GCSE maths at 11

[marialuisa]

I'd be interested to know how you'd feel if you were told that your child had the potential/ability to pass GCSE maths in Y7. Would you say "go for it" or would you just say "that's nice" and leave it?

A grade D GCSE isn't seen as a pass by most people either. The govt like us to class them as pass (A-G) and 'good' pass (A-C) although we all know the truth.

In many schools that use setting, it is standard for the top set to take maths GCSE a year early, because if you do double maths A level, that's a lot to get through, and the extra year helps.

Schools round here don't really find a C grade acceptable any more, which says a lot about grade inflation in recent years.

If they are saying that he is capable why not? He will still do it in Year 11 and the exams are paid for so they must be very confident in your child achieving. I don't think peers will be interested really about your child sitting early as flamingtoaster has put concerns about teasing. The GCSE test covers different areas of maths selected randomly as well as the completion of course work. So your child will have plenty to do for the next few years. Go for it!

I think also a relaxed attitude in the result would be helpful. Doesn't matter as the experience and practice would be very useful for your child. This is only year 7.

Acceleration isn't really a good idea as where do you go from that?

Just to second the fact that if your son does the Maths Challenge and is really gifted, he could be picked up for a mentoring scheme.

Look at the books by Tony Gardiner Like these - they show ways of challenging kids your sons age by thinking sideways. They could be used at school

You could also contact your local Further Maths Centre who as well as supporting further math may have some ideas about enrichment events. Try looking at nrich who have great enrichment stuff and a forum for discussing maths.

Hope some of this helps

How good is your own maths? Could you work on areas of particular interest (say, hard GCSE and early A level) with him as a "home hobby"? Especially with practical application, I'm thinking a lot of it could be of interest to a child of that age.

I'm thinking of areas like real-world applications of geometry, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, but also things like statistics, "how money works", etc.

I'm thinking aloud here though because it's what I like to think I'll do with my own daughter one day (she's currently 10 months old ... )

If he's a member of YGT (replacement for NAGTY), then there are some OU Maths courses available online - DD1 hasn't properly investigated what yet though.