limited to Chess, Robotics, Drama Troupe, Sports Academies, Choirs, Rock Bands, Orchestra and Jazz Band.

Scott Johnson, Year 6 Team Leader, Year 6 Teacher, and Acceleration and Enrichment Coordinator