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Able, Gifted and Talented

Teesside High School is committed to providing excellence in learning for all children of all abilities.

At Teesside High School we firmly believe that all students should be given the opportunity to exceed their perceived potential. We strive to identify pupils with the potential to achieve higher levels of success and to also remove the barriers to achievement that some may encounter. We achieve this by having high academic expectations whilst providing an enriching curriculum that supports, challenges and motivates our able pupils.

We recognise individual pupils’ specific gifts or talents in any area. This may include aspects of the academic curriculum, sport, music, drama or fine arts. However, some pupils have greater ability which needs to be nurtured.

Raising the aspirations of pupils forms an integral part of our AG&T provision: regular visits within the local community allow children access to a wide range of careers in a real-world context. In the last year alone, pupils have worked with published authors and illustrators, heard from experienced architects and magistrates, visited leading scientific laboratories and manufacturing plants, and become young entrepreneurs in the Jubilee Apprentice Challenge. Musicians have participated in workshops with a West End cast and performed a range of complex repertoire to great acclaim at two venues in Paris, France.

Our sporting stars are extended beyond their curriculum and are competing at county, regional
and national levels. The whole school has recently contributed to a specially curated exhibition at Darlington Hippodrome which featured outstanding pieces of work in a wide range of media, from Nursery to Sixth Form and everything in between.

We encourage students to complete additional qualifications, GCSE Further Mathematics and GCSE Astronomy, for example, or an additional language such as Latin, and we are currently preparing two teams to compete in the Independent School’s Magistrates Mock Trial Competition. These are just some of the many ways in which we aim to motivate, to raise aspirations and provide experiences beyond the curriculum.

Our students are taught to believe that anything is possible and we aim to motivate them to achieve this not simply in the classroom, but in all aspects of their well-rounded lives.