To think DS is an above average child!

[FragrantFiona]

He is 12 years and 3 months old and took a GCSE Physics exam at the weekend (printed from internet and sat at dining table in exam conditions). He got 84%.

Even more extraordinarily, he did this completely off his own back. Absolutely no input from me. In fact I tell him off for constantly studying stuff as I feel it’s not healthy that he’s not interested in doing normal kid stuff!

Recently found out he has a WhatsApp group where he gives homework answers to the other kids in his year. Everyone is on there!

He attends a ‘good’ state school. What should I do with him?

If he wants more test papers to do, most past papers are available on the Cognito website, along with info on everything they are taught (resources and videos) for the 3 sciences and I think they might have Maths on there too. I'd have a chat with his tutor and see if they can give you any ideas on how to support him and challenge him further.

Get him interested in data science. He will earn a fortune one day (data science, not analytics btw).

Is his name Sheldon Cooper by chance.

Genuine question though, who marked it? I know lots of past papers are available but there's still training to be done for marking and interpretation of answers. Even science questions aren't a black and white right answer in some cases. DS15 does old maths papers but we don't mark them as some of it is a grey area to an untrained eye, we just use it to identify areas he doesn't know or doesn't remember from Y9.

I work in a school in a data role, even teachers marking is scatty when compared to the "real" thing.

@ChateauxNeufDePoop . This one was from 2018. He asked me to mark it but we had to go through how to mark it together as I agree they are difficult to mark!

He did a Computer Science GCSE paper after dinner tonight and he got 93%. Took longer to mark than for him to do it!

If he was truly remarkable, then his teachers would have surely picked up on this. Or, he could one of those kids who keep a low profile at school but are great at exams etc. Either way, keep encouraging him and his light will shine and will be noticed.

There was a large class of us that were sitting GCSE science in year 8, I got 100% in some exams, as did others. About 60 out of 300ish probably were in these classes. Then about 20 of us were studying a levels in year 10.

He's above average. But not like incredible. Someone has to be above average, someone has to be below average. Encourage his interests but don't give him a big head, it won't serve him well in life.

OP speak to the school about how to support him as presumably he must've been getting As consistently and they must know how smart he is already.

Congratulations on your gifted son OP.

I'm a former teacher and the best thing to do, if your assessment of his abilities is accurate, would be to move school. If his school doesn't have a decent amount of pupils with high attainment then they're likely failing him, sadly. They just won't be set up to deal with him properly. Having high attainers is a badge of honour for some state schools and they tend to shout about it, but if it's not something they consistently have, their focus and efforts will be elsewhere. Understandably, they look at their cohort as a whole and all policies are geared towards getting the best results for them. Also, having peers to learn with and from is really beneficial more often than not, and it can be lonely to be different.

If that really isn't an option, you'll have to be 'that parent' I'm afraid, and ask them what they're doing to challenge him. If he's doing the same class as much less able peers with a few extension tasks thrown in, that's not really good enough. But teachers are so stretched and adequately factoring a very able child into a lesson where all other pupils have more standard abilities isn't easy.

I would get a tutor for the subjects he's most keen on. They can also assess his abilities professionally and tell you where he's at. (Be careful how you ask if you want candour: nobody wants to tell a mum their child isn't as special as she thinks!)

Oh and it's entirely possible the school doesn't know the extent of your son's academic potential! They will absolutely know he's bright, but if the school's focus is not on high-attaining pupils, and if he's quiet, or especially if he's disruptive and a bit of a joker, it is possible they've never stretched him enough to know what he can do. I say this as someone who was in set 3 for everything until I sat year 9 SATs (when they were still a thing) after a period of truancy and terrible attendance. I was in set 1 for everything within a day of the results ('outstanding' school).

The amount of tall poppy syndrome on MN is nauseating. Top students need appropriate accelerated curriculum with highly intelligent peers with appropriate social supports. Highly able children do better with a suppotyive cohort of other smart students. They’re rather less likely to have breakdowns that way.
At the same time, there are some students so far behind that attempting even foundation GSCEs isn’t wise. Working with them on fundamental skills would be more reasonable for them.