thinking of sending ds to a private school - advise needed please!!!!!

[jinna]

my ds is 5 and has been in a state school since reception - we are now thinking to send him to a private prep school - the reasoning being that hopefully he will be able to get into a good grammar school later on . This grammar is heavilky oversubscribed and we feel the only way he would be able to get in is if he gets a lot of support. He is doing well at the state school but with more personal attention at the prep school he should progress well.

My husband and myself went to see the prep school and were surprised and the differences in the schools - the class size was smaller and the sports facilities were great - but the atmosphere felt very disciplined and formal - is this the norm for prep schools - we want our DS to do well but don't want him to lose his personality.

Also the prep school has its own curriculum and also have their own inspection - how do you tell if they are teaching to the right standard. We have no experience of private education and independent schools - so please any advise would be great

Our (state primary) school does really well supporting G&T children. It is a large, oversubscribed primary - 60 children per year, so they do have good resource levels. The funding for special activities just comes out of the school budget.

For example: They have a children's philosophy group. There is an initiative with local schools which runs a summer school for these children at junior level, and there is a Saturday morning group for them too. G&T children get extended work to do above and beyond 'top table' when appropriate, and wherever possible they get a bit of individual 1:1 time (only about half an hour a month). In addition there are specialist resources for sports and music.

Could do with the philosophy option for dd at the moment. Last night she was asking me about how the world was made (Big Bang vs God). She is 7. She said, 'But how could God make the world by saying let there be light? It was people who first made words'. I was quite impressed! At 4 she was asking, if God made the world, what did he make it from? I can deal with the science stuff OK (eg how does electricity get down the wires, why does the sky go red at night). but the phylosophical stuff is not my field.

Glad to hear that your school does G & T so well. Great to see them geting extended, not just accelerated IYSWIM

My school does nothingfor g & f.

or g & t

Nor mine, and we have just beein OFSEDed and it will be flagged up, big time.

We don't really dp much for G&T either. It is all well intentioned but doesn't seem to go anywahere. For example I had 10 G&T in my Y8 ICT class last year. I was supposed to help them get through the Key Skills Level 1 in ICt in the year. However they were in a class of 32. Didn't have a computer each, and we HAVE to follow the National Strategy which is teacher led for the most part, so little time for teaching an entirely different course to 1/3 of class, whilst teaching something else to rest. So - it remained incomplete Was supposed to be followed up this year - I no longer teach them and their new teacher is doing little about it.

I have noticed in this year's cohort we no longer have G&T at our school, we now have MA&T (more able and talented)!

The only thing that we do are twilight sessions in MFL.

My sons current school has extended work sets for the three G+T kids in my sons year, him included, it is adequate but he does still sail through it. He is bored he says so, the teacher uses him to help and support his needier class mates, this irks me a lot, but it is said to encourage the school social support circle.
Hmmm???
We are moving to Lincs this August, the boarding secondary school we have applied for is in Sussex - all of this is injuring me as my baby daughter (and the next one if/when born) will grow up without a big brother - as they are biologically half siblings, I wonder if the division will be more so... It terrifies me to lose my baby boy from my nest.
However as the school in question offers means tested fees and selects children with specific talents, it is simply an opportunity not to let go. What a bind.
In Lincs they have a grammar school system (I am from NZ so not sure what this means) folks have said that the 11+ is mandatory (this is fine DS is good with this scenario) so what do the results do? Does it mean education is higher than somewhere with non grammar school thingy?
SO confused, desperateley seeking ways to keep family together without compromising such a stunning childs future promise.
Arrghh sorry jinna this has kinda hijacked your thread, I am sorry

I have found that gifted kids do get a lot out of peer support, but they have to be quite sociable to do this. There are grammer schools in Lincoln shire, but not everywhere. None in Lincoln iteself, for example.

Grammer schools used to be the Norm in the UK. All children used to set and examination at age 11 where was a test of their intelegence. The most able went to Grammer schools and sat 'O' levels. the ones that 'failed' the test went to secondary modern scools and did CSEs in more vocational subjects. This was seen (not without reason) as being a bad thing to do. Kids were effectivly labeled as failures at age 11, and it took no notice of kids who matured late, or had particular skills in one or two subjects.

The comprehensive system was brought in, where all kisd were taught in the same school, regardless of ability. There was a division in the exams, sets were streamed, the more 'able' did O levels and the rest did CSEs. Now all children sit GCSEs. An A-C is seens as an equivalent to the old O level. They are all supposed to pass with something, but to be honest, most employers are only interested in A-C passes.

If your son passes his 11+ he will be taught with other children who have passed. In general these will also be able children. GCSE passes in Grammer schools are almost always higher than Comprehensives. This is because onlt the 'best' get to go, and they also tend to have fewer disruptive children (this is not always the case tho).

HTH,
Contact Tech if you want more info on the Lincs area

"G+T kids"? lol, didn't anyone tell you it isn't good for them at that age?

Hmb - great to hear about your daughter's philosophy questions. All the teachers in our school have had some training in children's philosophy, which is great. ...

Need to get them onto politics for children next ... DS1 spent half an hour on Monday quizzing me about the political and historical situation in Israel/Palestine ...?! Could he have chosen a more complex issue to ask me about? I dread to think what he's going to say to his Sunday School teacher next week (they are doing Abraham atm). I think I shall have to ban him from watching Newsround, unless dh is around to answer the questions

I have a very political 10yr old, email me for the poem he just wrote - it may be published in Private Eye...

And at age 6 he got sent home from school after an RE lesson with the homelink note... Max enjoys debate, however he is far too young to be a sceptic...
When quizzing the RE teacher about God and his "alleged" making of the world the teacher got quite arsey with him... He said "haven't you heard of the Gulf of Mexico, the Big Bang theory or read Stephen Hawkings miss? You shouldn't make up your mind until you have read all available resources.."
Verbatim...

When I was in hospital having ds, dd was just gone 3. The midwife was listening to ds's heartbeat using a foetal monitor. She very kindly turned to dd and sai. 'Do you think it sounds like a train or a horsey?' Dd looked her in the eye and said, 'Sounds like a heart beat to me' I think she'd get on well with your ds!

That's fab kiwisbird.

LOL hmb.

LOl sobright.

do I hear the sound of p* gently being extracted..

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My 4 year old son's IQ is has been conservatively measured at 999 and he is clearly just too bright for a state school. The local infant school have advised me that he's really too precious and clever to mix with the rough children there. He'd just be so unhappy and lost among the stupid and deprived kids that comprise their intake that I feel I don't have a choice. If only there were schools who would provide properly for those who have genius in their very blood. My son himself said to me at age three, "Mother dearest, the world of children is discriminatory towards the talented and cannot accomodate one of my profound intellect. It is my belief that we should look elsewhere." I always listen to him and try to act on his instincts- after all he is so much cleverer than me- so I began to explore other options. Luckily Magdalen College Oxford have agreed to let him onto their Greats course fourteen years early and he's absolutely thriving there. He's quite the little professor and everybody loves him! It's such a gift- and quite a responsibility!- to be entrusted with a child who is so extraordinary, I can assure you!

Message withdrawn

My god the poor kid is 5 years old - let him be a kid and put this to the back burner for a while!!

ok these spoofs are v. funny , but let's not let it get cruel, eh?