My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

Gifted and talented

Strange pointers to G&T from a school website.

20 replies

thegrammerpolicesic · 23/01/2010 22:41

I have just been looking at a local prep school's website and find this bit about recognising G&T kids really odd - taken from the subsection on what they do for G&T children. I know breastfeeding is associated with higher IQ BUT why on earth does that need to feature here? It seems very strange to me. Any views?

"SCHOOL X's Gifted and Talented children, are provided extension activities through planned differentiated learning opportunities provided in the classroom.

Recognising Gifted Children

Signs of giftedness can be seen from an early age. Exceptionally Gifted Children may be identified by the following criteria:

  1. Crawling before eight months compared with 10-12 months in the general population;
  2. Walking unassisted before 12 months and sleeping less than average;
  3. Breast fed longer than average most likely until after the first birthday;
  4. More likely to be the first born in small families, with parents employed in a professional or managerial roles; and
  5. Likely to have grandparents more educated than most people of their generation.
  6. The ability to read early and often self-taught;
  7. A propensity to ask unusual or shrewd questions;
  8. Talking early and fluently and with an extensive vocabulary; and
  9. The early development of a "quirky" sense of humour."
OP posts:
Report
overmydeadbody · 23/01/2010 22:44

These are just some of thie things that have been found to be more likely among children who are 'gifted and talented'. Including the breastfeeding. Does it bother you?

Report
thegrammerpolicesic · 23/01/2010 22:51

I'm curious about it. It's not the kind of thing I normally see on lists of ways to identify G&T children.

I didn't know that re breastfeeding, only that it is associated with slightly higher IQs and tbh find it a bit odd that a school would bring it up as by the time a child starts there age four, it doesn't seem that relevant to me whether they breastfed longer or not.

OP posts:
Report
thegrammerpolicesic · 23/01/2010 22:52

And is that really the case re more educated grandparents and if so why mention grandparents not parents too?

OP posts:
Report
overmydeadbody · 23/01/2010 23:00

It seems like strange things for a school website to list, I agree there, and hardly a list that would help you identify whether or not your bright child was G&T or just bright.

Odd yes. They aren't really pointers are they? Just things that have been found to be more prevelant in people who are brighter than their peers.

Report
ellokitty · 23/01/2010 23:15

Yes, I find that an odd thing to put up on a website - wonder where they got it from and how solid their research is (somehow I doubt it!), although that said my DD1 is G&T at her school, and I answered yes to all of those except Q2 and 5!

Report
thegrammerpolicesic · 23/01/2010 23:52

Exactly - it might well be true but it's such a strange thing to have there on the website. They don't even really say what they do do for G&T kids. It would be better to at least put a list of things G&T kids need in school e.g. appropriate differentiation.

Kind of puts me off the school that they put this on there and so little else.

Ds walked unassisted the day before his 1st birthday so I guess he just about qualifies for number 2.

Ds does do all but didn't breastfeed longer but he didn't have a choice. He does number 7 very well and in abundance (tonight we had randomly, "how does Father Christmas manage to see in the dark to deliver all the presents?" - he's only 4 bless him.

Oh gosh I've just seen it does mention parents' jobs as well as gps' education - well clearly I am not G&T.

OP posts:
Report
NoahAndTheWhale · 23/01/2010 23:54

That does seem rather odd for a school's website.

Report
Bink · 24/01/2010 00:42

I suspect the context (prep school website) is relevant - the pointers seem rather oddly skewed towards what is v likely to be the school's own (actual or desired?!) demographic: educated generations, "professional" or "managerial" parents, even that touch on "small families" is a bit elitist

Also - I've seen lots of those lists and it is not typical of them - it reads rather amateurishly.

Is it a well-known prep school?

Report
thegrammerpolicesic · 24/01/2010 10:55

No, it's one of the Cognita ones.

It does seem very amateurish. Reckon they've sat and thought, what shall we put on that bit of the site and scrambled around and gone 'that'll do'.

OP posts:
Report
cory · 24/01/2010 11:59

Though some of these may well be accurate, I am extremely worried about a school listing as pointers a number of features that are closely tied in with social class. Isn't the whole point of G&T to look out for talent where you might not have suspected it?

If your whole family have been Oxford dons since dons were first permitted to marry, why does the school need pointers to recognise that actually, you too might have a bit of a flair for learning? And breastfeeding, particularly beyond the first 6 months, is far more likely to occur in the kind of family who would also be most likely to spot and support any talent their offspring might have.

Half these criteria are not about recognising gifted pupils: they're about recognising pupils who already have the opportunities to make the most of any gifts they may possess.

Or am I just huffy because noone in my family has ever walked before 12 months; in fact, dd who is easily the brightest of the bunch, walked at 19 months.

Report
snorkie · 24/01/2010 15:28

It is an odd list I agree. I've seen similarish ones before, including one that had early questioning of the existance of Father Christmas on it!

I doesn't really seem appropriate for a school website to me.

Report
Pallas27 · 16/03/2010 00:59

My 2ps worth... I think that they have covered the researched points. Agreed, "class" is a difficult issue.. breastfeeding could also be a "class" issue.. but the other points about reaching milestones early, cannot be disregarded. I would be encouraged that this school have made ALL points public.. not just the PC ones... and they are a "private" school, so are obvioulsy "class" driven and towards that can afford to pay.
Believe me, I have expereince.. my gifted y5 child is not happy in the state system. I currently rely on tax credits. I have been offered a max 40% reduction on fees by 2 private schools. So for I would have to pay over 50% of my income for the fees for 1 (of my 2) kids.. on paper we couldn't eat.
Am I bitter.. well... does society as a whole value education? Rhetorical, but I'd say no.
Trying to get G&T provision for my eldest in the state system is worse than blood from a stone.
I don't know if Labour, Thatcher, Tories or New Lbaour f+++ it up... all I know is my kid is bright, I can't afford to pay for an education..the LEA say there is no "law" regarding gifted and talented kids... so we end up screwed by the politicians who are sitting on the fence as per ususal.
OK, rant over.. lol prob not.. tbc on other threads : )
I'm new here.. what does DD etc mean?

Report
cory · 16/03/2010 08:39

I'd like the crawling and walking points to be explained more in detail in case it makes some parents think you cannot be gifted if you don't achieve those. Surely this is statistically speaking- I'd like to see the statistics.

In my family, we have all walked and crawled extremely late, but we do tend to be academically gifted. There must be plenty more children like that around.

Report
waitingforbedtime · 16/03/2010 08:49

Ds coulod tick off all but 5+6 (he is 3) but I dont think he's particularly unusual amongst his friends. He did walk at 10m which was early in the kids we know but I dont think thats an indicator of intelligence is it? For him it had more to do with the fact he was tall and skinny so could reach to pull himself up and didnt have much weight to support.

Report
Lemonmeringue · 16/03/2010 08:53

It is a prep school, they're addressing their target audience, presumably. Perhaps parents of wakeful tots are supposed to read it and think, 'Gosh, ***'s obviously frightfully gifted, we'd better put her name down for this marvellous school'. (Didn't dare put a name in there in case I caused offence!).

This is cobbled together from half-digested statistics I should think, and I'm sure we all know of exeptions either way (the most academically gifted child I know didn't get off his backside until 18 months, but sat around giving out orders - so obviously fits one criterion, but not another!)

Report
Strix · 17/03/2010 11:31

I think the parents' and grandparents' level of education and career position probably has more to do with what the children are likely to have been taught than whether they are "gifted".

Lots of brilliant people were never breastfed. That is a truly odd thing to say on a school website.

I think I'll start asking Ofsted if the teachers were breastfed so I can determine if they are bright enough to teach the breastfed children.

Report
singersgirl · 17/03/2010 13:55

They seem to be confusing statistical correlation with identification.

Report
emy72 · 18/03/2010 20:01

How odd - I wouldn't go near a school like this - but that's ok as my DD shock horror didn't speak until age 3 as she is bilingual..

Seriously though, some of the things on there are very odd indeed. The large family thing, wtf? a few generations ago large families were the norm and did that mean that there were no talented people back then. You've got to laugh

Report
cory · 19/03/2010 07:28

I think Lemonmeringue is spot on. Non-professional large families with little education are less likely to afford their fees anyway, so no point in trying to get them to feel good about their offspring. It's like those "you've won a holiday advert"; you are conned into thinking that you've made a discovery for yourself, and then you feel so good about yourself that you go along with the next step...which presumably is their Open Day.

Report
cornsilk · 19/03/2010 07:34

They are generalisations.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.