To think extra lessons for top students isn’t fair?

[Beepboobeep]

My DD’s state primary school has a “top maths club” and “great writers club” for the top performing students in yr 5 and 6 held outside of school hours. There is no charge for this - so it’s free childcare and free tutoring. You have to be invited. This has been running since the second week of the school year and is restarting on the first day of this half term.

By contrast, my dyslexic DD is in a group for those needing more support in writing, also outside of school hours. But they only managed 2 sessions last year and it hasn’t started back up this year. She gets ad hoc in school support; where it happens she misses other lessons that aren’t then caught up on, putting her further behind in the those.

I appreciate these children deserve challenging, but surely that could be done in class with different work and the teacher’s out of hours time, if available, used to help those struggling?

Is this even allowed in a state primary?

They should be getting support in school hours. Raise it with the SENCO. Find an extracurricular that she enjoys. After school clubs are optional, they're not there to deliver the curriculum, that needs to be done in normal school hours.

So perhaps they ARE the ones that need the support

😂😂😂😂😂😂 We must live in very different areas. These children are HEAVILY tutored outside of school already. They went to 11+ camp 5 days a week between yr 4 and yr 5, they will between yr 5 and yr 6. Few have a natural ability, they are tutored towards an inch of their lives as it is. They don’t need more when those that could do with support are forgotten

The entire curriculum is aimed at the middle for starters. So all day every day for them. Every school I’ve been in gives most of their provisions to those needing it. This is a very rare change.

No one is stopping you from supporting your own child’s learning as much as you want outside school.

So, respectfully, why did you send your child there, if it’s a hothouse that doesn’t provide for your child’s needs?

Sounds great. The school I worked at decided to prioritise the top twenty percent rather than the bottom twenty percent in order to bring as many dc as possible to greater depth. They were so thrilled to be going off and with adults as it had never happened to them before.

But her out of school hours support (which I’m not saying should be offered regardless to anyone) managed 2 sessions in a year! These free clubs haven’t missed a week. Make that make sense?

but is it right or fair? Support for naturally gifted children without extra support at home fine. But these children’s parents already pay fortunes for out school tutoring

If you have a bright child in primary then they are forever used almost like TAs giving support to the less capable so if they are getting extra to stretch them to their capabilities im in favour...im sick of the brighter ones being held back by 'everyone is equally capable' which is completely untrue.

Funny enough I didn’t realise my 3yo (her age when you have to apply) had dyslexia.

I’m from the area, this is my closest primary school. most other parents moved to the area specifically for this school.

it was covid so I couldn’t look round it.

we are already in the process of moving her.

I thought you said your dd got adhoc support in your op? Is that 121? So more than these group sessions?

all of that extra curricular stuff in summer was up to parents, so thats up to you to do that.

Happy for them to have clubs if those that need it have support first.

Question how do you know so much about the lives of all the other children?
If you know this is going on why haven't you invested the same in your own daughters education?

Teachers hold clubs in their own time after school. There's a big. Difference between having fun exploring higher level maths problems and tutoring struggling children.

Your child should be getting support within school hours. And you should speak to Sendco and teachers about this. An after-school club is not the right place

Those other kids need it though.

To reach their potential.

I’m secondary but I run an after school (or lunchtime- it varies every year) to support students applying to Oxbridge or other unis that have the aptitude tests.

This is spending extra time on already very good students.

Is this ok? If so I can’t really see any difference with primary providing stretch and challenge doing things adjacent to the normal curriculum.

Well we will shortly be moving her to a private school so yes, but why should children who get full marks get more free support than those that don’t? I’d be fine with it if they also gave support to those who need it.

It used to be called Stretch and Challenge

The top, most able kids got supported to do more, the least able got supported to meet the basic levels and gain more confidence and the kids in the middle ground got a bit more attention than they would have because the most and least able kids were being kept engaged by their targeted work

Then being clever, able, skilled became a bad thing and those kids got left to drift, bored and probably a bit destructive

So.yes, it is fair and probably long overdue a proper comeback

Yes, if your school also supports those struggling

Why should struggling children automatically be prioritised over excelling children though?

You have no real logical argument other than you want your child to have access, you’re insanely jealous of children who are tutored or put in summer camps but you won’t give your child the same help.

That sounds lovely and absolutely fair. Not when those struggling get nothing

I’m not saying prioritised - I’m asking for equal

I don’t think you quite get that the last thing a struggling child wants to do is spend extra time outside of school hours on more maths and English. The teachers are volunteering their own precious time unpaid to spend more time on the gifted students so they can devote more time on the less able during actual school hours

No, I’m asking for my child to be given ANY support. She gets nothing from
the school. The top performers are getting MORE.