End of Y7 grammar school advice please

[MissSmiley]

Our oldest child is at the end of year 7 at a state grammar. He's found the whole year quite boring. He did no work for his end of year exams and has done very well. I was hoping with him being at grammar school that he would be finding things a bit more challenging. He's very grown up for his age and his friends outside of school are mostly year 9. He's got a birthday in September. If he's been born on his due date he would be going into year 9 next year. What are our options? Any advice? Moving up a year was suggested in primary but we resisted.

How do you know that he hasn't done much work at school apart from on his say so?
My children all went to extremely competitive selective entry academic schools. With the eldest I never saw him ever do any homework and I never saw a open text book during his GCSE' s at all. ( they were all 'A' and 'A*' ) He said he was bored. It was his mantra , in fact all my children said they found school boring.
I don't think you should read too much into it unless he is being badly behaved. If the school thought it necessary I am sure they would bump him up a year.
My eldest is a Doctor now.

If you're in the UK I would guess that moving him up a year is unlikely to be an option, although for a mature September-born child it probably should be. (I have two children in the French system both one year ahead of their peers with absolutely no social or academic issues caused by being slightly younger than their classmates).

On the other hand, I think hole makes some good points. Just because a student doesn't spend hours with a head in a book doesn't mean they are not working. My DD is an excellent student heading for almost 100% in her french school leaving diploma. She doesn't spend a lot of time studying. However - when she works, she is quick and effective, and I've come to the conclusion that overall she probably works just as hard as the average student - she just does it more efficiently, more independently, and with better outcomes.

You also need to think about when and why your DS gets "bored" and what he means by the word. My DS who is very maths and science oriented and doesn't like languages mainly complains of boredom in the subjects where he is least able and where (despite being in the top 2-3 in his set) he is objectively working at an appropriate level. DD who is very able in all subjects rarely complains of boredom unless the class is disruptive or the teacher useless!

Thank you for your comments. I think you're right in that school as a whole can seem boring for kids his age so I will watch that. I know he didn't do any revision at home during his exams because he was here. They don't do any prep at school other than what they do in normal lessons.
He's admitted that what he really means by boredom is "unchallenged". We asked him if he would be excited by being a year or two ahead and his eyes lit up.
How do I get him to reach his potential? He's obviously going to do well without trying hard but is that enough for him?

I think it's important that children learn that there is a relationship between effort in and results out. I don't necessarily think that's a lesson which can only be learnt at school.

I don't know how much personality has to do with this. My older child can get her act together when necessary (even though it usually isn't at school). She is sitting at our kitchen table right now revising for her history-geography paper on Friday, no need to nag even though in reality she probably doesn't need to revise that much. My younger one (Y8) is a bit of a coaster and might need a bit of a kick up the backside in the next couple of years . Weirdly, the younger one is the more obviously competitive of the two!

All my children went to state Grammar schools. It was damn hard to get in. However all of them reacted differently.
I must admit I never worried about them reaching their potential as I thought we provided them with enough stimulus at home.

I think all you can do is what we did.
There were tons of books in the house. TV was restricted. We all eat together at night and a lively discussion about Politics or Art, History, Science etc would always be going on, and their views were encouraged and respected.

We went on holiday and had as much fun as much as possible.
They are three Doctors, a Vet and a Pharmacist.

However, you know what I think it is more important for them ? It Is to be a happy person, content with life.
I would like to think that being happy is reaching their potential. It is worth a great deal to be content.

Two of mine are content. Two of them are ambitious and competitive and they are always onto the next project and never sit still. One of them is such an introvert, I don't really know what they are thinking.

From my own experience I think nature is a much more powerful force than Nurture.

I think you are a bit too involved in worrying about your sons happiness. You can't make his life totally free from boredom, it is impossible. Being bored is part of life.

If he is clever enough to get into a State Grammar and you provide him with a secure and stable environment, then you have done all you can. Let's hope he makes the most of what he is given. Many people are not so lucky.