Maths Level 7B in Year 5

[kitnkaboodle]

.. is what my son has just been assessed as. We know that his maths ability is something special and want to make the right choice with his secondary school.

Usual question, I'm afraid (and prob. unanswerable!):

How extraordinary is this? Any statistics I can look at? Or any teachers in the know?

Thanks

[richmal]

We have the Ian Stewart books, which are excellent, but I will look at the other books you mentioned and ask her if she would be interested. Perhaps encouraging enrichment anyway would be a good step, which we have done so far with nrich and UKMT. She also likes Khan Academy, so I don't think I could stop her learning the A level curriculum as she likes collecting the badges, so at best it will be a problem deferred.

[richmal]

Sorry, didn't see your post before I posted. Yes. She likes doing the them. I don't think there is any rule about them not entering both?

[perspective]

Hi kit. Yes I would say this is pretty special. Well done your ds!

My ds was similar, had a fantastic year 5 teacher who went the extra (and had done A level maths so was confident) and let my ds race ahead. He was assesed at 7c in Y5 (and reported so) but in Y6 could only achieve a L6 because that's the only SATS paper they gave him!

We spent a lot of time thinking about secondary and looked in detail at the maths dept in all our possible choices. His current school (state, boys) has a strong maths dept and ds says that there are quite a few top set boys working at his level. Top set also take one maths lesson a week out for 'problem solving', so more lateral maths. He is currently assessed at 6a (Y7) although techer acknowledged he is working at a much higher level but they don't test any higher during the year even though he scored 100% in the assessments. He does however get L8 booster homework from time to time. I thought this was a bit barmy when he first started but I'm starting to see the logic. Top set learn fast so they can cover the scheduled material in 3 lssons a week leaving the 4th for problem solving. The emphasis is on rigour, so 100% is expected in all levelled assessments. Top set sit GCSE in Y10 and then spend longer on the A level curriculum and again 100% is the target (and I heard that one 6th former got 105% last year at A level because of something particularly clever he did!).

I can't see much to be gained by taking the GCSE too early. The other thing ds has found is that the range of subjects at secondary stops him being too bored of the routine maths (and a strict Head of Dept!). He has (to our surprise) developed a sudden flair for French and just got a 5a after 1 1/2 terms.

[kitnkaboodle]

Thanks all

The background is this. He's at an oftsted-outstanding state primary. For the last 2 years they've flagged him as having special ability in Maths and he's had his own work to do to a large extent. His class teacher and head teacher say they've only seen one other child of his ability in 20 years odd.

He's in a class with Y6s and they are very SATS-oriented. They regularly enter pupils for Level 6 in English and Maths. At last parents' evening his teacher told us that he was achieving 100% in mock Level 6 tests (past papers). This term he has been trying KS3 SATS papers and has been getting Level 7B. (they are crazy on SATS at that school which, luckily, suits him). Next year, his last year there, he'll be having his own tutor for 1 out of the 3 Maths sessions. No plans to start GCSE stuff from his school or from us.

The local comp is good, but we have yet to go and speak to the Maths dept there. We will in next few weeks. We cannot afford private school but are taking advantage this year of going to open days at local private schools and talking about scholarships/bursaries.

[richmal]

Your experience is so different from ours with dd. I hope his experience of school continues to be positive.

I think scholarships/bursaries would be a very sensible option to look into.

Do you have it in writing that he is level 7b? We were told by teachers what level dd was at only to be told by another teacher the last was being generous and dd was not that level.

I would try and find out specifically what secondary schools would put in place for his learning.

You are so lucky in his school. From what I can make out from other such threads on this forum, what help children who are very ahead in maths get varies so much from school to school.

[richmal]

Forgot to mention: the JMC and IMC as mentioned higher in the thread are great fun for children who enjoy maths. This year's closing date for ordering papers for the JMC is tomorrow and the test is the first of May. (His school may know of a secondary school who will let him enter as an external candidate). Here's the link. [http://www.ukmt.org.uk/individual-competitions/]

[Lililili]

Hello - I haven't been on for ages but have just seen this and thought I would respond as my child was assessed at the same level in year 5, as level 8 in year 6 and took GCSE maths in year 7 achieving A*.
We don't regret entering for GCSE early as she had wanted to do it since year 4 so in her mind it wasn't early! She will do the normal number of GCSEs in year 11 along with her accelerated maths program so I don't think it will raise the question of whether she can cope with a normal GCSE workload.
The high school involved (she went up for one lesson a week from year 5) made sure that she had a broad and fun experience of maths and that she was not rushed through the levels. She is now fortunate to be working in a small group for maths with other gifted mathematicians and has a fabulous teacher who has a broad and accelerated plan through to sixth form.
Your primary school sounds great. Maths books my daughter enjoyed in primary school included the Murderous Maths books, The Number Devil, the Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat and The Number Mysteries.
As long as it is a situation where a child is being supported to learn at a faster pace, a higher level or in more depth because of their own interest and natural ability, as opposed to being pushed or pressurised, then I think that having the opportunity to do so will make them happier! I hope it works out for your son - it is very nice to hear of a supportive primary school.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

dd is having an extremely positive experience in her comprehensive secondary school. (compared to the utterly rubbish experience in primary)

We all agreed that it was pointless her doing her gcse and a level early - partly because universities like to see maths being used very recently(it is something that you need to keep up) and partly because she were to do her gcses and a levels early what would she do next? As noble says, gcse and a level maths are very dull and very very narrow.

So school have taken her off curriculum and are giving her maths outside of the curriculum which will deepen her understanding as a mathematician. She is also on the UKMT mentoring scheme. She teaches herself in the classroom and meets with a teacher once a week to check she is on track and happy. It's been brilliant. She is developing some really good maths skills that she wouldnt learn til university and is deepening her understanding of how maths really works. shes way better than me

If her comprehensive can do it, then any one should be able to, local universities and the UKMT will help out if the school needs advice on what to do.

[JulieMichelleRobinson]

I'm not familiar with the new Maths and Further Maths GCSEs, but back in the day (when I wasn't allowed to take any exams early, grrrrrrrr), our selective-grammar top-set maths was allowed to take GCSE Statistics in addition to the regular Maths course. I think we had about three lessons, to help with the coursework, and were sent away with the textbooks.

Statistics and mechanics (which is what was in physics also astronomy GCSE when I took that) have a more real-world feel than pure maths, so they might be worth looking into for a broader perspective.

FWIW, my GCSE maths coursework delved into multidimensional hyperspace (formula pertaining to the nth dimension).

Your daughter might also be interested in logic, if she has a mathematical mind, which could lead her into an interest in philosophy (roll with me on this one). Potentially, linguistics. And of course, chess. Maths isn't just numbers and shapes, it also has to do with problem-solving skills.





In my year group, but a different local school, one boy went to university with maths, further maths, applied further maths, statistics, applied statistics and three sciences at A-level. Okay, I only had five, but they were in disparate subjects (chemistry, French, physics, RS and music). I guess that's the difference between the G and the T.