So What is the Gifted and Talented Programme/Register?

[oldsilverbullet]

DS (yr1) has been given some extra work which apparently is to help lead him to getting on the Gifted and Talented Programme and I don't know what this is all about.

dp reckons the school should be providing education to his level without the need for going on any special register/programme - as I say I don't know enough to argue discuss the point.

It is a bog standard (but lovely) primary school.

I jumped a year when I was 7 which was brilliant for the first couple of years but unfortunately I had to remain in the last year of juniors for two years which was obviously less than ideal and I do not want this for DS.

It's for low achieving children who need extra help, as the name suggests.

Pop back in 5 years and ask whether a level 5 at SATS is good, why not?

elaine, that's a bit harsh...
that's said, it's pretty obvious what the G&T register is and searching on here will bring up many millions of threads about it.
Unless your son is seriously gifted, it's just slightly harder work for the top 10%,

Fair enough, sorry.

Oh ok excuse my ignorance I really didn't know - thought this would be the place to ask - sorry.

Hi oldsilverbullet. My dd has been on G&T since year 1 and she is now year 8 and to be quite honest it doesn't do a thing. Dd has always been "gifted" as the teachers have always called it where i just say she is brainy. Her primary school didn't know what to do with her and couldn't find any more challenging work so just printed stuff off the web for her to do at weekend, mainly maths stuff and asking her to write a story for literacy. Her sats were always higher than others and got level 5a from year 4 onwards but apparently children are not allowed to sit a higher paper as it was scrapped for primary because children couldn't do it! When she entered year 7 and was assessed she got 6's and 7's but there has not been any mention really of G&T. She is in set 1 for all subjects except pe and the teacher calls them gifted and talented just because they are in set 1 but the others are not on the register as dd asked a few of her close friends and they hadn't heard of it. I asked at parents evening and form tutor said it had been abolished. Only difference G&T did for my dd was extra work and maybe some different school trips to slightly better places. Oh and being asked to stay till 9 at night on parents evening and then do nothing!

It's optional now anyhow isn't it? Not all schools have to keep these registers.

The weak point in the system was that it was the top 10% in a particular area in that school. Because it is a relative measure, it covers a big performance range depending on what the other children are like in that year.

What activities follow if your DC is on such a register also varies enormously. I suggest you ask the school to find out what it means in your individual case.

Means absolutely nothing as i expected. All her classmates are classed as gifted and talented because they are in set 1 for lessons even though they are not on register as dd asked some of them. I have heard that gnt has been abolished anyway. Like i said in other posts, only difference is that dd and freinds may have different school trips and are asked to stay til 9 on parents evening, or do challenges against local private schools. That is it so far. Oh and to take gcse's early.

My ds is classed as G&t at his school & the only real difference is that he gets to go to some Saturday classes (about 6 a year,) with other g&t kids from other schools. We have to pay for some of these (but not all,) & I have to say he's really, really enjoyed them. The national requirement for schools to have a g&t list has been abolished, but some schools are still using it, (guess it depends on whether the school found it useful or not). Ds's school was pulled up last offsted on provision for able learners (particularly children getting level 3 SATS in ks1). So I'm guessing they are continuing to use it to help identify able learners and ensure they are getting the extended provision they need. definitely don't think there's a need to be on a list, (as long as the school is providing enough extension,) but if they have one the additional opportunities it offers can be good.