St Mark's Academy has a number of provisions designed to enable our High Attainers to excel. We use the term “High Attainers” as this is not an exclusive group but one which students, when working in a growth mind set, can aspire to join. The growth mind set is where intelligence can be developed and where students focus on improvement. Research has shown that students who learn in this mind set show greater motivation in school, and achieve higher test scores.

At St Mark’s Academy, High Attaining students are identified through their KS2 data and consultation with classroom teachers. Our High Attaining students often show a history of early literacy and numeracy development. Independent work is a common strength of High Attaining students and they show originality and creativity in all their work.

Our high attaining students are challenged in every subject through differentiation. Where appropriate, classes are organised in sets based on current ability and where there are mixed ability classes, teachers take care to provide activities that stretch High Attainers. Outside of the classroom, St Mark’s offers a range of opportunities for High Attainers to participate in.