If your year 6 child is sitting the level 6 SAT's....

[marne2]

Are they attending extra maths lessons?

My dd has been 'chosen' to take part in extra maths ( after school club ) at another school, something to do with 'gifted and talented'. Her teacher hasn't really explained much, only 2 children in her year are attending. I have been told it's related to next years SAT's and the level 6 paper. I am confused . Dd's school doesn't really have a G&t register as its a small school, my dd and her friend are the only ones sitting the level 6 next year ( or so we have been told, this may change ).

Has anyone else's child been asked to attend extra maths lessons or a maths club?

I know schools measure G&T as the top 10% - so slightly higher than 1 sd above the average.

However, as I understand it, that was only to try to ensure they caught all the gifted children in the net. The original idea was then to do something with the G&T set in order to find out if any of them actually were gifted, and give them the sort of chances that otherwise they would only get at a very selective private school.

It was originally intended as a way of competing with the independent sector. But then it got hijacked by parents who liked the label for their top 10% kids, and by schools who felt they'd done their bit once they had picked 3 children out of each class. Then the funding got cancelled and it just became the new name for what used to be called the "top set".

Now, why did I write that??? I have forgotten why I thought it was relevant to the discussion!

So if +1 SD = 5a, then much higher would be... where? seems like 6b isn't quite you'd call "much higher". Maybe 6a creeps into "much higher" territory. I dunno, makes me think that catering to up to 6b is quite reasonable for a bulk education system where 0.15-7% might reach 6b+. I wouldn't expect primary school to teach @ L7-8 l even if child could do it, have to be limits somewhere.

DD & others were taught L6 material in regular math lessons when school (Requires Improvement rating, mediocre SAT results) had no intention whatsoever of entering anyone in the L6 tests. At least some schools accommodate ability, not just aim for results.

At the end of the year, the child gets a certificate and just says 5 or 6 on it, with no sub-levels.

The thing that caught my attention was that when DS1 did L6 maths a couple of years ago, I kept hearing it wasn't "a proper L6". I saw secondary school maths teachers write it on forums like this one, so I thought it must be true.

Ds1 did the L6 paper two years ago and passed. Then he went to secondary school and I expected to see the missing bits of the L6 taught in y7. At the end of Y7, they were given a level 5-7 paper and Ds1 got 7A.

He didn't learn two levels worth in on year (there just wasn't enough work covered for that to be possible) so that means that the L6 paper at primary school must be the whole of the L6 curriculum.