Posted this in Primary Education as well, but though maybe this was a better place for it?

[emkana]

Dd turned nine in May and just finished Yr 4 at a state primary. She is a level 4 a in Maths, English and Science. In the CATS (cognitive ability tests) she took recently she got a score of 132, which apparently puts her in the top 2 % of the country. She has a reading age of 14 + and a spelling age of 13.something.

All through her school career so far she has been happy and all the teachers have always said what a delight she is, but she has never been put on the G & T register or been stretched particularly. So far I have been quite okay with that, but this last year her teacher didn't seem very interested in dd at all - evidence for this was that dd only got a star of the week award once, and only after I asked about it at parents' evening, whereas other children have had it up to 4 times - and no, it's not given primarily given to those who are struggling, the ones who had it the most times are well-behaved and fairly high-achieving pupils.

I'm just pondering whehter to keep going the way we have or whether to approach things differently as dd goes into Yr 5? And if so, how?

[minimathsmouse]

Hi, I can't really offer any advice, but just to let you know you are not alone. My son has always been top in all subjects. Especially good at maths. Aged 9 in yr 4 and it has been really noticable this year that his teacher has had no interest in him.
From talking to others I have gleaned that yr 4 is a time when teachers focus more attention on the average achievers that are likely with more help to achieve a level 4/5 in maths in year 6! It would seem that those children who are already working well above Level 4c are left to tread water. Could this be the same in other subjects? Not that anyone could really predict any of this. What this implies for year 5, I can only guess at.
If your daughter was on the G&T register it may make a difference, it depends on the school. Although inclusion on a list won't help if your child is placed with a teacher who finds it difficult to offer suitably differentiated work.
The only thing you can do is speak to the new teacher very early on and express your concerns, I would make it clear in a polite but firm way that you will be listening to your daughter and looking to see how her needs are being met and whether progress is being made.
In fact this last year for us has been terrible, TA virtually running the class and marking all work, teacher absent (in a cupboard scratching her head and inputting test scores! so busy was she that she failed to spot where he was making progress, thanks to the fact that I made up the shortfall and he is now working at GCSE, failing to set homework and crying) my son basically said her maths was poor and that she was unable to offer him more difficult work (pause to scratch my head)He was being used as a TA to help the other children. I have now started HomeEd as I can't see anyway for him to reach his potential otherwise. You see I would rather wear myself out than take up the fight at the school. I hope you have better luck and that next year will be better for your daughter.

[emkana]

thank you for answering, good luck with your homeed experience!

[belledechocolatefluffybunny]

I moved my son to a private school in year 1 rather then home ed him, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up. He was assessed when he was 8, his literacy level was 16+ (off the scale) and his maths age was 14. If you choose to go down this route then think very carefully, I moved him out of this school for a number of reasons into another that assured me that he would be challenged, he wasn't. After a term and a half it was evident he wasn't as he'd been repeating work and they were not bothered that he scored 100% after completing it in 5 minutes. The private secondary he's moving to in September have also assured me that he will be challeneged and will not be bored, it's a top 80 school so I shall have to see.

It's not easy. If there's a different teacher in year 5 then ask for a meeting very early on. Ask about how they differentiate the curriculum.