The focus of the study is on high achieving Year 8 (12-13 year old pupils) because research has shown it is at this age that pupils (especially boys) increase their disengagement from school (Bleach et al., 1996; Myhill, 2002). The broader study has four aims that, together, consider the construction and performance of gender subjectivities of high achieving boys and girls. One of these aims stipulates that the study will:   ·      relate the analyses of the gender subjectivities of high achieving pupils to analyses of their approach to, and achievement at, school work (with attention to how their practices may facilitate achievement).    It is the response to this research aim that forms the basis of the discussion in this paper.

Our findings show there were three key areas which, working together, high achieving pupils were more or less able to draw on to facilitate their achievement. These concern:   Attitudes towards the notion of school and schooling Perceptions and experiences of being part of a group Relationships with and perceptions of teachers.   These areas will be explored in detail in the paper, paying attention to the ways in which such perceptions and experiences are gendered.