Supporting High-Ability Students

Case studies

Vignette 1 – General high ability (Tyson, Year 8)

Tyson is ahead of the expected curriculum by 2 years in English and one year in mathematics. He has some critical thinking skills but is not yet able to articulate his problem-solving processes and becomes disengaged by lessons he feels are ‘repetitive’. Tyson has demonstrated leadership ability when working on issues of social justice.

As a long-term goal, Tyson will link classroom learning with a real-world social justice issue and will seek to improve or solve a problem within the school environment. He would like to undertake a Year 10 Elective ‘Critical Thinking for Creative Minds’ at the Centre for Higher Education Studies.

As short-term goals:

1. Tyson will generate one or more solutions to open-ended problems that link his curriculum-area learning with a social justice issue.
2. Tyson will identify a series of actions he could take, to lead other students in addressing the social justice issue and develop a method to measure the impact of these actions.

The following strategies will be implemented to support Tyson pursue these goals:

• Teachers will provide Tyson with open-ended problems related to social justice issues and provide him with assistance in exploring these while his peers undertake consolidation activities.
• Tyson will engage in school-based Student Representative Council (SRC) leadership training, supported by fortnightly meetings with the SRC teacher mentor to discuss social justice actions. Student Excellence Program funding will support the mentor teacher time release. During these meetings, the mentor will help Tyson to explore his social justice action, for example, investigating the litres of water wasted at the drink taps or conducting student surveys on access to sporting equipment at break times.
• Tyson will engage in VCES activities that have a social justice element or overlay (such as one related to the issue of food insecurity). This participation may influence his choice of social justice actions to pursue.

Vignette 2 – twice-exceptional student (Chiara, Year 5)

Chiara is a Year 5 student with a diagnosis of Autism and ADHD. She is an accomplished pianist who also enjoys writing fiction, especially in the fantasy genre. Chiara’s numeracy and literacy skills are a year or two ahead of her peers and she has been selected to participate in the Victorian High-Ability Program for English and mathematics. She is interested in the historical contributions of pioneering mathematicians (such as Ada Lovelace).

Her neurotype impacts her executive function and her ability to focus for extended periods of time. She takes stimulant medication to address this. Chiara’s social connections at school are limited and she acknowledges that she struggles to make and maintain friendships.

As a long-term goal, Chiara is keen to explore more subjects outside of her usual interests and find interesting and useful relationships between them. She also wants to make social connections outside of her existing social group, now that some of her friends have moved into different classes.

As short-term goals:

1. Chiara will approach her least favourite subjects (German and PE) with a curious mindset. Her goal is to boost her enjoyment by making cross-curricular connections with maths, fantasy genre/creative writing, and music.
2. Chiara will attempt to improve her focus by identifying and managing distractions.
3. Chiara will join the Dungeons and Dragons Club to make new connections with others who share her love of fantasy.

The following strategies will be implemented to support Chiara pursue these goals:

• Chiara’s teachers will reduce formative tasks that require lower-order skills. They will instead focus on open-ended tasks related to her interests that allow for transfers of knowledge and skills. This could include:
  • investigating a German mathematician and translating an excerpt from their theories
  • applying angles and distances to shooting hoops in basketball.
• With the support of a trusted teacher, Chiara will brainstorm a list of distractions (such as noise or too much visual stimulation) and possible strategies for managing them (such as noise-reducing headphones or working in an area with fewer display materials).
• Chiara will be given a graphic organiser to support concept mapping. This will help her record the cross-curricular connections she makes.
• The teacher facilitating the Dungeons and Dragons Club will introduce Chiara to a like-minded peer.

Vignette 3 – First Nations student (Mia, Year 9)

Mia is a Year 9 Koorie student with academic interests in history and science. She particularly enjoys biology and chemistry. She is also an accomplished dancer, having taken lessons from the age of 6.

Teacher judgment has her achieving above the expected standard in History, Geography, Science, and Mathematics, as measured against the Victorian Curriculum 2.0. Mia’s teachers describe her as a highly curious student who often asks questions that they have difficulty answering and note that she can draw connections between different concepts and curriculum areas.

In Year 8, Mia enjoyed the Medieval unit of her History studies. In particular, she enjoyed the content as it related to beliefs around illness and treatments, as she has an interest in health and medicine.

As a long-term goal, Mia wants to explore the ways that her interests in history, biology, and chemistry intersect, identifying biomedicine as a potential tertiary pathway. As students in Year 9 are beginning to make subject choices for Year 10 and beyond, Mia wants to be well-informed about her options and any prerequisites.

As short-term goals:

1. Mia will develop her independent research skills. This will support her to explore areas of interest and generate a high-quality product of her choice as evidence of her learning.
2. Mia will explore the field of biomedicine and related tertiary options. She will also attend a meeting with the career advisor at school to seek guidance around courses and any scholarships or grants she may be eligible for.

The following strategies will be implemented to support Mia pursue these goals:

• Mia will undertake the Year 10 semester-based research elective available through Virtual School Victoria or the Centre for Higher Education Studies. She would like to do a comparative study of medieval, First Nations, and modern-day medical responses to a common ailment or illness.
• Mia’s science teacher will introduce her to the historical origins of the scientific method of inquiry, comparing its modern use with the scientific knowledge systems and processes of First Nations peoples.
• Mia’s school leadership team will liaise with their Koorie Engagement Support Officer (KESO), to connect Mia with cultural knowledge around native plants with medicinal properties and how they’ve been used by First Nations people.