ASPIRE
Invicta's Aspire Programme
1. Principles
“All Individuals will flourish and fulfil their potential; they will be equipped and willing to succeed in a modern, global society while having respect for themselves, others and the environment”
The Aspire Programme involves identifying, nurturing and equipping our most able students to achieve their full potential and be aspirational.
2. Aim
The ASPIRE programme is designed to:
- Provide a framework to enable teachers to identify students with high intellectual and academic potential from a young age.
- Create a structured system through mentoring to further the students’ intellectual curiosity.
- Equip students with leadership skills to contribute to wider society and have a positive impact on others.
- Allow students to develop and improve their own learning and performance as critical, reflective and independent students.
- Allow students to develop and apply decision-making and problem-solving skills.
- Teach students to extend their planning, research, critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and presentation skill.
- Allow students to develop and apply skills creatively, demonstrating initiative and enterprise.
- Teach students to use their learning experiences to support their aspiration for Higher Education and/or career development.
3. An Invicta student ASPIRE profile
3.1 Attributes
- Achieves consistently the highest grades.
- Asks questions to deepen their understanding, demonstrating an inquiring mind.
- Questions assumptions.
- Takes a creative approach to problem solving.
- Will seek ‘challenges’.
- Enjoys tackling open-ended tasks.
- Demonstrates a strong work ethic consistently.
- Welcomes their views being challenged and adapts their thinking in response to new information.
- Makes links between different topics and subjects.
- Is committed to super curricular activities.
3.2 Excellence in literacy and oracy
- Reads widely for pleasure and interest.
- Verbalises and shares their learning with others.
- Expresses complex ideas and arguments convincingly in speech.
- Is able to extract, reduce and synthesise information from different sources.
4. The ASPIRE framework
4.1 Resources
- University Outreach Programmes
- Academic Hubs, and Academic Hub conferences.
- Broadening Horizon Lectures
- Recommended reading lists,
- Academic journals available using school and Kent library memberships
- Competitions, including the Salters Chemistry Festival, the Royal Society of Biology Challenge, Oxbridge competitions and Olympiads:
- Level 1, 2 or 3 projects
- Future Learn online courses
- Mentoring of younger students
- Leading assemblies and events
- News and current affairs discussions and debates as part of the pastoral course
- Personal Development Programme
- Activities are also embedded throughout schemes of work in all courses
Many of the activities highlighted on the Invicta Learning Journey will help to develop the interests and skills of our most able students; what could you do this year?