School of Education

The Scottish Network for Able Pupils (SNAP), School of Education and the TILE Network, School of Psychology were delighted to host a webinar as part of the European Researcher’s Night in November. We brought together experts in high ability and mathematics from Scotland, Sweden and Germany to explore how we can support highly able mathematicians in our classrooms. The webinar was attended by over 100 teachers, student teachers, policy makers, parents and authority personnel from across the globe. The webinar links to a wider SNAP mathematics project running this session where teachers, parents, lecturers, Education Scotland staff and student teachers will work together to develop online resources for schools.

Legislation for highly able learners in Scotland is clear, a young person can need extra help for lots of reasons and one of these reasons includes being particularly able but in spite of this some parents and schools are still uncertain of how they can support this group of learners. Dr Margaret Sutherland, Director of SNAP said “since Covid19 and lockdown we have seen a rise in the number of parents and schools contacting us to ask for help and advice in the education of highly able learners. SNAP has recently worked with Enquire, the national helpline for young people who require additional support, to produce a new set of infographics for parents called “Talking to your child’s school about…. We are looking forward to developing the work in mathematics over the coming months and adding to these important resources for schools.”

First published: 14 December 2020