Advice for school governor, please

[giftedgovernor]

I am a junior school governor and have recently taken on responsibility for monitoring the 'gifted and talented' action plan. The school has a couple of children who are so far ahead of their peers that they potentially need some input from the local secondary school. The lead teacher is going to look into this, but it would be really helpful to hear from parents about what, in practice, has worked well for your children. Thanks in advance.

The attitude of school staff is the biggest hurdle for us. There are so many misconceptions of what G&T is and isn't - such as all G&T kids being high achievers, well behaved and gifted across all academic areas.

The NAGC website is a great source of information & myth busting about the various issues of G&T.

What works well is a teacher who is willing to listen, learn and understand this particular child's differences, and work in co-operation with the parents. As simple (and difficult) as that.

very well said eyeofnewt!

my oldest daughter is made to feel different by the extension work they school does with her -she likes to stand out so is fine with this

my youngest daughter doesn't want to stand out from the crowd and so pretends to not be able to do the work and therefore won't do the extension work but is bored by the normal class stuff

there is no one size fits all

lots of 1-2-1 work (or very small groups if this is not viable) if very advanced. Maybe mix with children from other year groups. It should be during lesson time (so they are challenged and not missing out at lunch breaks etc)

I'd really appreciate it if there was a clearer written g&t policy document, explaining what the school plans to do to extend kids who need it.

Thank you all for your suggestions.