Help! My 6yr old is G & T. What provisions etc??

[Sallyjessy]

My daughter is gifted and talented. Are there provisions in primary schools? I dont know anyone with a G & T child. And I dont think her school knows what to do although she is on the register and has moved classes. What should be happening? Any help appreciated x

oh, i've just noticed that the school that doesn't know how to cope with g&t has a g&t co-ordinator...

ha ha.

i would arrange a meeting with the g&t co-ordinator and the senco and ask them how appropriate differentiation can be managed alongside helping her with her social difficulties. (and ieps)

Pixie, I know. I'm a teacher .

It was a dreadful initiative from the start - stemming from this idea that all children are now equal and we musn't put one child above others, etc, etc.

When the G&T programme first came in it was meanginful - only the most gifted and/or talented were identified. Then suddenly it became the top 10%.

It's unhelpful nonsense I'm afraid.

As for the moving up to secondary school early thing - yes, v rare. We have a gifted child in Y6 who has been one year ahead of year group since Y4 and is now being held back a year cos they won't take him in secondary.

Nothing changes though - the same thing happened to me in 1983!!

Sorry, not much help to the OP .

Pixie, (are you a pixie ), yes, I do knit - and I love it !

Yes, I object hugely to the name because it raises expectations (and anxieties) amongst parents. I appreciate that the top of the class can often be as difficult to handle as the bottom 10% as their needs are very different. I have taught a few truly gifted children and keeping them from getting bored is hard (esp in maths!).

Also children's attainment can change constantly, especially in the primary years, and it can lead to bright children being ignored and children who started off as being bright but actually aren't that exceptional being treated as if they are geniuses.

It's all crazy crazy .

I don't know anything about G&T, but I do know about handling a child who isn't in the middle of the bell curve.

I think G&T is a really stupid name - it makes it sound as though they are going to either win the X factor or start spinning plates. However, that is what the government use, so I suppose until they change the label you are stuck with it.

All children want to be given the opportunity to learn at the edge of their capabilities, and all children need to play (as in trying out new things and laughing a lot with other people, not necessarily playing football if that isn't their thing). Go back to when your child was learning to walk - it is that constant need to try to do the next thing, but all children develop at a different pace. The best guide to how to treat your daughter is your daughter. If you watch her she should show you where she needs to be given opportunities and encouragement.

Most Schools, gear their teaching to children in the middle of the bell curve. It is difficult not to do this when you have 30 children in a class and a list of targets to attain.

This means that you will probably have to take more responsibility for giving her opportunities to learn than another parent whose child, at this particular moment, is more comfortable with the average pace.

Pixie, yep this is the problem - G&T sets up huge expectations for parents. However, if your child is in a very average class then they will be G&T even if they are only a little above average. There should be national standards that children need to meet.

As for being gifted one year and not the next, it's not completely unsurprising. Have you read NutureShock? Very interesting .

sallyjessy - what is rt that she is talented in?
I also think the 10% rule is daft, particularly as we have the definitions as gifted for academic ability and talented for 'other' stuff. However, i know a boy in the top 1% in our school for cycling, however he is not talented as such, just that not many children do it at competetive levels!
When I got DDs report her levels were such that friends asked if she was on the G&T register for school, but in her particular class, she is not in the top 10%! I am sure in many other classes she would be.
Thats why I am intertested to now the OPs childs levels - my DD is 6 year old too.

i think 'art' but i had to read it twice...

? please fill us in...!

Please don't worry about Aspergers. Of course it is a possibility (I don't know your child), but it is also over diagnosed and mis diagnosed. There could be all sorts of reasons why your child is having difficulties with other children.
I am sure that a county G&T coordinator would not have suggested accelerating her unless she was exceptional. My daughter has been working with children 2 years older than her and now she is in year 5 those children have gone to High School. We did not consider her going up early, but it really depends on the child. The next couple of years will be tricky, but the school are being very good and are currently, along with the county G&T coordinator, looking at providing a maths teacher from the High School. Fingers crossed. DD is also the only child identified in her school and here in Wales the top 20% are meant to be "More Able and Talented"
Even though they are meant to, many schools just don't do it and to be honest I can see why. The top 10% or 20% is meaningless. If a child is way above (as your DD must be) or way below expected levels then that child needs some extra support.
You may find it useful to call the NAGC for advice.

lililili
i'm only suggesting she looks at the 'twice exceptional' stuff to see whether she thinks her daughter might fit into this group - it was the op herself who identified 'my dd has awful problems - i could cry watching her with other children. she gets so frustrated.'

several of us have already pointed out that this is not the norm for gifted children, however 'profoundly' gifted they have been identified by you, me, or the county g&t co-ordinator (lol). many of the parents on this thread have dcs who taught themselves to read at a very age, and are academically several years ahead of their peers. (in fact, most)

it is extremely sad that some gifted children are not given the support they need for their social skills because their 'giftedness' is used as the rationale. it's just not helpful, and doesn't do them any good in the long run.

no-one on here is dxing sallyjessy's child as aspergers, but several of us immediately noticed her angst about her daughter's social skills in parallel with her apparent high academic ability (although we're not really sure how high that is currently, as the op has disappeared).

op - if you can give us some clue what level she is working at, we might be able to offer our experiences. dd2 was working between 7/8 and 12yo last year at 5.5, ds1 and dd2 are working two year's ahead (although they are slowing ds1's maths down as they don't want him to accelerate any further).

i've also offered some other ideas that school could be offering the dd, in line with the accelerated/ differentiated activities that seem to be available in most state schools for more able children.

but maybe she just came on for a brag and wasn't interested in finding anyone to talk to, or considering other people's experiences after all.

sallyjessy - hope you do come back - there are probably parents here with kids working at the same level as dd - if you do want to talk to them/ us, you're very welcome.

oh, and sallyjessy - the suggestions re aspergers were meant in no way to denigrate your daughter's achievements - my dd2 has cerebral palsy, and we are very aware of the 'twice exceptional' lit out of the states - in comparison with the low expectations of children with cp in the UK.

if your daughter is struggling in any area of her development - she needs help. that includes social skills - as valid a part of the curriculum as any other.

don't let how bright hse is be an excuse for you not to seek help for her if she needs it. you will be doing her no favours at all.

Its a shame sallyjessy has disappeared...

Sorry to butt in...just interested....what is it about the OP's statements which make you think of Aspergers? Is it the lack of social skills?

Can a child be G&T and have Aspergers too? Or are they always seperate? Oh! And what is the diff between gifted and talented?