High Achievers

High Achievers (Gifted and Talented)

At Royal Russell School we aim to stretch and challenge our students in all subjects and in all lessons. This is achieved in a number of ways, for example, through the nature of the tasks we set, the quality of questioning, and the types of extension work available.

In some subjects at GCSE we group by ability: for instance, in Mathematics, Science and Modern Foreign Languages. Students in the top set in Years 10 and 11 also take part in the UK Maths Challenge competitions.  Budding young scientists enter The Problem Solving Challenge each year and National Science Week sees a plethora of scientific activity. The Library hosts a range of events: talks (the American elections, National Poetry Day) and celebrations (St George’s Day/Shakespeare’s birthday and Chinese New Year).

There is also a wide range of co-curricular activities at the School and we strongly encourage our students to get involved with those in which they show particular interest and talent. Model United Nations, for example, encourages the development of public speaking, critical thinking and communication skills, and the Combined Cadet Force develops leadership skills. Opportunities exist to sample new foreign languages like Italian, Russian and Japanese. If media and performance appeal, then it is possible to undertake editorial work on the School Newspaper, produce films with Media Studies, coach juniors in sport, stage manage and direct in Drama, and perform in a wide variety of musical events.

We offer high achieving students in Year 10 ‘Philosophy for Schools’ seminars to develop their thinking skills, and we invite them to listen to visiting speakers at our Sixth Form lectures on topics of relevance and interest.

The Housemasters/mistresses and the Head of Sixth Form carefully monitor the performance of high achieving students at the School to ensure that they have the best opportunities to achieve the university place of their choice. Oxbridge seminars are offered to our highest achieving students in Year 12.