Dcs who were deemed average at primary but excelled at secondary!

[Gingerfudge]

Tell me your stories please!

[donkir]

My ds has been like this. All his grades were average in year 6 and his group of friends were ok. He's now in year 8 and has excelled in things like science, drama, French and maths. Most of his primary friends went to a different school but he has done so well at making a new bunch of friends who are amazing and just like him. I thought he'd have to wait until uni to find his kind of ppl but he's found them already.
GCSE's he's predicted A's and A* I couldn't be more proud.

[nicknamerunout]

Donkir well done to your ds. Did he do any extra catch up work after and during school ? I am also longing for that magical moment for my dcs.

[donkir]

No he hasn't needed any catch up work. I just think the lessons are far more interesting than at primary and the teachers seem to have more time for each student. His favourite lesson so far was last week dissecting an owl pellet. He'd have never had that in primary.

[MrsJacksonAvery]

I think children peak at such different times. Last year, I had two students who had been assessed at L4 in yr6 and L5 in yr9 in English(so v.average) and both went on to get an A and A* each in Lang /Lit. They just rocketed. Both parents and I were astounded!

[nicknamerunout]

It warms my heart every time I heard such stories. Hope your ds continue to well.

[catslife]

The progress made by donkirs ds is very encouraging BUT schools don't usually make predictions about GCSE grades in Y8 and if they do they are not likely to be very accurate. The main prediction in Y7/8 will be a target for the end of KS3 (end of Y9).
The Y6 tests are quite a narrow focus so if pupils are good at subjects other than English, Maths (and possibly Science) this won't be picked up at primary school. It makes a real difference in Maths and Science to have teachers who are subject specialists as this can be rare at primary school.
For example my child achieved well in Y7-Y9 in the following subjects: History, French, IT and DT all of which are not really assessed at primary school. Having just started GCSEs, we have been told it's too early for accurate grade predictions.

In conclusion, I hope your child finds an area where they can shine at secondary school OP, but this may not happen in every subject.

[Gingerfudge]

Dh was pretty average at primary but still managed to get a degree from Cambridge....he puts his success down to a serious amount of hard work. We're trying to inspire ds to follow dh's example.
Db was always bottom of the class, barely managed to scrape 4 GCSEs, I think he got 1b and 3cs, hated studying, hated school but blossomed at tech college and got a good degree in engineering and now has an incredibly well paid job in the telecoms industry.

[nicknamerunout]

Levels of academic achievement doesn't mean everything does it?!

[nicknamerunout]

Ginger well done to your son.

[MilkRunningOutAgain]

Less extreme but DS was 4a for literacy last summer in his yr 6 SATS and is apparently now one term later a 6b in geography, and a 5a in history, English and RE. I don't personally see much improvement in his work, and definitely not as much as is implied by the change in levels, but I think his secondary is looking for analytical thinking and far more factual writing, which he's great at, rather than creative writing which just isn't his thing at all but seemed to have a greater weighting at his primary. And he has always loved geography and history, but his knowledge was not valued at primary, in fact he was bored by the history / geography topic work they did whereas now these subjects are his favourites and he is being challenged much more effectively by subject matter experts.

[BrightestAndBest]

My DH was average at primary, and continued to be average at GCSE level. However he got good A levels, which meant he went on to do a degree and a PhD at Imperial. He's now earning a good salary (~£50k), so he came good in the end!

[Elfina]

That was me! If anything, I think they thought I was a bit dim in primary. More than made up for it in secondary and beyond

[Mitzi50]

DD slightly below average through primary school - now studying at Russell Group Uni. Her dyslexia and dyspraxia were not diagnosed til she was 17

[prism]

Me, actually. I'd completely forgotten about this but my first primary school was awful and I learned nothing, including being pretty much unable to write legibly. After I moved to a better school I remember handing in a piece of homework with a tear stain on it because I found it so difficult. About 9 years later got AAAB at A level.

DD 1's first primary was dreadful and her mild dyslexia undiagnosed. Thanks to much better school and wonderful literacy specialist she is now doing really well at a very good university.

[Coyoacan]

My friend's son, actually. He was not average, closer to the bottom of the class and wanted to leave school at fifteen. But when he turned fifteen suddenly shot to the head of the class and ended up doing a Masters.

[Elfina]

Actually, my dyslexia was undiagnosed at primary, too. Interesting theme...

Why are you asking, OP?

[Lilymaid]

DS2.4,4,5 for KS2; 6 Bs and 4 Cs at GCSE, BBC at A2, 2:1 at non- RG uni ( after being diagnosed with leukaemia in 2nd year). Now studying for MSc in top ranking department in RG university.
Another proud mother ??

[Four125]

DD2 334 in SATs, now predicted A/A* in all subjects at GCSE, already has 2 x As.
Suddenly, towards the middle of year 8 she started to take off and has kept going.

[nicknamerunout]

I love these threads. I used to think that mumsneters' dcs are all g&t, L6s at yr6.

[Lilymaid]

Can add DH to list. Below expectations at primary school. Didn't fully pass 11+ so went to a technical school. Had undiagnosed dyslexia. Not very spectacular O Levels. Then at 18 won a place at Oxford and awarded an exhibition. Now a chartered engineer and fellow of various scientific/technical institutions and a visiting Professor of Engineering (despite failing Engineering O Level).

[cece]

My DD was always a good average at primary school - sometimes middle sets, occasionally top set for half a term sort of thing.

Year 9 now and she has just been moved up to accelerated maths group and predicted A/A* for her GCSEs. We are very proud of her but she does work at it.

[nicknamerunout]

Problem with threads like these made me even more disagree with selective ed at age 10 or 11 or at all. As my dcs' birthdays are in summer. I think they are doing very reasonable even being average. But it's hard to convince dds.

[TheWordFactory]

DS would have been considered decidedly average until year 5. Then teachers began to notice he was clever .

He sat the entrance exam for one of the most selective schools on the UK and was awarded an academic scholarship .

Didn't see that coming!

[canny1234]

Dd1 was in the remedial maths group in year 6. In year 11 is predicted A* and has been told that she has to do Maths A level.This included 3 years of Maths tuition when younger ( she was very badly taught at school overseas) a change of school and sheer hard work on her part.

[bantamgirl]

DS1 (now year 13) was absolutely average at primary school and every single year at parents evening every teacher told me his handwriting was appalling.

Fast forward to GCSE year - 2A*, 5A, 1B, 1C

AS level - 3 x A's and a C

Predicted A2 - possibly 2 A* and A.

5 university offers on the table, 4 of those Russell Groups (albeit conditional).

And every teacher at upper school commented on how neat his handwriting was! (They used to make them write in joined up at primary school which he obviously couldn't manage and as soon as he was allowed to print rather than join-up, it all fell into place for him).