Yr 3 G and T literacy

[Laura0806]

Just wondered if anyone could share examples of their chidlren who are year 3 gifted and talented in writing/literacy? for example, what their writing/reading levels are. I have a dd 7 in year 3 who I think is g and t for writing and who has recently moved schools(2 terms ago) ( was on register at old school) but not recognised here ( possibly as there are other children better). However, I just wondered generally what the standard is ( although I know it varies from school to school).

G and T registers IME are just form filling box ticking exercises for the school, especially in literacy. A waste of time IMO.

Why do YOU think your child is a talented or passionate writer? Do you want suggestions for how to facilitate the gift at home? Or do you want to know about approaches for advocating for your child to be stretched and challenged at school? Do you think the school is missing something or is it a school with more high achievers? This is one if the problems with school G and T- it's the top few percent of whatever kids they have - one school G and T child is the next school average learner.

DS is a NC level 4c for writing and his reading is 11+ (they didn't say exactly what age). I know he is well ahead but we don't discuss G&T with the school, he is challenged well so that is all that matters to us. The school tend to consider children G&T once at secondary school but do teach very individually in juniors, the next child in the class is similar reading level but a 3b writing.

Generally it would be top 10% of a class/year but I know some schools don't seem to do this either. I have seen a thread on here where the OPs Y1 DD is on white level (approx 2a) and is considered G&T as no other children in that year or Y2 are on that level but in DSs class last year at his old school there were several the same or higher going into Y2 so totally different cohorts and she would not have been top 10% or even the top reading group.

Are you worried she is not being stretched?

Ds1 is in year 3 and has been classified as G&T for literacy since he started school. Had reading age of 12 when he started, in terms of being able to recognise words, and school did some work with him to assess the extent to which this allied with reading comprehension ability. He did a past ks1 reading paper in the first term of reception and got 2A.

He started year 3 at a 4B/C for reading and writing. But to be honest, the levelling doesn't bother me. His class work is differentiated. He reads with yrs 5 and occasionally 6 (used to be with the year 6 cohort but he was moved 'down' in order to start the transition/exit strategy for when that cohort leaves in July). What matters is that the guided reading group he is in is challenging and at a level appropriate for his ability.

To be totally honest the main thing we do is simply make sure that he has access to appropriate books and lots of them. He writes for fun at home and school agree that the writing he does at home is of a higher 'level' that that he does at school. W think this is partly because he is naturally pretty unshowy and absolutely does not want to stand out. He wrote the most amazing poem at the weekend, but was adamant that he didnt want to take it in to show the teacher because he didnt want the attention.

The school SENCO has been very sensitive to his character and personality. He has an IEP and is also on school action (some query about possible aspergers but the borough ed psych feels that his needs/abilities are being well managed within his class and we agree).

The G&T label is not the be all and end all, so long as the school is capable of providing challenge and differentiation within the classroom. For us it is simply a useful tool to flag up his ability as he progresses through the school. Dd was for a time on the G&T register, but now she is in year 6 I suspect that she's 'just' bright and articulate. The work she gets is appropriate, she is happy and achieving well. There is a marked difference between the two of them in terms of natural ability.

At the end of yr3 dd2 was 5c in reading and 4a in writing and on the g&t register

Dd1 was also on the g&t register but at a 4b&4c as that year group was lower ability over all -if she was in dd2s year she wouldn't have been on the list but nationally still a high achiever

In a good primary the g&t label makes no difference as they differentiate the work anyway

Thanks for all your answers. It is mainly that she is exceptionally shy andher new class is much bigger. There is a huge discrepancy between what she does at home and what she is doing in school ( at school they leverl her at 3a. I am a little bit worried as to why it is and wondered if its something that will come in school in time and I guess i don't want her to loose her love of writing and wondered what I could give her to write at home so that she eventually feels confident enough to do it at school

Does she have a diary?

Dd2 loves her diary and it really helps with recounts etc

To move up the levels she should be using a mixture of short and long sentences, a range of connectives and punctuation beyond commas and full stops.

To make her writing more 'interesting' then a range of vocabulary helps and 'showing off' with her adjectives etc

Please don't focus on the levels though -writing should be fun and a diary, writing scripts and letting her act them out and exploring silly poems are all good ways of making it fun

Interesting as some schools seem not to offer any extra 'g&t' activities until the final years of primary. My nephew began reception with an incredible aptitude for maths but had to go private as after trying two state primary schools, it was clear that nothing was going to be offered to stretch him until year 5/6. My DS has been predicted a 4c in literacy this year (yr2) but has no extension work at all and g&t has never been mentioned.

As mentioned above it seems g&t varies enormously from school to school as afaik, there is no longer any duty for a school to have a list of g&t pupils?

I can recommend a fabulous book for developing story writing:
www.usborne.com/catalogue/catalogue.aspx?id=5161

Thank you, thats all really helpful