Supporting high attaining learners: Part 1

In this three-part series, Matt Bromley considers practical approaches for supporting ‘high-attaining’ students. In part one, he offers five strategies for deliberate challenge and five for staving off apathy in the classroom…

What do you call the highest attaining learners in your class? Don’t wait for the punchline, it’s a genuine question. Because words matter; language is power.

Do you call them the “more or most able”? The “higher or highest performing”? Learners with “high prior attainment”? “Gifted”? “Talented”? “Bright”?

I have written before about the problem with labels. They can affect attitudes and lead to lazy thinking. Labels have a place, but we need to word them carefully and apply them thoughtfully.

For example, if we think of a learner as being “more able”, we might assume they’re naturally gifted and talented, and that they will come top of the class no matter how hard they work or what we do to support them. Thinking of a learner as “most able” might therefore encourage a light-touch approach while we focus our energies on the learners who are struggling or who misbehave.

It is true that some learners are naturally gifted, but nurture plays in a bigger part in success than nature; every learner can get better with hard work and effort and no learner can rely on nature’s gifts alone. The “most able” need our help and guidance; we can’t take our eye off the ball.

If we label a learner as having “high prior attainment”, meanwhile, we might assume their success is predestined, predicated on their past achievements. But learning and progress rarely follow a neat line from A to B. Many things can affect the eventual outcomes of a learner with high prior attainment, both in school and at home. Prior attainment data does not tell us how a learner is doing now, nor how they will do in the future. Yes, prior attainment can be a useful indicator of future potential, but nothing is fated. Again, we can’t take our eye off the ball.

Perhaps the moniker “higher performing” is the most useful label because it refers to how well a learner is doing right now, not how they did in the past, nor how we think they might do in the future. And we all know that someone’s performance can change – and indeed does change – depending on how hard they work.

Whatever we call the learners who are likely to get the strongest outcomes, we need to think about the message our words will send, both to those with the label, and to those without it. And we need to think about the impact the label might have on our approach to teaching those learners with that label.

It is also important that, whatever label we choose, we agree a school-wide definition for what characteristics warrant inclusion in the labelled cohort. How do we identify those with the potential to achieve the best outcomes? Is the criteria subject-specific or cross-curricular? Is it based solely on learners’ performance in core subjects or also in the arts and sport?

And how do we define “potential”? Is it down to consistent high performance over a set period and across a range of subjects, or is it a learners’ performance relative to their peers, whether that be based on national or class averages?

Whatever method we choose, we must take a school-wide approach, and we must ensure there is always room for movement as learners’ performances change.

Nurture over nature

Whatever method we use for identifying high-attaining learners – and I will use the term “high-attainers” in the remainder of this article simply for concision, not because I favour this label over any other – we need to acknowledge that nurture, not just nature, counts in the classroom. And that means every learner needs to work hard, and every learner needs our attention.

It is easy to overlook high-attainers because they are often compliant. They quietly and diligently get on with their work. They are less likely to be truculent and thus are unlikely to raise any red flags. They make it easy for us to ignore them. But while high-attainers might be compliant, they could also be coasting. If we fail to stretch them, we risk boredom, disengagement, and underachievement.

To counter this, here are five practical classroom strategies which help to ensure high-attainers are not just busy, but deeply and deliberately challenged (I also link to some of my previous SecEd articles to give you some further reading/advice).

1, Teach to the top, then scaffold down

I’ve written about this approach before. For a primer, read my 2014 SecEd piece on the Pygmalion Effect and my more recent SecEd article on adaptive teaching.

We should start every lesson with the assumption that all learners are capable of accessing high-level thinking. We need to set the bar high, then provide the necessary scaffolds to help everyone reach it. We want to avoid pitching the lesson to the middle of the bell curve.

In practice, we might plan our questioning and modelling with the top end in mind, then prepare adaptations for others as needed. This ensures high-attainers are stretched from the start, not given extra tasks at the end as an afterthought.

2, Replace the notion of ‘doing more’ with ‘thinking more’

I have written about homework before and advised that the best homework acts as a form of retrieval practice, rather than exposing learners to new information. Homework works best when it requires learners to think more deeply about what they’ve already learned.

I would argue that extension tasks in lessons should do the same. If a learner finishes a task before most of their peers, they should not be allowed to progress further along the curriculum – it is important we maintain the integrity of our sequenced learning plan.

But rather, they should be afforded an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the curriculum content they’ve already learned. This could take the form of peer-teaching or retrieval practice.

We need to avoid the trap of simply giving high-attainers additional tasks and instead, deepen their thinking by asking them to justify, evaluate, hypothesise, and so on.

In practice, we might use question stems like “What would happen if…?”, “How could we apply this in a different context?”, or “Can you find a counter-example?” to stretch their cognitive muscles.

3, Use tiered tasks and open-ended challenges

The trick to stretching high-attainers is to increase the complexity of a task rather than the difficulty. In other words, we want tiered or layered activities that allow all learners to access the same core content but at varying depths.

In practice, we might use a Blooms-based task pyramid or “challenge choice boards” where learners select a path based on their confidence and curiosity. We can allow them to move upwards as they master earlier steps. But this approach comes with caveats: not least, that learners must be guided to make informed choices and must not be allowed to take the easy option. They need help identifying their “struggle zone” or “sweet spot” and to seek-out work that will cause thinking.

4, Create a culture of scholarly ambition

High-attainers thrive in classrooms where learning is aspirational. This is about language, expectations, and environment. We need to speak in academic terms, set ambitious goals, and celebrate intellectual risk-taking.

In practice, we might introduce academic vocabulary explicitly and insist on its use (“That’s the right answer, now say it better”). We might ask learners to “speak like a historian” or “write like a scientist”. And we might provide models of excellence and encourage learners to critique them.

5, Encourage metacognition and self-regulation

True challenge involves learners taking ownership of their learning. High-attainers benefit from thinking about their thinking: setting goals, monitoring progress, and evaluating outcomes. And thus, we need to explicitly teach metacognition and self-regulation.

In practice, we might use structured reflection prompts such as “What was challenging about today’s lesson?”, “How did you overcome difficulties?”, and “What would you do differently next time?” And then we might build this into our plenaries or exit tickets.

Motivation, not apathy

If we want high-attainers to become increasingly independent, we also need them to be engaged and to remain motivated even when faced with setbacks. I have written more widely about motivation but here follows some tips for motivating high-attainers in order to avoid apathy.

1, Make learning matter by connecting content to context

Learners are more likely to engage with learning when they see its relevance. This means going beyond the what to the why. For example, when teaching Shakespeare, we shouldn’t simply analyse language features; we should frame the play as a lens for exploring timeless human struggles, such as ambition or jealousy. In science, we could link abstract theories to real-world applications: climate change, medicine, or engineering.

In short, we must answer the learner’s silent question: what’s in it for me?

In practice, we might begin each topic with an essential question or provocative statement. And we might invite learners to debate, explore, and personalise their responses before delving into the content.

2, Provide autonomy within structure

Choice fuels motivation. As such, allowing learners some control over their learning – such as choosing between tasks, deciding how to present their work, or setting personal goals – can increase investment. However, autonomy works best within clear boundaries and routines.

In practice, we could use tiered tasks or “challenge menus” that allow learners to select the level of difficulty, topic, or format that suits their interest and confidence. But this comes with the same caveats I shared earlier.

3, Foster belonging through relationships

I have written about belonging before. It is vital because if learners don’t feel seen and heard, valued and respected, and if learners don’t feel that they can fully participate in school life – in the social and emotional environment, as well as in the academic – then they are likely to disengage and perhaps even absent themselves. Belonging is the key to inclusion and inclusion is the key to ensuring every learner succeeds.

Learners are more likely to engage when they feel safe, valued, and understood. Therefore, relationships are not an extra – they’re foundational.

In practice, we might commit to greeting every learner at the classroom door every lesson. We might endeavour to memorise every learner’s name quickly. And we might show more curiosity about learners’ lives beyond school.

High expectations paired with high care is the winning combination.

Here’s a quick tip: Try the 2×10 strategy, whereby you spend two minutes a day for 10 consecutive school days talking with a disengaged learner about anything but school. The impact on behaviour and engagement is often profound.

4, Celebrate progress, not just performance

Learning is about the journey not the destination. I’ve argued before when writing about effective assessment practice in SecEd that the best feedback does not compare one learner with another learner but rather compares each learner with their earlier selves. We want all learners to see that they can get better with hard work and effort. This applies to high-attainers as well as those who are struggling.

If a high-attainer is always compared favourably to a learner who is performing less well, they might become apathetic, assuming they will be top of the class no matter how hard they work. But if we focus on their individual journeys instead, they will see that the harder they work, the better they perform.

Extrinsic rewards have their place, but long-term motivation thrives on intrinsic satisfaction (as I have previously addressed in my articles on motivation). As such, we need to focus on growth. We need to praise effort, successful strategies, and perseverance rather than raw achievement.

In practice, we might use learning journals or green pen reflections for learners to track and evaluate their progress. We might highlight small wins and let learners articulate their own learning journey.

5, Make thinking visible and valued

Too often, classroom dialogue privileges the quick and confident. But when we slow things down and make thinking visible – through strategies like think-pair-share, mini-whiteboards, or graphic organisers – we create a more inclusive space where all learners can shine.

In practice, we might replace hands-up questioning with cold calling or no-opt-out routines. This signals that everyone’s thinking matters and that mistakes are part of the process.

We might also model, not just a finished product, but the process of creating that product. By modelling the process – whether that be of writing an essay, working out a mathematical equation, carrying out a scientific experiment, or carving an object out of wood – we can think aloud to show our decision-making and to model metacognition – how we handle setbacks, choose strategies, monitor our progress, etc.

Next time: Next time, in the second instalment in this three-part series, I will explore ways of converting high-attainers’ potential into tangible progress.