ABSTRACT
In this chapter we attempt to bring four distinct approaches to the issue of teaching gifted and talented pupils in primary schools, and to do this in the context of an actual school setting. First, we argue for an approach to analysing learning that depends on assessing cognitive demand. Second, we promote the cross-curricular theme by looking at the school’s ‘themed weeks’, which bring learning together across subject areas. Third, we discuss the teacher/headteacher/governor partnership which reviews our work with gifted and talented pupils. Fourth, we pursue our normal policy in the school of listening to pupils’ voices, and how the young people themselves view the cross-curricular approach. In the process we look at the rigour of how to audit the progress of the gifted or talented pupil and we link the processes to debates about identification, lifelong learning, and the nature of knowledge. Throughout, the chapter shows the headteacher, teachers, and governors working together to provide the best educational experience for these pupils and how that may impact on other pupils in the class or school.
