Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Gifted and talented

Talk to other parents about parenting a gifted child on this forum.

Original poster

Anyone's dc seen peter congdon or joan freeman?

123 replies

mrsshears · 27/09/2011 06:32

My dd will be having an assessment and we are looking at it being either of these two.
Does anyone have any experiences with either?and if so what can we expect on the day.
TIA

*I do not wish this to be turned into a debate about assessments,this is what we have decided to do and have thought long and hard about what is right for our dd.

OP posts:
blackeyedsusan · 30/10/2011 17:43

do you have other options for schools near to you?

Original poster
mrsshears · 30/10/2011 18:02

Hi susan

yes we have quite a few,dh wants to give the current school a chance though but i really dont hold out much hope.
I know dd's teacher will ask me tomorrow morning as she knows we have had the assesment during half term so i was just planning on telling her the outcome and then ask if we could organise a meeting with herself and the headteacher who i think will give me the "we have lots of bright children here" speech Sad

OP posts:
blackeyedsusan · 31/10/2011 07:54

while you are giving the school a chance, you could go and visit other schools, taking your results and asking the head whether they would be able to accomodate her needs.

good luck for this morning.

Original poster
mrsshears · 31/10/2011 08:33

Thanks susan,i will let you know how i get on.

OP posts:
Iamnotminterested · 31/10/2011 17:44

Any news mrsshears?

Original poster
mrsshears · 31/10/2011 18:51

Hi iamnotminterested

Do you mean regarding speaking to school or dd's assesment results?

OP posts:
Iamnotminterested · 31/10/2011 19:39

Speaking to school. Never easy, whatever the situation!.

Original poster
mrsshears · 31/10/2011 20:57

I mentioned to dd's teacher at drop off that i needed to organise a meeting with herself and the head to discuss dd's results as they had come out very high.I'm probably being paranoid but she didnt seem pleased.
We have decided on after school later on in the week,i'm really anxious about it and i think they are going to be really defensive and negative.

OP posts:
blackeyedsusan · 31/10/2011 22:13

oh dear. I don't get it. the teacher should not be that defensive this early in the year as it is acceptable to not have got to the limit of a gifted child at this stage in y1, if dd is new to the class. (should be actively investigating though and know areas that are weaker and which are stronger) she should be welcoming the new information and working with you.

the "we have lots of bright children" speech does not bode well though, if it as said in a dismissive tone.

she may just have been busy mrs shears [hopeful]

good luck.

Colleger · 31/10/2011 23:04

Mrsshears,

I may have mentioned this before so forgive me if it's a repeat. DS has an IQ well above 170 (ceiling Mark) and suspected over 200. He was ahead a year from the age of reception until July of this year. His prep school worked 18 months ahead of state schools so he was effectively 2.5 years ahead. It still wasn't enough in many areas of the curriculum but in other areas it was detrimental. He would write slower than his peers and he was never given positions of responsibility or leadership. The same went for the plays. He became risk averse and had lower self confidence because he was never allowed to be alpha male at any point amongst his friends - he does have lots of friends though.

He has gone back into his correct year group in his prep school even though he got into three of the most academic schools in the country one year early. He now has leadership roles and for the first time he is very comfortable in his own skin. He debates, takes part in plays and feels no peer pressure. Two months away from the year above and he has transformed.

Schools just cannot cater for children above a certain ability. The fact is that we should not look to schools for the answer. At the end of the day schools are merely a place to socialise with some basic learning and yet as parents we think they know and can do it all. By all means find a more academic school and do some work at home if you wish but you will be setting yourself up for years of disappointment if you think there is a school or method out there that will work. I've learnt the hard way!

iggly2 · 01/11/2011 00:21

Fingers crossed its working for me with DS. So I will say it can . But DS has never been tested (never seen the need) which I do realise is luck.

Original poster
mrsshears · 02/11/2011 15:01

wish me luck,i'm off to talk to school and not looking forward to it....

OP posts:
Original poster
mrsshears · 02/11/2011 16:35

Sad Sad Sad

you can guess how it went,defensive,negative and verging on nasty,amongst the comments i got was "i'm really not sure what you hope to achieve by this"(the report),i'm so upset and angry.

OP posts:
Original poster
mrsshears · 02/11/2011 16:38

oh and no mention of differentiation.

OP posts:
Iamnotminterested · 02/11/2011 16:42

Ah. Sad.

What next ?

onesandwichshort · 02/11/2011 18:35

Oh poor you - I've been following this thread as I think we will be in the same sort of situation in a year or two's time but didn't want to leave this without a comment. What did they actually say? And was any of it constructive or helpful at all?

But if they school do any form of differentiation for any pupil, it sounds as though you are going to be hammering against a brick wall. Would you rather extend her at home, or do you think there is a school out there that would suit better?

Original poster
mrsshears · 02/11/2011 19:03

I think we are going to have to look for another school.
The only positive was that they are going to try dd on some y2 sats papers,but even that was said in a rather 'to prove you wrong' fashion.
They basically do not believe the report and do not believe that dd is a child of very high ability,in one breath the teacher is telling me that dd is not showing them this in class and also very keen to point out several times that dd is not top of the class but then when i suggest that dd is underacheiving it is pointed out she is a 2b for writing,however no explanation was offered for dd working with the bottom maths group a few weeks ago and her maths age being 2 years advanced on the reportHmm
I feel really sad for dd,i guess i thought that just maybe they would say "right lets see what we can do to help here".I cant see a way forward with her current school and i really wanted it to work but they just don't want to see her as a gifted child Sad

OP posts:
adamschic · 02/11/2011 21:21

How much did this report cost? OMG please leave your kids for a while and see how they get on. I'm not saying your kids are not gifted but at this age it's not important to stress about school work. They have year ahead of them.

warmmagnolia · 02/11/2011 21:53

Crikey I can almost sense the atmosphere as if I was there. It is not as if you can 'fake' such a good result. What is there not to believe? I am with you, your child is clearly very bright and she is simply not achieving her potential from what you are saying. They should be trying to find out why. Obviously it can take a while for potential to come through, but to be in a bottom set with this sort of potential should be of some concern. This is a pretty depressing response from an outstanding school. It is well documented that bright children do not always do well in any environment. Have you talked to NAGC on how to approach it? (sorry if you have already mentioned this.) Did they not have any explanation. Were they not interested to read the report and discuss the various scores?

I would be looking at other schools I think to at least keep my options open.

Keep us posted.

blackeyedsusan · 02/11/2011 22:30

oh. i would say Shock but you were pretty much expecting that anyway.

well, at least you know you were not imagining things when she looked displeased on monday.

no I think I will go with Shock as that is worse than expected. I can't believe they said that about the report! Angry Shock Angry they are obviously taking it as a critiscm of their teaching ability.

I don't like the sound of this sats thing. i worry that she will not do too well if she has never been taught/come across the stuff they have to do in the format they have to do it in, especially if the teacher is looking to prove your dds inability. dd is not exactly thriving in the school and willing to please as she is not happy.

I think you are right about finding another school where dd can be happy and learn some things, even if you have to stretch her further at home.

there was another thread where advise was given on the sort of school to look for.

iggly2 · 02/11/2011 23:01

PM me if you want. DS is happy so I can say what works for him. Smile

Original poster
mrsshears · 03/11/2011 06:12

thank you all so much ladies,i really dont know what i would do without mn,it has been really helplful for me to wake up to such supportive and helpful posts,just what i needed at the minute and especially after yesterday at school Thanks

OP posts:
blackeyedsusan · 03/11/2011 07:27

good luck with school this morning try not to flick 2 fingers at the teacher as much as you want to-- Wink

Original poster
mrsshears · 03/11/2011 07:36
Grin
OP posts:
onesandwichshort · 03/11/2011 09:13

It's not just that they don't seem prepared to work with you, they're not even wanting to acknowledge that there is any kind of problem at all. And it's going to be pretty hard to get anything positive from that, isn't it? (From my little experience, it does also seem that not wanting to lose face is not uncommon in 'outstanding' schools).

How is your DD apart from the academic side of things? Does she enjoy the social aspects of school or is the boredom affecting that too?

Swipe left for the next trending thread