Okay, so I've name-changed. Some of you might recognise me, but I really need you to be kind, because I'm trying to work out how to best help my child. I don't want this to sound like boasting or being deluded, I know that DD hasn't got the really advanced academic ability of many of your children, but she is bright, and bored at school. I want the school to challenge her more (she wants the school to challenge her more). But I don't know if I can reasonably ask them to apply their G&T policy, because I am not at all sure really qualifies. I know you all can't really give me the precise answers, but short of paying a lot of money for a G&T assessment, I thought that at least asking a lot of people with a lot of experience would be a good start!
So, my DD. Her SAT scores were 114 for reading and 115 for Maths (KS1) last year. She got exceeding for Maths, Writing,, Reading and Science. I knew she was doing well with the reading. She didn't read before she started school (never tried to teach her), but by July of Y1 she had read all of the Malory Towers books, by the end of summer she had read all of the Enid Blyton School books (she spent days by the pool reading on holiday). She read her first HP at 6 1/2, and finished them all probably about 6 weeks later. She is a very fast reader, and has read lots of Diana Wynne Jones, all the Percy Jackson, is into Greek myths and Egyptian history as a result (all Y2). She loved the Hobbit (end Y2) and read book 1 of the Lords of the Rings (Y3). She enjoyed Anne of Green Gables, the Narnia books and the Secret Garden. She is reading less than she was, but when she finds a book she loves she still gets totally engrossed. Her comprehension is good - we were playing on the readtheory.org site, and she was averaging grade 6 last year (in y2). She was a very advanced reader for her age (when she was 6), but I assume that more people have caught up, although I think the Hobbit at 7 is possibly still reasonably advanced.
When it comes to Maths, I really don't know what she is capable of, other than the fact that she got full marks for her SATs. But, she is feeling bored and unchallenged, and it was the same last year. She is very fast (but not always very careful with her work), and wants things to be hard. She wants to have to think. She doesn't naturally sit there playing with numbers, but she does say that Maths is her favourite subject, and she is frustrated about the slow pace. They are currently all in mixed ability, but when the school did use top-table, she was still frustrated by how slow her partner was. I know this doesn't mean my DD is necessarily particularly 'gifted', but her best friend (bright too) doesn't like maths, and finds it boring, and so my DD doesn't want to admit to her friend (or perhaps in school) the fact that she LOVES maths, and really wants to do more stuff.
I have read stuff on what makes someone 'gifted', and she has some, but I'm just not sure about the others. I know for really brilliant children it is just so obvious. But what about for children that are just very bright (if she is)?
I know that many of you have some very very bright children. I guess I don't think that my DD is that, but I don't think anyone knows what she is capable of because she hasn't been stretched to find out. But what I guess you can't answer, but I wish you could, is at what level might a school consider a child gifted? She is not as clearly gifted as some of your DC, but I think she is surely clearly bright. So, any thoughts (even if they are that I should just let it go, because she is probably not close to what might be called gifted, and so the school won't change anything), would be great. Thanks!
Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.
Gifted and talented
Advice needed!
Hiddeninplainsight · 19/10/2016 12:42
I didn't realise how long that OP was until I read it on my phone! Sorry for the ramble.
Irvine I name-changed because I have been quite specific, and because I was worried about people thinking me deluded and madly biased. I thought you might recognise me though 
I talked to the teacher today. She was lovely, but the school has interpreted the NC as not going beyond the age curriculum at all for Maths. I will see what happens between now and parents evening. I hope they will challenge her to explore what she can do.
reallyanotherone I do agree with you that it shouldn't matter if she is g&t or not, if they are meeting her needs. But because they have a g&t policy, I thought it might mean they would have to show how they are meeting her needs (if she were g&t) - and this only becomes important if nothing changes.
I guess what I really want is for my DD not to loose her passion for learning, and her curiosity. I worry that without challenge she will be slowly bored and uninspired out of it!
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