Top 2%, very superior, average school....now what?

[neverknowinglyunderdressed]

Looking for advice...I have DTS aged 7, P3 (Scottish system) who were disruptive, fidgety daydreamers at school. I suspected they were highly intelligent so when called in to meet the Head and the class teacher to discuss 'behaviour issues' I tried to steer the discussion towards enrichment rather than discipline, successfully, I think. School then informed me that they had been placed on 'Accelerated learners program''. Kids have now settled down in class which could be to do with AL or could be coincidental.

I wanted to know for sure so I bit the bullet and coughed up the money to have one tested by an Ed Psych, turns out I was right (about one of them at least).
Felt better for about for a millisecond, now feel dazed.

Does anyone know anything about the AL program, how do I check up on it? Do I share the Ed Psychs report with the school? Do I need to look into a different school, ie. independent or will AL suffice for now?

Current school is small (80 kids) shared Head, composit classes and in the last inspection it was noted that it struggles to stretch more able pupils. New teacher (graded Excellent) has now been put in charge of AL so think they are trying to address it.

Concerned that at this school they may just coast along, not working to their optimal level, although I've no real basis for this belief. Equally, I don't necessarily buy into the fact that all private schools are better and successfully get the best out of bright kids.

Actually the learning support teacher idea was mentioned by them - but I get the feeling I have to officially ask for it or something.

How can one of 4 in 1000 in verbal comp not be unusual??

Will look into the Usbourne book, thanks

I'm not saying the top 0.4% isn't unusual, just that it's not freak territory. An 1Q of 130-140 is bright, but not Einstein. If he was calculating Fourier transforms in the Infants, then yes, you might need a bit of specialist advice. As it is, he's extremely good at verbal comprehension. That's a good thing, I don't really see why you're trying to turn it into a problem?

Neverknowingly - I just don't think it's true that bright people will only end up socialising with the top 20%. Well. I've met quite a few for whom it's true and they are generally arrogant and not much fun to be around. And mostly went to public school, but that's another story.

Being able to get along with a wide range of people is important - I live in a small town now, and if I sorted my friends by their intellect I would a) be an arse and b) be rather lonely.

But I've also done a number of (what would be seen as high powered) jobs where the ability to get on with every other kind of person is essential. So I think you are very, very wrong on that one.

It's a mathematical algorithm for decomposing a complex waveform into its constituent sine waves.

There aren't that many good Scottish private schools unless you're in a capital like Edinburgh compared say with the SE where within 50 miles you can find a good % of the top 20 schools in the country. The fees for good day private schools in England with very competitive entry where most people who apply aren't bright enough to get in are more like £10k a year not £20k a year. Our children were/are educated in schools where the entry is based on IQ in effect so everyone ni the school is fairly bright (schools like North London Collegiate they are not posh, just for very very bright children). Does a bright child do better in a class at primary or secondary level where everyone has a high IQ? Probably as the standard of debate in class is higher but comprehenseives stream children so they might get that there.

Our do loads of music etc but it's certainly not a round trip and we can do stuff with them at home too.

The intersting thing is the differences in outcomes. 50% of children at good universities come from the 6% of children at fee paying schools and given a lot of those fee paying schools are for not very bright children it's quite an interesting statistic.

If the fees could easily be afforded and there is a good day school near you pay but don't assume it will always be better. Look at the exam results and where pupils go on to study at university. (I picked a career which meant i could afford 5 sets of school fees and I suppose part of the reason i coudl do that was I was reasonably bright, mesna score if you count those things over 150 at one stage and lower when I was younger, univesrity prizes etc)

neverknowing - it really isn't that unusual. two of my three children have an iq over 130 (i only remember the 142 one because she drools and it makes an interesting rebutt) - and the other one hasn't been tested. they are bright, but they aren't einstein. (in fact, the one who hasn't been tested is the one the teacher refers to as einstein lol).

tbh, i actually think that if all children were wechsler tested, they'd have to alter the gradings hugely. there are definitely other children in the dc's classes who are as capable. they have always been in bog standard state schools btw. (we wouldn't gt dd2 into a private school anyway, what with the cp and all).

and i have to say, i sort of resent the implication that i'm not doing enough by them for not demanding everyone recognises their brilliance and singularity. differentiation meets their needs in primary school perfectly adequately.

we occasionally toy with he-ing ds1 (he of the not-tested iq lol - oddly dd1 and dd2 with their high iqs are fine in school ) because he seems to have a style of learning that doesn't really respond to the state approach. and he asks about he, reasonably often.

i do know what the wechsler testing stats suggest, but i do believe that in rl an iq of over 130 is really not unusual enough to get too over-excited. particularly when the school recognise they are capable children and are planning accordingly.

Had the other one tested this week. He scored in the 99.7 percentile for FSIQ. So higher again than his brother. I'm glad I had him tested as this was a shock and he is completely under the radar on this at school, where he prefers telling jokes!

But I suppose some of you are going to tell me that, 'this really isn't that exceptional', 'quite normal' and 'he will be fine.'

neverknowinglyunderdressed - it is indeed completely normal to prefer telling jokes to jumping up and down and asking for algebra.

Have your children become disruptive and fidgety in class again, or are they and the school apparently happy? I really don't understand the panic about their IQs if there are not current issues and the school has recognised and acknowledged their intelligence - why move them away from an "excellent" teacher to get them into an "excellent" school where they may actually have one of the more mediocre teachers at that school to teach them, in any event? Why move them if they are happy? They haven't suddenly become fragile flowers set to be crushed by the mediocrity of state education just because you know their IQ scores. There are actually a LOT of children with IQs as high as your dts in state schools up and down the country, some of them learning valuable skills which do not necessarily come easily to them, because a great many skills and personal attributes have little or nothing to do with IQ (skills and attributes which in many respects are far more important and valuable in terms of the potential to do well and be happy in life). A child's IQ does not define them, it is one part of them and you need to look at your children as a whole and how they are developing, rather than banging on about their IQ results.

um, yep. very good, clever children. just like, er, mine and lots of others.

they will be fine. honestly. they are now, and they still will be if you let the school get on with it.

i'm with rabbitstew. i think you might be just in that first flush of excitement because you've got their iq scores and they are now 'officially' clever, as opposed to just being regarded as clever.

school know they are clever, and are putting differentiated stuff in place.

ergo - there is no need for you to do anything except file the ep reports in case it all goes wrong at some point in the future.

I was bored to hell in maths at GCSE. I nearly cried every lesson and I wished they'd just started the A-level.

I quit maths. I was scared it may be too easy or hard.
I hate that teacher. She should be sacked. She made me hate maths.
I am actually a teenager and this is how mind numbing work affected me

I am an average person. Imagine how being gifted feels.

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