I am being unreasonable to expect only parents with so named 'G&T children to post on this thread

[virgo]

...I have 2 children ds and dd. DD has been 'officially' lisetd (for what that is worth) by the school. I never would have dreamed of posting on this thread if she wasn't listed as such.

As a mum I think both my children are fantatsic and 'gifted' in all sorts of ways - as I am sure we all do.

Isn't this topic supposed to be a helpline for parents of these listed children to give them ideas as to what the shcools ought to be doing and what as parents we can do to help these children achieve their potential.

Every now and again I look on the threads to see if there are any useful postings and it seems to be full of threads about 'is my child gifted???' 'he's reading ort dtage 8 at 2 is he gifted?'etc etc

peppered with postings from other irriated parents...

We'd not even considered this about our dd - the teachers at shcool call you in and tell you about htis list and that your ds or dd is on it - FULL STOP. You don't tell them, they know their job...

Remember that a sizable proportion of schools have still yet to identify any G&T children (about 30% of state schools I think and most private schools I know don't identify formally). This is usually because they are ideologically opposed to the idea rather than that their kids are too stupid. Some other schools don't tell the parents if their child is on the register.

So on those grounds alone it is definitely unreasonable to insist that you have an identified child before you post.

I like the fact that the thread title says 'I am' and not 'Am I'

Perhaps it should be changed from G&T to "High Ability Children" (cf NAGC):

"Decades ago Margaret Branch recognised that there were children who have educational needs that are different from the norm. She also recognised that the families of these children needed support, information and advice to enable them to help their gifted children in the most appropriate ways.

The situation has improved a great deal since 1966, but it is still very difficult for parents to discuss their gifted children with other parents. There are still gifted children who are misunderstood by those working in education and health and there are still families who feel as if they are the only ones dealing with some of the issues that can come along with the blessing of having a gifted child.

NAGC works towards changing this."

Agree with fembear.

Virgo, to treat an official listing by a school that a child is G&T as the end all and be all (and the converse that a child who is not listed is not) is laughable.

Due to quotas, a child can be G&T in one school and not in another school, assuming both schools have G&T programmes.

In any case, I don't interpret the topic G&T as being linked to the an official listing that schools bestow - that is so political and tied up in bureaucratic mumbojumbo.

I only sit up if a child is truly gifted (Einstein-wise) and not just brighter than the majority of his cohort as interpreted by some institution.

ROFL at VictorianSqualor.

"I like the fact that the thread title says 'I am' and not 'Am I'"

In my dd's state school yr3 class there are 5 children who are all clearly way way ahead of the pack, and have been since Reception. They all took the Yr2 SATS paper in Yr 1 and got excellent results, they have all picked up extra skills to a high level with very little effort - chess, musical instruments, soduko etc. I have no idea what the school have done about categories, but it would be ridiculous to divide them and give only two the official status, leaving the others without the 'enrichment' work, or whatever challenges pupils who are more able than averagely bright.

I thought G&T was gin and tonic so I thought no-ways my ds is more a M&J child (milk and juice)

The thing is Virgo you are 'lucky' that you have such G&T children.

Most Mum's want the best for their little ones and like to think that they are clever.

Not all schools are as good at spotting it nor so keen to encourage it.

I think if Mums want to ask other Mums whether they think their child is bright they should be able to do so.

Apparently my daughter is an 'individual' or so her teacher told me at parents evening last night, her exact words that will stick with me forever were 'I love the way her hair is always messy and I love her stripey tights, she's a pleasure to teach' so maybe DD is giften and talented in mess???

Confession time. I worry about people who take this G & T label seriously. How about organising a G & T mums' meet up - sounds fun doesn't it?

it's not currently on quotas for the record... it soon will be.

School are required to identify their top 5% ability range. They're labelled as G&T but it rather depends on the overall ablity level of the school as a whole. My dd would be classed as gifted where I work but at her school (v. high achieving affluent catcment) she was classed as slightly above average.
I was asked to identify 5% of the children in my school as talented in music. Children who have a true talent for music are very rare and I would say I have only come across 3 children in the last 20 years who are truly talented. It really shouldn't be called gifted and talented under these circumstances. More able perhaps but not G&T

they do not use quotas at my ds's grammar school, they have to hit certain benchmarks
or be by teacher recommendation.

Bloody Hell I never realised "Gifted and Talented" was an official term donned out only by teachers. I'm a bit shocked I thought this thread title was for anyone proud and excited about their childrens achievements when they are a little special.
I actually think that anyone should post what they want on here and not worry about it.
I think it's a little sad that the thread was started at all really.

Why on earth shouldn't any MN-er who has a question related to this topic post on this forum? My son isn't yet 3, hasn't had any kind of assessment or labelling yet (and have no plans to look into it yet) but I sometimes would like support / advice / chat with other parents who's child is different (and my son is different. he talks like a a child of 5 o 6, can do jigsaw puzzles 10 yr olds struggle with etc etc, finds other children hsi own age boring because they aren't as bale as him etc etc). it's not a contest, it's just chat and support....isn't it?

aren't as able as him - excuse typos

p.s, PMSL @ Caroline. I'd rather saw off my right arm.

Doesn't exist in Scotland AFAIK - they're called "more able pupils" which sits much better with me tbh.

lolol at a G and T mums meet up

My understanding (someone correct me if I'm wrong) is that each school designates x% of their children as G&T. Therefore, a child who is registered as G&T at one school, may not have been seen as G&T in another school. Whereas, say, in a selective grammar school, there will be children not seen as G&T who might have been G&T in a high school. IYSWIM. Not that it matters anyway. People should be allowed to post where they like if it is helpful to them. If someone is asking "is my child gifted" and the majority of posters respond that no, actually, lots of their children were doing x, y and z at that age, that's really helpful to level set the poster. Or if the opposite is true. So while I kind of see what you are getting at, I do think YABU and overly precious. Sorry, but you did ask!

Yes you are being unreasonable.

As an aside - not all schools are up to scratch enough to rely on them keeping the parents abreast of things like your child's school.

It's just a state school con. Most of those so called G&T are just clever for their school and if everyone is a bit thick there even the G&T aren't very bright. Weird labour party idea.

As Mrs A says some children are truly gifted but if say you went to my daughter's old school, North London Collegiate which gets often the best A level results in the UK of any school and virtually always top 5 I wouldn't say those girls are gifted. I would say 1 or 2 per class who gets 11 A*s at GCSE is but the rest of are just bright, just in the top 10% - 15% but that top 15% is just the lot who 30 years ago got to university when most people didn't, the old grammar school IQ 120 standard. That is not gifted on any dictionary definition of the term. Gifted is 4 grade 8s in music age 13 and you're at Chethams or Oxford to read Maths aged 12.

Plenty of academics define giftedness by Iq alone, not achievements
That is to say an IQ test result of 130 is gifted.

An excellent article here explains its history

ironically my ds1 was ok on the IQ of 130+ but was looked over at his school in yr7 as he failed to top the CAT tests they do in the first few weeks to stream pupils
He got 100% in maths, 88% in English and 79% in comprehension

And he had a broken left arm and he is left handed...
this has since been sorted.

It should be better qualified as exceptionally able IMO

Quite clever or top 10% might be more accurate than giving children these grandiose ideas they're gifted when all they are is middle of the road grammar school level.

I guess calling it gifted makes it easier to swallow for the ones who just miss out though. It's quite easy to accept that you're not 'gifted', less easy to accept that you're not 'quite clever'.

but I prefer the term 'high ability children'