St George’s Ascot Expands SGA Stretch Programme by joining NACE
St George’s Ascot expands SGA Stretch Programme by joining the National Association for Able Children in ÍÑ¿ã°É (NACE). Initiative dedicated to fostering intellectual curiosity, challenge, and excellence across all areas of school life.
St George’s has exciting developments within their SGA Stretch programme, a longstanding initiative dedicated to fostering intellectual curiosity, challenge, and excellence across all areas of school life.
The School is proud to share that it has joined the prestigious National Association for Able Children in ÍÑ¿ã°É (NACE), further solidifying their commitment to providing suitable challenge for all pupils in every lesson.
Being a NACE member school places St George’s on the map as an institution dedicated to stretching and inspiring pupils of all abilities. As such, endorsing the NACE mission statement to “provide for pupils with high abilities whilst enabling all pupils to flourish.” NACE membership evidences the School's commitment to ensure that challenge for all is implemented in every lesson. St George’s approach is to provide personalised learning that tailors education to individual need, interest and aptitude. Provision for the very able is not a bolt on but an integral part of teaching and learning at St George’s.
To support the programme, the School has launched updated SGA Stretch Google Sites for both staff and pupils, featuring a wealth of new resources to spark creativity, exploration, and critical thinking. The staff site contains a vast selection of CPD information alongside NACE and Chartered College of Teaching resources. The pupil site is a forum for pupils to share their independent research, interests and academic pursuits beyond the curriculum as well as links to a wide selection of national competitions. In addition, both sites feature the adventures with Stretch, the St George’s sequin sausage dog, who keeps a diary to document examples of effective challenge in lessons.
Last term’s SGA Stretch calendar was packed with inspiring events and activities, with the Stretch and Challenge Club meeting every Monday, providing pupils with regular opportunities to engage with thought-provoking topics and enrichment challenges.
Girls heard from three inspiring speakers as part of the programme:
- In September, Years 9 and 10 heard from Phoebe Voong-Fadel, a front-end developer, writer, and mentor currently working at the National Foundation for ÍÑ¿ã°Éal Research, who discussed her inspiring journey and the importance of women in coding and technology.
- In October, Professor Bortolotti from the University of Birmingham, delivered engaging talks for various year groups, exploring the fascinating intersection of philosophy and psychology. These included discussions relating to conspiracy theories and confirmation biases.
- In November, Mrs Liz Hutton from Thackray Williams LLP, spoke to Years 9 & 10 about women in law.
In November, Mrs Magill, SGA Stretch Coordinator, was delighted to attend the NACE conference hosted at the King’s School, Canterbury. She notes, “At St George’s, the education of very able learners is a whole-school endeavour. We are committed to providing a sufficiently challenging curriculum for all pupils. It is well evidenced that addressing the needs of more able pupils can raise achievement for a much wider group of learners and therefore we seek high aspirations by increasing the level of supported challenge for all. Our curriculums provide for more able learners and they give our pupils opportunities to flourish. Ability is a fluid concept: it can be developed through challenge, opportunity and self-belief and this is something that we are dedicated to cultivating for our pupils at St George’s.”
Looking ahead, pupils from St George’s will attend the UK Senior Stretch Conference in Oxford on 5 March 2025, continuing to broaden horizons and deepen engagement with advanced academic opportunities.
January 2025