Young gifted and talented actin’ the court
Some of the pupils identified as being ‘gifted and talented’ were given chance to express their talents at a special event organised by Warwickshire County Council’s Extended Services division.
The day, held at Henley Guild Hall, featured activities centred around discussions on Roald Dahl’s book, ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ and 25 children from five primary schools in the area debated who might be responsible for the death of Grandma Kranky which was left open to interpretation by the plot.
The key stage 2 pupils were selected from Tanworth in Arden C of E Primary, Claverdon Primary, Wootton Wawen C of E Primary and St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Lapworth Primary. Gifted and talented children and young people are defined by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as having ‘one or more abilities developed (or with potential to develop) to a level significantly ahead of their year group’.
For this workshop, the children were gifted communicators, a skill which was brought to the fore by facilitator, Liz Mynott, who involved the children in debates, looked for evidence to prove certain characters might be guilty of the murder of Grandma Kranky. At the end of the day, the children conducted their own Crown Court trial to assess the tragic evidence.
The event was organized by the county council’s extended services cluster co-ordinator for Henley, Janet Strugnell, who works with all the schools in the area to pool their resources to provide activities for all the family outside the school curriculum.
Katie Walker of Wootton Wawen C of E Primary said: “We had a great day, looking at who had committed the crime in the book. I had the chance to argue who I thought was guilty.”
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for Children, Young People and Families said: “The county council has very high aspirations for all our children and young people. Just as we are introducing many initiatives to raise the standards of some of those at the lower end of the achievement bracket, we are also encouraging children, like those who attended today’s activities, with a talent that deserves to be nurtured.”