Abstract
After one Saturday workshop, Chris (an 11 year old) told me he was becoming an ‘elasticated learner’. This seems to succinctly sum up the purpose of education in general and the APEX (Able Pupils Extending Opportunities) out of hours sessions in particular, with the emphasis being not only on flexible, increased capacity but also on the ownership by the learner of the process. How can we help more young people to become ‘elasticated learners ‘; high ability learners willing and able to seek out and profit from learning experiences which will challenge and extend them, take them to new and uncharted territory and contribute to their educational voyage?
Good curriculum teaching and school improvement are essential, but not sole, components of provision to meet the needs of high ability pupils. Children need to gain the competence, confidence and motivation to develop and achieve their ambitions as adults to their own and society's benefits. To this end it is argued that varied out of hours learning opportunities need to be developed in a variety of venues. It is proposed that Renzulli's Enrichment Triad model is used to develop coherent provision with the Saturday Workshops and Summer Schools, which form part of the APEX (Able Pupils Extending Opportunities) Project in Bath and North East Somerset, given as examples.
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