Information to Schools summary

Schools also receive some information directly from the Department about aspects of the gifted and talented programme. Michael Barber has written to all 470 Secondary schools in the Excellence in Cities stressing the importance of the gifted and talented strand and encouraging schools commitment to its success. Letters have also been sent to all Excellence in Cities secondary schools giving them the opportunity to participate in the Government's exciting new World Class Tests initiative which will allow England's most able children to compare their performance in maths and problem solving to performance in leading nations around the world. Ministers recently announced 500 gifted and talented Summer Schools to take place this summer. We have recently circulated the specification for the Summer Schools and the allocation of funds to Local Education Authorities.