Taking Gifted and Talented to a new level

Students are set to benefit from the appointment of a new Gifted and Talented Coordinator who is introducing a number of additional academic enrichment opportunities at the School.

Mr Will Warwick, who is second in department in History, has taken on the role of Gifted and Talented Coordinator from the start of the 2024-25 academic year.

Worth is an academically ambitious school and a thriving gifted and talented programme is important in order to challenge our most able students to achieve the best they can.

Mr Warwick has been in teaching for eight years and previous roles include being in charge of Oxbridge applications for History at Lingfield College where he coached students through the exams and interview practice.

Among the immediate changes at Worth is the introduction of an Academic Scholars Society. In this feature, we ask Mr Warwick about the role and his plans.

How important is a thriving Gifted and Talented programme to a school like Worth?

It is incredibly important. Gifted and Talented is part of the teacher standards, you adapt to the needs and strengths of all of your pupils. It is not an optional extra, it is something all good teachers should do. But it is not just helping those who need more support, it is inspiring the most able to make sure they are challenged and stretched in the way they need to be. It is about allowing them to flourish, giving them opportunities. That is a big part of why I would send my child to a school like Worth.

You are aiming to take our programme to another level? How are you looking to achieve that?

What I have done ahead of taking the role is I visited several other schools and looked at other Gifted and Talented programmes. I have taken on board some good things I have seen at other schools to add to what we are already doing here. There are different sides to this role and one side is about supporting departments and coordinating them. It is not my place to be going to the Maths department and say this is what you should be doing to help mathematicians. My job is to seek what good practices are taking place around the school, share those good practices, make sure it is happening, which I am sure it is, and monitoring it. Another side to the role is about putting in place the academic enrichment we are offering outside of the classroom, starting with getting the Academic Scholars Society up and running.

What other plans do you have?

My plan long term is to have a Junior Scholars Society and a Senior Scholars Society. We are starting with the seniors and things I am looking at are internal essay competitions and internal projects, and that might develop in a way that each student undertakes a project they are passionate about and we can turn that into a published anthology. It could also be that they end up delivering a seminar or a lecture on their projects, like with the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). I am also looking at guest speakers for the Society.

Another thing I am looking at is tapping into staff knowledge and expertise, and getting them to speak to the Scholars Society. I also want to get involved in academic competitions, not just internally but externally as well. Other ideas include writing reviews: you don’t have to be an English Literature student to want to read great works of literature and even English Literature students don’t get to read them all so maybe we could do a book review a term. I also have some ideas for scholars’ trips and we will work on writing a really good application for university.

Can students on the programme inspire others?

I want it to be desirable to be an academic student, something you are proud of. I want others to aspire to go to Scholars Society because of everything they do. This is important.

You seem to be very driven to succeed in this role?

I am very passionate about what I do. Being a teacher is a big part of my identity. I really care about the students. I have been given this extra responsibility and I want to do a really good job. I would like to be able to turn around and say, look at what we have achieved, what we have built, we have taken the programme to a really good place.

For more on an education at Worth click here.

Read more about our new Careers Coordinator at Worth here.