Gifted or just bright?

[Hha72]

Hi
My son Will is in year 1 and has just had his annual report where he gained 3c's across the board for reading, writing and numeracy. We have been told by his teacher right from reception that he is gifted and it is clear from those levels that he is very bright. I don't like to ask the parents of his friends what levels their kids got as don't want to be seen as bragging so have nothing to compare him against. I know the average for end of year 2 is 2b so clearly he is clever but is he really gifted?
Hayley

Hi.
My daughter Katie is like your son. She has always been into reading, writing and maths from a very young age and she was reading easy at age 3, as I was too. She didn't to go a nursery but went straight to school at 4 and teachers were not impressed that she could already read! They like to keep them all the same i think. When Katie took her first SATs at year 2 she got 4a for them which was good. I understand what you mean by not asking other parents because i had the same thing. Some looked down at me and were jealous because i am a single parent on benefits (although i do some caring work!) and they didn't like the fact that my daughter is "brainy" and that i must MAKE her do school work all the time! Its never been like that at all. She has been really into school since she started and loves to be challenged.Her primary school suggested that i try and get her into one of our private schools on a bursary but after contacting the school i was put off by the sheer snobbiness when i told them what school she was currently attending! She is in year 7 at the moment and on her assessments is getting 7a on all subjects. My daughter is on the gifted and talented register which we knew nothing about and was only told in year 6 that she has been on it since year 1. It is not really mentioned at her high school but they do have slightly different work to do and more of it and go on different school trips and do challenges against local independent schools but thats probably it. But sometimes i feel she is being punished by having extra work because she is bright! Anyway i do think your son may be gifted but nothing may be said by his school as they like to hold them back sometimes and keep to one style of learning. i.e have them all the same and learn at the same rate. You could mention the G and T register but to be honest it doesn't do a lot. Good luck with it and you are not bragging. You are a concerned parent looking to get the best for your child and there is nothing wrong with that. x x

That isn't the case at my school, ibizagirl. I am a governor there and I have seen the planning that goes into differentiation and observed lessons where this happens. I know what happens to children on the g and t register.

That said, children often level out after a quick start so who knows whether your child is gifted or not. All you can do is support their learning.

when is his birthday? At this age the physically advanced child does much better than children with birthdays later in the year. By they time they reach 16 it is beginning to level out. So if he's an August born child he probably is gifted. Whether he is or isn't being labelled as bright by the teacher tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Hi
Thanks for your replies. His birthday is the end of March so he is not at the older end. His school is a small village primary so has mixed year classes. This year he has been in a year 1 & 2 class so has worked all year with the year 2's but has gone to year 3 for his phonics. Next year he is going into a class which is year 3 with half of year 2. He will again work with the year 3's rather than the year 2's. My big big concern is that he is starting to become alienated from his year group as he does all his work with the year above. I can also see that whilst this is maybe a good strategy now what happens when he gets to year 6? He was put on the G&T register for reading and literacy last year but suspect he will now be on there for maths too. We do not do work with him at home and to be honest he detests homework so that can be a real chore getting him to do it. He loves learning but on his terms!!! I teach in secondary school and see lots of very able but lazy children (especially boys) who end up underachieving and don't want to see him go that way.
Hayley

generally the aim is to keep gifted children with their peer group because their emotional development is less advanced than their intellectual development. Encourage him to follow his interests at home.

Not sure a name should matter. Just make sure he's kept interested in learning at school and like everyone does hope that your child is happy. Answer all his questions at home.

if I were you I wouldn't worry about the difference of "just bright" or "gifted", either way you should provide DC with opportunities, challenge him etc.. It seems he enjoys school which is great. I think you will find out along the way how gifted he is, don't worry too much where exactly on the scale he is. It is really just a concept, empirically, in terms of what they can achieve, there is not so much difference between "very bright but below the cut-off for gifted" and a gifted child (I assume he is not profoundly gifted as then you would have noticed and wouldn't need to ask).