ABSTRACT
Most schools today are expected to draw up a list of the young people who they teach who are the most able in RE so that they might be included in a school’s gifted and talented register.
The reason for having a gifted and talented register is because it is false to assume that schools don’t have to do much to help very able children make progress in school. The assumption has been that a young person who is gifted in RE can more or less fend for themselves. A very able pupil need do little more than show up for the lessons and ‘do the work’ and success will be the outcome. This is an illusion. Some very able young people will make good progress in RE despite the fact that very little extra is undertaken in the classroom to help them. However, unlike corks, some very able pupils do not naturally rise to the top. They need nurturing, guidance and targeted support. To ensure that this happens it is of great help if they are identified so that they are not simply lost in the system and allowed to drift. Instead they are directed and systematically supported to ensure that whatever potential they show in the subject is realised.
