Gifted and Talented

Gifted and Talented at Quintin Kynaston
At QK, we are committed to meeting the needs of our most able students.  We achieve this through our curriculum, both inside and outside the classroom and our excellent links with external organisations.  
The QK G&T Programme

The purpose of the QK G&T Programme is to enhance the culture of scholarship at QK and is aimed at gifted students (Gifted students demonstrate outstanding ability in the large majority of subjects, such that they are in the top 5% nationally).

Our most gifted students are encouraged to follow their academic interests above and beyond the curriculum followed in lesson time.  All students on the Stretch Programme undertake academic projects on a subject (STEM or the Arts and Humanities) that is of personal interest to them.  

The students are required to  present their findings to their peers.  Recent projects at KS3 and KS4 have included works on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons,  antediluvian civilisation and an enhanced study of linguistics.

“The Programme has helped me to extend my understanding of different topics and to enhance my presentation and essay skills.  It has given me the freedom of researching topics that I want to learn about” – David Taha, Year 7

‘’The Programme is one where we extend our learning outside of the subjects we study in lesson time.  It has helped me as I now have a broader knowledge of topics that go above what we study in our normal lessons” – Yusuf Miah, Year 10

Academic Mentoring

This is used to track the progress of our most able students at KS4.  Targeted students receive mentoring from the Gifted and Talented Coordinator and a team of Sixth Form students.  The aim is to enhance the study skills of our students and instill the highest academic expectations of them.

External Organisations and Trips

Quintin Kynaston has excellent links with a number of organisations that boost the aspiration of our most academic students.  These include:

  • The Futures Programme, which includes skills workshops, trips and a four day Easter School at the University of Cambridge
  • Master classes at the London Business School
  • A summer school for Year 11 students at Westminster School
  • A tailor-made debating programme at the Leigh Day human rights law firm
  • The Sutton Trust summer school and other opportunities throughout the year
  • The SEO Scholars Programme, which delivers tutoring, mentoring and access to excellent work experience placements and internships
  • On top of this, trips took place this year  to many of the top universities in the country, including Russell Group institutions and Oxbridge.

 

Sport, Technology and the Performing Arts
 A whole host of extra-curricular and extension opportunities exist for our many talented students. (Talented students show an aptitude in one or specific areas of the curriculum such as art, sport or music.)  These include:

  • The Greenhouse Basketball programme brings in external coaches for our talented Basketballers
  • Our Sports Leaders programme, where students host tournaments around the borough of Westminster
  • Leadership opportunities in our Duke of Edinburgh Programme
  • Regular trials and competitions, including in Athletics, Pentathlon events, Football trials and Saturday Leagues
  • Weekly clubs, among others, include Basketball, Gymnastics, Football, Boxing, Table Tennis, Netball and Dance
  • Engineering and STEM opportunities that extend the curriculum offered in class. This has included the drone-droid project, where a group of students built their own robot! 
  • Extensive opportunities in the Performing Arts.  All students are offered one-to-one instrument lessons.   Extra-curricular clubs include Ukulele, African Drumming, Guitar, Jazz, String, Drama, Student Band and the annual Summer and Winter concerts.  Each year there is a whole school production

The Extended Project Qualification

At A Level, the school offers the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), which is a  free standing qualification offered by AQA and Edexcel.

It involves choosing a topic and carrying out intensive research into that particular area, then creating either a 5,000 word report or a ‘product’  and a 1,000 word report.  This year, around 40 students successfully completed the EPQ.