Grr. Why are all "bored" DSs allegedly unrecognised G&T? Teachers must tear their hair out!

[teslagirl]

Why is it that seemingly every 8 and 9 y.o. DS who announces he's "bored at school" is automatically regarded by his mother as being "very intelligent but under stimulated" by the school? Sometimes I feel I'm surrounded by it! I had 2 parents helping at the school disco who said this, separately. The DSs are both Y3- and as luck would have it, both in my DS1s class (he's Y4 in a Y3/4 combo) and HE said, when obliquely questioned that both DSs are in Maths 4 and Literacy 4- out of 5. As "very intelligent" Y3s they should surely be in 3 or EVEN 2 if they're REALLY G&T (bearing in mind group 1 is full of the brightest Y4s)!

I heard this also in the wash-up after Y4 parents evening- a few mums who told the teacher DS needed more work as he'd said he was "Bored", proof indeed that the school was evidently failing them... Surely it's cool for junior school boys to claim EVERYTHING is 'Boring'?- it's in the nature of being 8-11 esp whilst emulating the studied ennui of the older boys! It doesn't necessarily mean they ARE bored OR, if they genuinely are, let's not go assuming it's because our DS is an unrecognised G&T thus are under stimulated/failed by the school, but maybe entertain the possibility that DS can't be bothered/hasn't got the maturity to understand the value of engaging with his education! I know the DSs concerned and I don't see any glimmer of genius lurking within!

One further point- and I know this is thin ice: It also strikes me how many of the mothers concerned haven't got an O level to rub together. Perfectly nice people, all, but women who will admit they spent secondary snogging behind the bike shed but suddenly spout authoritatively on the nature of Education Theory and The Undiagnosed Genius.

gifted and talented to me is a farce

all children are good at some things and not so good at others g&t labels put pressure on everybody - all children have mischief in them thats why they re children i sy let children be children and hold back labels.

fwiw i have 3 ds 1 is g&t 1 is just regular and 1 is HE so i teach him to his ability - to me theyre just boys naughty and nice and they will all find there place in the world.

Recognising genuinely gifted children is not a farce but the G and T scheme is.

Although having said that in a school such as mine the children who on the whole benefit from it would get very little without the money G and T brings.

Kerrymum you've been sucked in!

Dito Twinset. How easy it is to blame the teachers....

Damn right some stuff is boring to learn and to teach. We still have to do it though.....I think I wil misbehave when I have to deliver a dull factual lesson....as MB says, not every lesson is a three ring circus.

Clever underacievers often are just plain naughty

We will have to agree to disagree there Kerrymum, although I don't pretend to know what the answer is.

'Bored' in my school often equals badly behaved. They then get assessed and it always starts "X is a bright child..."

I am incredibly bored today doing end of year reports. (Hence procrastinating on mumsnet here and there.) That's life.

Bright children are often mischevious..it takes brains to be crafty

No-one has the right to disrupt a lesson. If for no other reason that it is rude and that other children may be enjoying/getting the benefit. Clever children should be able to learn that just as easily as the 'ordinary' types.

Heated, in my school it starts, 'X can produce work of a very high standard when he chooses'

I am bored today trying to avoid my reports, I suspect I would be less bored if I just got on with it!

in our school the trouble makers are called "spirited"

I have to say that i think that there is an element of 'my child is so bright he is just bored' as a means to explain poor behaviour or poor results.
that does not negate the probelm of keeping genuinely advanced kids interested.
But I think this echos beautifully my fav irriation.
'my child is agreat kid but he got in with the wrong crowd'.
ahem . Your child is the wrong crowd actually.
And 'my child is no angel but...'
which always seems to mean 'my child is a total shit but we choose nil accountability as a parental option'

There is an element of that fizzbuzz my daughter has a real mischevious side to her but she knows there is a time and a place.

I also know very mischevious children who are are not brght at all.

I here spirited as well

hear sorry

X is a lively student ( I can't get him to sit down in the class)

Who is always happy to contribute to class discussions (never shuts up)

His written work is not as good as his oral contributions to the lessons (he never completes a written task unless I stand behind him)

To improve he needs to take control of his own learning (and do some work)

He needs to have a more consistent attitude to homework (he needs to do some)

He is capable of doing well, but he needs to concentrate on his studies (so it will be a cold day in Hades then)

'Bright children are often mischevious..it takes brains to be crafty'

• I so agree, I was never imaginative enough to be naughty, not like my DD1!

I'm trying to avoid reports hence spending time reading this

MB - I'm sure that post is very helpful to teachers writing reports!

rolf MB

I put 'works well under supervision' for a graduate trainee once.... ( watch this lazy xxx like a hawk)

lol MB

Being bored at school is just something kids have to get used to. They are sometimes bored at home. God knows, they'll be bored at work, no matter what they do. Let them get used to it now.

I think it's an excuse sometimes for kids who don't achieve much and don't have much discipline. In life it's so much easier to blame the teachers than to own up to our parental responsibilities.

Don't get me wrong...I know that our kids don't generally get much individual attention in the state school system. Not much is tailored to a child and not much gearing up is done around their strengths and weaknesses. But our kids have to learn to adapt to this. They have to live with things the way they are. If we pander to their every whim and provide a utopian school life for them, what happens when they get into the world of work and realise that life doesn't work that way???

I like the school report comments...very funny. I only hope I don't see anything like this in dd's report. If I do, I may be eating humble pie next time I post!

well said squilly. IME its the worst behaved ones who are 'bored'

FWIW my dd once had this as a comment on her report

'X is a delightful, bright student who likes nothing better than to talk about her work to anyone who will listen'

ROTFL!

Ie she never shuts up!