More Able
We believe many children are capable of high achievement given the right opportunities.
High March works to recognise and realise the potential of every child in our community: providing demanding, enjoyable and personalised education for More Able children is a part of this endeavour. Emphasis is placed on high expectations and high quality, challenging teaching for all to ensure that every girl reaches her full potential. We recognise that providing challenge for more able children can raise the achievement levels of all pupils. High March endorses the NACE (National Association for Able Children in Education) mission statement to ‘… provide for pupils with high abilities whilst enabling all pupils to flourish’.
We aim to foster an achievement culture throughout the school whereby achievement is valued by everyone, individual differences are accepted and effort as well as achievement is celebrated. Achievement, both inside and outside school, is highly valued and celebrated in Assembly and Newsletters. We strive for all pupils to develop effective learning habits which will enable them to become increasingly independent in their learning, organising and evaluating their work and taking ownership of it.
Many of our pupils excel academically, creatively or in other areas such as leadership and public speaking. More able pupils are stimulated and appropriately challenged through the curriculum, including the provision of challenging tasks and activities, teaching thinking skills, encouraging investigation and enquiry and developing independent learning within and beyond the core subjects. Girls are placed into sets for Mathematics in Year 4 and for English in Year 5. Many of our pupils take up Latin in Year 5.
A range of extra-curricular activities, such as Junior and Senior Challenge Club, complement the curriculum. In addition, there is a wealth of enrichment opportunities for artistic, musical, dramatic and sporting development.
Examples include:
- Pupils who swim for Bucks County, ESSA and Division Ten
- Pupils representing the School at county level in netball
- Our netball team regularly reaches the IAPS national netball finals
- Medal places in the National Biathlon Championships (2021 – 2022)
- Competing in the regional gymnastics competitions
- Winners in both local and national Art competitions
- Outstanding achievement in LAMDA examinations – every pupil in Years 4 -6 achieved either a Merit or Distinction in 2022 and 2021
- Success, both as a group and individually, at the Rotary Speaks competition
- Year 6 reached the final of the Dr Barnardo’s National Choral Competition in 2020 and 2022
- Year 6 pupils’ success in gaining Senior School scholarships and Exhibitions (Academic, Art, Music, Drama and Sport)
