Meeting the Needs of MOST ABLE Students

At Worthing High School our students' achievement is at the core of the school, and their contributions and progress are encouraged and valued.  The school aims to nurture a lifelong love of learning in students within a happy, caring, secure learning community, which promotes excellence.

We believe that a consistent level of planning (informed by students' performance and prior knowledge), appropriate challenge and assessment ensure that outstanding teaching is delivered.

What do we mean by “MOST ABLE Students” ? 

We use the term “Most able” to identify all children who are classed as “Higher Prior Attaining” students. High Prior Attaining students are those who show great potential to achieve high level outcomes across a range of subjects. Identification of these students begins on entry to Worthing High School with those who achieved high “scaled scores” in their end of Key Stage 2 assessments in year 6. They will be expected to work in the Mastery band in most or all of their subjects.

in the classroom

High Prior Attainers and the more able can expect to be challenged in their lessons, with high level activities intended to increase the depth and breadth of their understanding. They will be expected, for example, to undertake ‘Stretch and Challenge’ activities in many lessons.

outside the classroom

Students are provided with a rich extra-curricular programme including reading groups, puzzle clubs, STEAM challenges, a podcast group, forensics studies, entering debates and many more. Our Learning Resource Centre is stocked with multi-subject HPA resources, including fiction and non-fiction books and research articles, for our students to enjoy, collated by our colleagues.

In addition, some students will have the chance to be entered on to The Brilliant Club’s Scholars Programme during year 8. This is a university-style teaching and learning scheme whereby PhD students from neighbouring universities are paired with small groups of pupils who are supported in completing work at a Key Stage higher than their age. Visits to the universities are another highly enjoyable and inspirational aspect of the scheme which promotes higher education and informs on future careers.

Every year we enter a cohort of our Most Able Year 10 students into the Higher Project Qualification (HPQ), a GCSE-equivalent course similar to a university-style dissertation and viva. Students are taught skills that enable them to conduct research effectively, including searching for and evaluating sources.