It is important for teachers to have high expectations of pupils who are gifted in ICT and for classroom activities to provide opportunities for gifted pupils to develop and apply their particular capabilities. In order to break down some of the barriers that may constrain very able pupils, teachers should try to provide teaching and learning experiences that encourage all pupils to think creatively, explore and develop ideas, and try different approaches. All pupils should be encouraged to set their own questions, offer ideas, suggest solutions or explanations, and reflect on what they have heard, seen or done in order to clarify their thoughts.

Teachers should:

• use a variety of challenging questioning strategies to encourage pupils to draw on previous experiences and to apply their thinking to new situations
• set extension tasks that avoid repetition -- extension work should encourage pupils to pursue a greater depth of understanding of the subject or to apply their ICT skills in new contexts, including other subjects
• encourage pupils to use a wide range of source materials, including more complex data sets
• encourage pupils to combine evidence and/or information from a variety of sources, and to exchange and share their knowledge with a variety of audiences and for a variety of purposes
• challenge pupils about their approach to a task, in order to encourage them to justify their choices and try out alternative approaches
• provide a more complex problem as a stimulus for developing ICT systems, for example, a control problem with an increased number of inputs and variables
• encourage pupils to discuss the suitability of different approaches, the tools to be used, and the range of possible outcomes
• encourage pupils, as they are developing their ICT systems, to look for opportunities to develop greater efficiency, including automation of processes, and to consider where levels of integration can be increased. For example, pupils could be encouraged to write macros or to create mail merges that extract information from a database for integration with a word-processed document
• encourage pupils to refine their product by reviewing and evaluating the process undertaken, the ICT tools used, and the effectiveness of the end product in meeting the specified needs of the task
• discuss with pupils what they are learning, and encourage them to identify their own learning needs
• provide opportunities for gifted pupils to learn new ICT skills together and/or with older pupils, in order to accelerate their learning and give them an opportunity to challenge each other
• ensure that staff have the ICT expertise to challenge the most able pupils effectively
• review provision in terms of software and peripherals, to ensure that the most appropriate resources are available
• maintain a portfolio of outstanding work for teachers and pupils to look through
• use the internet and a school or local intranet to enable similarly gifted and interested pupils to collaborate on projects.

Managing provision in the general guidance

Matching teaching to pupils' needs in the general guidance