Child not being pushed in school

[Clutterbugsmum]

DD2 is 6yrs in year one and finding school really easy and is getting bored. I need to speak to her teacher but what is the best way to do this. I don't want the teacher to feel like i'm not supporting her but I just feel DD2 need to be given work that has to think about and not complete with in 5/10mins

FYI DD2 birthday is right at the beginning of September and she was a level 1b when she left reception.

For example her numeracy this week has been learning number bonds to 20, she knows these and did so at the end of her reception year.

[jaffacakesallround]

You just need to go into school and say what you have said here in a calm and non confrontational way.

Your priority is to support your child, not the teacher, and if the teacher hasn't understood that your DD is bored then you need to tell her, politely.

[nonicknameseemsavailable]

my daughter's class has some level of differentiation. As I understand it (and i could be wrong as it is a 6yr olds version) they have a core 'thing' that they are doing and the top or bottom groups may have slightly different work. sometimes an additional 'challenge' is put up on the board I believe so that if they finish the work they can try that. I haven't seen an example of a challenge but from what I gather they are things that could be done in different ways so are designed to make the child think about it more but still related to whatever they have been doing.

we have similar complaints about things being easy though so some differentiation might not solve the whole problem.

[columngollum]

KS1 numeracy isn't particularly challenging. Have you looked at the curriculum? My daughter hasn't found any of her schoolwork particularly challenging ever (I don't think) but she still loves school.

[Clutterbugsmum]

She in the top groups in all subjects.

I'm not sure if it's because her teacher this year is a newly qualified teacher, where as both nursery and reception teachers have been at the school for 15+ yrs so have lots of classroom experience so taught her at the levels she needed.

Don't get me wrong I think her teacher is very good.

[nonicknameseemsavailable]

my daughters teacher is one of the younger ones in the school but is very very good and I think because she is younger it makes her more approachable and probably more open to trying something different or looking into different ways to do things.

[Bramshott]

I would steer clear of using the word 'pushed'. The real problem is that your DD is not engaged in/with school and is getting bored, and part of the solution to that is that she would like some more stretching work to get stuck into.

[columngollum]

The teacher might be differentiating as much as she can within the curriculum requirements. If mum fundamentally disagrees with what her daughter is being taught she can always withdraw her from the school.

[columngollum]

If a 5yo is investigating primes, factoring, doubling into hundreds and calculating in thousands, (and some I know are) and her schoolwork investigates 2,5 and 10 times tables I don't think mum should be going into school with her WH Smith number puzzle compendium. While I'm sure that within reason little bits here and there can be added for an able child, children whose parents just love exploring maths concepts and can express even relatively advanced ones in simple language to children, shouldn't expect the school to follow suit.

If you're not satisfied with standard schooling then don't ask for it.

[BudsBeginingSpringinSight]

Yes column, I think your jumping the gun a little there op needs to talk to the teacher first.

[columngollum]

Well, it's an interesting idea. But I can't see how it's supposed to work in practice. Let's face it, it's been hard enough to get a single school to hand out reasonable reading scheme books on account of how they're supposed to be allocated on an age/year group basis. And all that was required in the end was to go to a different class and fetch one!

I really don't see how a teacher is supposed to delve into primes, calculating in thousands and all the rest of it, when that actually requires some thought.

I can see how, in theory, pupils are supposed to be given appropriate resources. But I think in practice we're going to see pigs flying first.

[TheGruffalo2]

When you say work that can be completed in 5/10 minutes is that class work or homework?

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

I've never experienced anything like that gollum

And my eldest is 16 and my youngest is 10 so we have had a fair bit of experience of the education system.

[simpson]

How do you know your child is bored?

Are all the kids on the top table still learning number bond to 10? I find this a bit surprising considering we are into the 2nd half of the school year.

Is it just homework that is number bonds to 10? DD (yr1) gets numeracy homework which she does easily by herself and although she is on top set/table she isn't exceptional at maths. But I know she does harder work in the classroom.

[Jinsei]

What rubbish, column. Lots of schools manage to differentiate work very effectively.

[Galena]

Thing is, column, particularly in maths, you can differentiate by accelerating which is what you are talking about, but also by broadening. It is possible to stretch an able y1 child using number bonds to 20. You get them investigating patterns and asking 'what if' questions, rather than deciding that, because they can parrot them off, they need do no more with them.

[Soveryupset]

My advice as someone who had the DC at what turned out to be a pretty poor school despite its "outstanding" label is this - keep a close eye on it.

Don't get fobbed off by other parents' comments or teachers' reassurances, just go in and look closely at your DD's work. You might be surprised either way. Talk to your DD and contrary to most advice, really listen to what she says goes on in the class and how she feels, we didn't believe our DD when she said she was "bored" but actually should have really paid more attention as she was very accurate about what was going on in class.

Remember also you know your child best and following your gut feeling. Most parents know if their child is fulfilling their potential..

[umpity]

PERSONAL I behaved well at school and was largely ignored. It happened, teachers were busy with troublemakers. (It was a long time ago)

LOOK AT ME NOW? Seriously does what I have described still happen?

[MilkRunningOutAgain]

DS is generally not stretched at school. TBH as he is lazy, he's happy with this. I have never yet found a teacher who stretches him and I've given up trying to explain to teachers who tell me he can't tell the time cos he won't draw the hands accurately on a clock face to show 3 o'clock, that he can actually do 24 hour time calculations in his head easily. A kid has to show teachers what he/she can do, and my DS refuses to do this, it's hard for teachers to differentiate if the kid isn't being co-operative and trying his hardest. DS isn't badly behaved, he just works slowly and doesn't try hard.

You do need to speak to the teacher and see whether what you know she can do is being reflected in her class work.

[columngollum]

Galena, I'm not saying it can't be done. What I'm saying is will it get done. If the teacher(s) won't go next door to get a different colour reading book are they really going to spend time sorting out number patterns?

[Galena]

But it's easier to find an investigation on what you're doing in class than it is to cover prime numbers and factorisation.

and I agree with pp, that it is sometimes the case that children don't demonstrate what they are capable of, so the teacher wouldn't stretch them necessarily.

[wearymum200]

I had this 2 yrs in a row with ds1. Both teachers happened to be NQT, but they couldn't have been more different in their response to my telling them that DS1 was bored and finding the work too easy. Y1 teacher was, imo, poor and just said that ds1 did every task he was set so he couldn't be bored. Never found him a book at his reading level and never listened to him read. He had been put up a year for phonics in recep so this continued in y1.
Y2 teacher told me she knew he needed more stretching and worked on it esp in numeracy. However ,he could no longer go up for phonics as the timetables didn't work out. At the end of the day though , there were 32 children in that class, a sig minority with SEN or behavioural issues and there was only 1 teacher and 1 TA. There was only so much they could do, and quite rightly, a lot of time and energy was expended on helping those who were struggling. Ds1 observed this, esp as sats drew nearer, and was definitely disengaging.
Which boils down to saying that as long as you are reasonable, I don't think it matters exactly how you raise it with teacher, but the response you get will be teacher- dependent, and resource-lmited.