High Prior Attainers (HPAs)
Woodcote High School’s aims include a commitment to providing a rich and varied curriculum for all our students, such that they will feel challenged by their work and rewarded by their results. This commitment extends to ensuring that our more able / high prior attaining students are stimulated and fulfilled.
We aim to achieve this by encouraging self-confidence and independence in learning through a variety of differentiated class and homework tasks which promote the acquisition of skills, knowledge and understanding and which foster critical and creative thought.
It is our view that meeting the needs of our more able students in the classroom will lead to raising achievement of all.
Whilst our prime concern is to cater for the academic needs of our, more able / high prior attaining students, we also seek to develop the “whole” person through our extra-curricular programme, through the pastoral support by providing opportunities to take on responsibilities and undertake personal challenges.
Definition
Year 9 – 13
High Prior Attainers (HPA) are those students who have attained ‘well above average score’ in their KS2 tests.
Year 7 – 8
Year 7 students who began at Woodcote High School in September 2020 have been identified as HPA using CATS tests during the first term due to the absence of KS2 data because of COVID-19.
Provision
We ensure that our students meet challenges in all subject areas by adding more width (enrichment) and more depth (extension) to their curriculum. This will be in the form of work in the lessons or supra- curricular activities. For some subjects’ students are set by ability but we acknowledge that even a top set has a range of ability within it. For this reason, extension work is made available in lessons. Obviously, such differentiation needs careful planning in all schemes of work.
A combination of principles is incorporated into our curriculum planning:
- Differentiation by outcome: This allows responses at very different levels to the same initial stimulus.
- Differentiation by input: The tasks for students may be varied both in terms of style and content. Different materials may be used by the most able.
- Differentiation by pace: HPA students need the facility to proceed more quickly.
- Differentiation by level: We plan work for all National Curriculum levels of attainment, including (exceptional performance)
Our extra-curricular programme provides a range of extension and enrichment opportunities for our HPA students and we are constantly developing the range of these activities.
