ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how whole-school policy will relate to departmental policy and practice. It talks about the need for all staff to work together to provide an educationally rich experience for gifted and talented pupils. Extracurricular activities are a feature of many music departments and, for the majority of heads of music, are crucial platforms on which musical talent and ability is nurtured and developed. The gifted and talented coordinator can play a useful role in advising the head of music of extracurricular opportunities beyond the school boundaries. Pupils more often show their musical talent through the quality of their response than the complexity of their response. Musical quality is very difficult to define in words, as music is a different form of communication from language. Music teachers have responsibilities to supporting the musically talented through a range of strategies. But all talent needs to be backed up by hard work and self-discipline.
