Going for better school...

irvine my youngest was at a similar sounding primary school. The lower achievers was very definitely where the effort was put in, although I have to admit I let that wash over me as she was happy at the school, we had a pretty five minute walk to get to it and I contented myself with the fact that she seemed highly likely to get into a good secondary school which was also very close by. That's what you don't appear to have, unfortunately. Would you be prepared to say what the state school and independent options are which would be feasible for you locally? I don't mean names obviously, just a description. I don't expect you have to worry too much about cost for independent schools if your DS is as strong in Maths and English as he seems to be, so I'm just wondering what sort of choice you have without moving (not an option if you want to keep the family harmonious) or boarding (not an option at least for now).

Being one of the few has many pitfalls:

Not the right level of teaching as will teach to the majority ( esp if underfunded )
Peer group - may dumb self down to fit in
Depending on personality could make them arrogant

Malcolm Gladwell has written some interesting stuff about big fish small pond outcomes vs small fish big pond outcomes

I used to work with someone who saved like mad and then took on a massive mortgage to move to a "better" area with a "better" school. He later said it was the worst thing he ever did. At the "better" school he son was one of many, at the original school he was one of "the few" and got massive support and encouragement.

I have no idea if that would work for everyone.

irvineoneohone I don't think your DCs maths ability should be the only reason for you to look at the various options available for secondary school. What suits one child may not suit another.

Have a look at all options, let your son sit the entrance exams and then make your choice based on the schools available to you that you think will best suit your DC.

he maybe quite ordinary and I could be worrying for nothing.

Ah you know he's not quite ordinary

Having a year 8 son, I can tell you they change enormously from year 5 to year 8 :). Unfortunately the top "public schools" start their admissions process from year 5 when it is very difficult as a parent to look ahead and imagine their 13 year old being ready to go to a boarding school.

I hope you are able to look at Winchester / Eton / others with your son, talk to people with and about him, and see what both his reaction and your own is. And if somewhere like there feels right, work backwards from there to what you need to do over the next few years.

A few comments have been made about children having "normal" social relationships etc. I can assure you, if you and your interests are well outside the curve, you won't experience many "normal" interactions with your peer group until such time as you are in a situation that selects for your intellectual peer group - I'm not trying to be snobby here. I didn't ever feel comfortable that I fitted in with a group around me until olympiad training courses, and only started to master social skills at university. Eventually discovered in my 20s I was a "people person"!

I really hope the OPs son can have a chance at finding a real peer group in his teens.

OP I worry that your son will not thrive in the school you describe. I think he will need somewhere which is accustomed to teaching children with very high ability in one area.

I would imagine all of the top 13+ Preps will have encountered children of his abilities before. Why don't you find the ones in your area and contact them?

Or give us a vague idea of where you're located and we can suggest some.

Yes I've acknowledged the good fortune of happening to live close to a good secondary school noble. I couldn't have made up for the failings of a poor local school so it was fortuitous. That said, it surprises me that parents identify exceptional talent where teachers don't seem to. I could work out that a DC was generally bright but I wouldn't have noticed a maths prodigy or any other prodigy come to that.

Please ignore the incorrect bolding!

goodbye your kids went to superselectives, so you didn't have to worry about failing with regard to academic conversations. They were getting that input elsewhere.

I may think about boarding in the future too, if his health issues get better and has less check ups. (It's mostly managing meds regularly, so he has to get used to it soon or later.)

Are you aware that most boarding schools will have a qualified nurse on-site all day and a sick bay for medical isolation? Plus the Matron who sleeps on site will often have a medical background.**

At one point my DC needed medication giving 5 times a day.* Nurse & Matron did this.* Once they are deemed old and mature enough by the nurse they are then able to manage their own medication, depending on what exactly it is.

Also, depending on the school, they may be able to escort DC to hospital appointments.* Certainly a lot of boarding Preps are happy to do this, you can always check with the various Senior Schools.*

Also, keep in mind that many schools offer boarding for a few nights a week or Monday - Friday, so perhaps that could be a good in-between solution?

I don't think it has to be the parent either goodbye. But they should have access to somebody who is able to converse on their level and offer help when needed.

Goodbye I can't judge this child's talent precisely. I don't know him, haven't seen any of his work or anything like that. It does worry me that no one in real life has actually picked him up and assessed him either. What I'm going off is what irvine has posted over the last couple of years about what her DS has been working on, and questions that he has been able to answer.

It is not unusual to be precocious in maths in Y5, but it is unusual to be so obsessed with it that you spend a lot of your free time teaching yourself new concepts from the internet.

Ah ok, I haven't really looked at primary threads for ages either.

Having read and joined in on the primary boards for a fair few years, I can partially answer that - I've always been impressed by irvines commitment to support her ds where she can, I've never seen such a sponge for insight and information as she is! Which means she has regularly posted pretty specific information on what her ds is working on, what his questions are etc, to try to support him as much as she can.

Irvine, I'm really glad you're thinking about this now, I have a lot of admiration for all you've been doing to support him.

noble I haven't been on a G&T thread in my life, but I'm curious as to how you can judge this child's talent so precisely. Lots of DC are precocious in maths in Y5 aren't they?

OP I don't think parents should feel they need to be able to converse at a high academic level on each and every subject in the curriculum, and that if they don't or can't that they're somehow failing their children. I've certainly never had maths conversations with my kids, or any academic conversations come to that. I don't feel I've failed them on account of that.

Even if he is banned from working ahead at home, and is taught by the mediocre (or even bad) until he's 18, he's still always going to be far ahead because he'll always grasp concepts so much quicker. Or more likely not even need to learn them because from his PoV many/ all GCSE topics will fit into the ridicuously simple category.

I don't even think whether he progresses from an exam/ educational perspective is the main issue if he isn't taught at his level. Least suitable school or perfect, his end exams will still be the top grade. But if he's turned off maths by the tedium of simple (for him) maths, he's less likely to pursue it beyond school. And if he does pursue it he won't have the resources to cope when he does come across maths that he finds difficult.

Who knows, maybe he'll go down a different route entirely, but he should have a fair choice between eg MFL and maths, rather than because his love of maths has been ruined by unsuitable teaching.

Because, Bertrand no one with any particular mathematical expertise (no offence irvine) is overseeing what this boy is doing, steering him along the right path, correcting his misconceptions or sharing his enthusiasm.

And that's not a good thing.

If by the time he has got to secondary he has covered the KS3 and KS4 curriculum (or has he? If no one is assessing him accurately?) then what would a school that stops at 16 have to offer him for the next 5 years?

“What would be the benefit to the child of restricting their choice of leisure activity because it is also a school subject?”

No benefit at all. But if that is the case, i’m not sure why the maths is relevant to choosing a school......

what is the benefit to a child of working so far ahead in one subject?

From what I know, the OP's DS has been entirely self-driven in this regard and rather than receiving tuition of any kind has been teaching himself from internet-based programs of study and Khan Academy.

What would be the benefit to the child of restricting their choice of leisure activity because it is also a school subject?

And I think that talent of that nature shouldn't be stymied by the limits of our generally pretty good, but necessarily ranged around the average pupil, education system.

Exactly that. Though I would extend 'average;' to, probably, the middle 85-90% of the ability curve, that big hump in the middle of the bell curve, who are served well in the vast majority of schools both state and private. it is the extreme outliers at each end, in one subject or in many, who may need specific provision or specific institutions.

He sure has Bert

I of course know nothing about OP's child ability. I'm just going by the slightly awed tone from a few posters who seem to know something about him. But back in my academia days (though to be clear; I am not and was never a mathematician!) I would come across the occasional young prodigy. So I know it can happen, though a lot more rarely than is portrayed in our media. And I think that talent of that nature shouldn't be stymied by the limits of our generally pretty good, but necessarily ranged around the average pupil, education system.
If OP's child is one of the very few, there will be people out there who could advise and mentor him.