Parents of KS1 G&T - opinions requested!

[MammaK]

Just a quickie, I have led a few G&T 'learning experiences' for schools in our local area aimed specifically at KS1 pupils as locally and commercially there is not much out there for them. They have been well received and had results that were better than I had hoped for.

If anyone has any opinions (I know that is a silly question to ask on MN) on what they would like a G&T experience/challenge for their KS1 child to be like your ideas would be very much appreciated. I am hoping to inspire some colleagues and would like to start with pupil and parental opinion (I have of course canvassed the pupils and parents with whom I work too).

Thank you xxx

Well, it's not really a challenge or an experience, but personally I would like a child to be able to either opt out of the X!@{>$^ reading scheme, or it's use be a lot more flexible when it comes to able children choosing books; A Ginn book about photosynthesis printed in the 1960's does not inspire a love of reading.

I'd much rather DS was challenged as part of the normal lessons.

choccy I'm with you there, I dont agree with one or two kids being chosen to do "Enrichment" days - I would much rather what time and resources do exist to benefit all children.

At my DDs old school, they didn't do any special days or anything but they had number group and writing group where the g&t children went off and did small group work with more challenging work once a week. My DD loved these sessions, as the work often gave her a real challenge. Lots of children went off to do group work for all different reasons - support classes, and general small group work, so it was never seen as anything special that the children did.

It worked well.

Agree with the other posters - appropriate challenge and stimulation should be provided primarily within the classroom. Apart from anything else, I don't want my dd to be labelled "gifted" or to feel that she is being singled out from among her peers.

Sorry, just to clarify - when I say that I don't want her to feel that she is being singled out, I'm not saying that I don't want differentiated work. Merely that I want that differentiation in the classroom on a daily basis, and not just on token "enrichment days" from which other children are excluded.

FWIW, her current teacher is very good at providing the differentiation that she needs.

OK so going out on a bit of a limb here... tried not to add this post for fear of huge backlash but...just...got...to

Any teacher who would even hope to be considered 'satisfactory' should differentiate appropriately as part of their daily/hourly classroom practise! That is without question.

Teachers have to aim their main teaching input at the middle ground in order to try and engage as many learners as possible... using quality questioning to try to reach those who do not understand and those who already know and need that bit more. Pupils who find it hard to understand are given additional support each day through a variety of means to ensure they remain motivated and do not lose confidence.

Additional activities provided for pupils who are judged to be G&T should be an attempt to achieve the same. Activities should also work on a whole class level too - in one memorable case our G&T pupils loved reporting back to the class on a discovery they made and spreading the enthusiasm! This was then picked up and really enjoyed by the whole group.

For those that are worried about 'singling out' - schools if doing their job should be assessing all pupils constantly and children progress at different rates so the register should change regularly... so it is never the same pupils every year (although some pupils do continually excel year on year). It is also not thought acceptable with my colleagues to label the pupils and say - you are G&T... and you are not!It is only right to involve parents as seek their opinion and approval for additional targets for them.

Different groups of pupils should be leaving or moving around the classroom daily for additional support or intervention strategies, small group work, outdoor classroom work, reading schemes etc. so small group movement should become a natural, rarely noticed part of classroom life!

Ideal world I know but manageable!

lovecheese I'm so sorry about the book scheme; very understandable to be frustrated by that. I'm sure you've been on the case and I wish you luck xx

Lovecheese - why have your child read them? DD was never officially on any sort of scheme although was given a few biff and chips in reception. SHe's always been sent to the classes above to get her choice of reading books from the library. SHe's in year 2 now and we send her reading books from home. Noone has questioned this. DD forgot one day and had to choose a biff and chip so never fogot since.

I would have liked for the school to have undertaken an accurate assesment to establish exactly where he was before offering extension activities at the right level.

I have read so many posts from people of averagely bright DC excited beyond belief that their off-spring has been labelled gifted. Indeed one lady posted on MN that her DD is Yr 3 and is working at L3a, gifted? ?what can I do to ensure her needs are met?? Is this anyway of ensuring all children?s needs are met. The G&T scheme within schools is creating a level of competition and neurosis amongst parents that will in no way help their children. Whilst the very name Gifted and talented is undermining the true nature of giftedness or talent it is also in no way providing for those children who are genuinely gifted.
Just my humble opinion

DD did a couple of pull-out 'enrichment' sessions for maths and art in yr2, both held at other schools in the city. They were fun, but they were one-offs, and I don't think were really particularly relevant.

To be at all meaningful, I think that kind of thing needs to be a regular small-group session at school with on-going projects and learning, for whichever children could benefit from it, not just the two or three in the class labelled as G&T. DS (older, and just as bright as DD) didn't get any kind of enrichment activity at primary, as he joined in yr4 and I think all the official G&T slots were taken (lots of bright kids in his year).

Or just have the kind of big one-off 'mad science' or similar session for the whole class which can be inspiring for children at all ability levels.

I agree with minimathsmouse. As a descriptive label it is essentially useless because it is relative measure.

Did I read somewhere that it was brought in by the government to prevent the middle classes taking their kids out of state schools?

Some schools don't even tell parents that their kids are on it and if they do they provide nothing.

As far as I know "Gifted" is top 2%, not relative 10%.

I took DS1 out of school because the provision made within the classroom was so poor. I don't think any amount of one off short courses or activity days would have convinced me that primary school was working for him. I think all children need to be challenged.

I run after-school maths clubs which cater for all KS1 children. I work in schools and so far I have found that most parents send their children because they feel they are struggling. In three years I have worked with one child who stood out as being truely gifted and she had never been anywhere near a school Something happens in schools when bright kids are left without adequate provision within the classroom, I read recently that many bright/gifted kids start to switch off around the age of 8 yrs if their learning exp do not engage and challenge them, no amount of short courses will solve the problem.

This raises another question though, how many gifted KS1 kids simply switch off without the right support and teaching, or is it that their learning curve was steeper between 2-8yrs, then other children come into their own much later. Will your extra G&T activity days make any real difference or are they just a reward for children who apply themselves to classroom work and meet certain criteria at a certain time. Waste of money then!

Do they make a difference - yes! Absolutely - pupil opinion (which should be the primary concern and not competitive parents on the playground) and working happily and with confidence at level much higher than their year group expectation would suggest so. The parents of those involved were thrilled by the burst of motivation their child displayed and work with us to ensure we keep it up.

I never asked for opinions on the scheme itself - just for activities that you feel may inspire your G&T children further!

As for inspiring all - can I make it any clearer that this should be done anyway? And that higher ability pupils should be challenged and stretched as well as G&T, middle ability, and those that find it a real challenge too! There is nothing to stop G&T activities spilling over to the rest of the class and I have never seen anything that prevents this apart from the teachers in classes - once again a beef you should take up with them and not on this post!

Are they a waste of money? That would suggest that planning for a G&T group costs money! Discovering a strange artefact that needs researching in challenging texts or finding out more about people from the past using a census... costs nothing! These are the additional group activities that should be happening regularly for our younger children that need something more than the curriculum offers. The activity days I have been part of have taken place at no cost - just a group of teachers who have given time and heads willing to pay cover.

Hi MaamaK, this thread my be long forgotten, but...
...I'd googled G&T KS1 and your thread came up. I'm the G&T co-ordinator in a primary school. I teach KS2 but would like to offer the G&T KS1 children in school enrichment activites. KS2 has a good variety of provision including in school and external day courses being offered. There is at present no extra KS1 provision (other than class differentiation) being offered and I wondered if you would mind sharing some of your ideas or giving me a push in the right direction?:)
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