Potential Plus (P+)

Based on the driving principle that every student should be provided with the opportunity and challenge to fulfil their full potential and to achieve excellence, P+ forms part of our approach to the learning potential of all of our students including those who may be identified as gifted and talented, and ensures an opportunity for really positive engagement with student potential and curriculum enrichment.

Student selection for Potential Plus (P+) Programmes
Students are selected for each P+ Programme through information provided by a number of different measures including student assessment results, Cognitive Abilities Test results (CAT4) and teacher recommendations.

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT4) is a diagnostic assessment that is designed to help students and their teachers understand how they learn and what their academic potential might be. It assesses how students think in areas that are known to make a difference to learning.

While many tests focus on a child’s attainment in core subjects, CAT4 is designed to give schools a much broader, more rounded view of each young person, their potential and how they learn. Results help teachers decide about the pace of learning that is right for a student and whether additional support or challenge is needed.

Tasks involve thinking about shapes and patterns (Non-Verbal Reasoning), words (Verbal Reasoning), numbers (Quantitative Reasoning) and some questions are answered by mentally generating and transforming visual images (Spatial Ability).

The Standard Age Score (SAS) is the most important piece of information derived from CAT4.

The SAS is based on the student’s raw score which has been adjusted for age and placed on a scale that makes a comparison with a nationally representative sample of students of the same age across the UK. The average score is 100.

 

The SAS is key to benchmarking and tracking progress and is the fairest way to compare the performance of different students within a year group or across year groups. The higher the score in CAT4, the easier a student is likely to find grasping new concepts and processing complex ideas and information.

All RBIS Middle School and Senior School students take a CAT 4 test at the start of the academic year or as part of their school entry assessments.

Students within the range 119 to 126 are identified as above average and placed on our lists of high learning potential (HLP)

Students within the range 127 to 141 (maximum) are identified as well above average and identified as high learning potential plus (HLP*)

CAT4 reports are used to inform future planning. For example: -
If a science teacher notices that there are a group of students in their class that have especially strong scores in the quantitative element, for example, he or she then knows that giving those students some more challenging maths-based tasks to further develop their skills might be a valuable exercise.

At the other extreme, a history teacher may notice that a student from the same small group has very well-developed abilities in mathematical and scientific thinking (from the scores from the Quantitative and Spatial batteries) but a relatively weaker score in the Verbal battery. This might steer the teacher towards setting that student work to better support their verbal understanding and ensuring they are given the best chance to access all elements of the school curriculum.

Further support for higher learning potential (HLP) students at RBIS

Differentiated support
A range of methods/strategies are employed to meet the needs of all of our students, including those who are identified as able, gifted and talented.
In some core subjects students are grouped in differentiated classes based on ability e.g.

1st Language English vs. 2nd Language English vs. English as an Additional Language (EAL)

1st Language Thai vs. Thai as an Additional Language (TAL)

Core mathematics vs. Extended mathematics

Foundation science vs. Core science

Teaching and learning is suitably challenging and varied to promote breadth, depth and pace, and to promote high achievement. Our teachers plan carefully to meet the learning needs of all of our students. We give all students the opportunity to show what they know, understand and can do, and we achieve this in a variety of ways when planning for students’ learning, such as by providing:

  • a common activity that allows the student to respond at their own levels,
  • an enrichment activity that broadens a student's learning in a particular skill/knowledge.
  • an individual activity within a common theme that reflects a greater depth of understanding and higher level of attainment,
  • the opportunity for students to progress through their work at their own rate of learning.
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