Help with my DD, aged 6 and in Year 1 (very bright)

[Snowbell]

Our DD is in a mixed class of Years 1 and 2 in an infant school. Last week she joined the school's gifted and talented leader's group for two mornings a week. This group is meant for the very bright Year 2's. DD is the only Year 1 child in the group. Her teacher confessed that DD was by far the brightest in her class, even over the Year 2 children, and felt that she needed something more. She is having no problem coping with the G&T group's work.

We are worried about next year when she will be in year 2. How is the school going to keep her stimulated when presumably she will be even further ahead and the school won't have the resources from years 3 and above as a primary school might? We need to address this soon with the headteacher but we don't know what we can reasonably demand or indeed what our rights are.

Can anyone help?

All infant teachers are qualified to teach any primary age, even if they studied 3-7 so should be able to easily plan for yr3/4 work for your DD.

Yes, I understand that she'll be the brightest in YR2 but is she socially the same as yr3/4, and if not, you wouldn't want her to be spending all her time with children 2 years more socially ahead of her.

My DD probably isn't G & T but is doing the hardest yr 2 work as a YR 1 and she copes easily with it. However, I know she needs to be with children her own age and also reading across the keystage 2 curriculum, rather than racing ahead and missing important topics, even though she may be able to do the work.

Some schools do have vertical learning, where your DD would move according to her ability but just because she's G & T, doesn't mean she's not emotionally still a Yr1. I'm sure that the G & T leader group will have enough work for the year ahead to keep your DD stimulated or if not, would you consider moving her to a primary school (4-11)?

You will also find that she might plateau and other children catch her up. A lot of boys don't click with reading and writing until they are 7, which is what happened with my DS

Ask the teachers what they intend to do and tell them your worries, I had a similar conversation with the school myself and they were fantastically reassuring and had resources to deal with the issue...

There is no reason an infants can't have the resources of a primary.
Don't push DD out of her age group as everyone I know that this happened to said it was terrible.

The social and emotional side is just as important at that age I think, perhaps she could take up an instrument? Then she would have something else to do that requires concentration without rushing ahead and ending up in a group on her own (as she might get lonely).
It does sound like you will need to think carefully about her next school though and pick one on its ability to deal with very bright children.

The school is aware of her abilities and extending her appropriately for now so there's a good chance they'll sort something out for her next year too. For now you have a potential problem not an actual one, so I would really try not to worry about it until it actually happens (and of course only if it really does).

thanks for your replies everyone.

Luciemule, she is mature for her age, emotionally, but probably not quite the same level as year 3 kids. I don't want her to be jumped up a year, I don't agree with that. But she has told me she just wants to feel normal because she has realised she is different to other kids her age, and of course, doesn't want to stand out. We don't want to think about moving her to a different school because we like her school.

Christywhisty, yes, I had thought that other kids might catch up later on. If she plateaus that would be good really.

Miggsie, thanks for your reassurance. We should talk to the head very soon and she may be able to put our minds at rest. She may also know which local junior school would be best placed to help DD. It sounds a good idea - learning an instrument.

My friend, who has a very bright year 2 girl has arranged language lessons for her (she's not at all musical) and she is really enjoying learning Spanish outside school. That means her brain's got something to chew on while she's in the age appropriate social group at school.

And remember that her teachers are all primary trained even if they are working in an infant school. It won't be hard for them to keep her busy in year 2 - it's their job!

Good idea to avoid going up a year. My ds1 was years ahead at primary also and the school struggled. They allowed him free Reading time which tbh was great. Also concentrate on depth of learning and broadening of horizons rather than acceleration of progress. Yr4 is a better year to hop up to yr5 if socially mature enough ( my ds was not)
we travelled, did kumon maths, stagecoach drama, music lessons, sport national trust visits. Lots you can do!

I had a similar situation with DD2 (she's now at Oxford being 'stretched' to the very limits, and this despite 'coasting' though school right until the A level years, so take heart - a bit of 'killing time' through the early years shouldn't hold her back long term.)

Absolutely second what Seeker just said - it's a very good idea to find stimulations for her outside school, if only so she will come up against things she doesn't find so easy and learns to cope with that! Bright children can be very intolerant of failure/difficulties when they've been used to everything coming to them so easily and can find it more demoralising than usual. Both my DDs learned musical instruments from 6 and that requires much patience, perseverance and learning to self-correct - all useful skills, and they extend the brain/co-ordination in a different direction. Really worth considering, also a sport like gymnastics or Seeker's extra language suggestion.

I do completely understand how you feel worried that the right things may not always be being done for your exceptional child, but hopefully as comfort, I can say I worried very much about all the things you're worrying about with DD1 (also very bright) but then largely sat back and let it all flow with DD2 (other than giving her the music lessons, lots of access to libraries and books, etc) and the fact that she wasn't working at her limits for quite a number of years did not affect the ultimate outcome.

Good luck with your DD and keep us posted!

I second the music/language/sport suggestions for 'extending sideways' outside school. Another thing that some very bright children take to and enjoy is chess.

My son is not G&T, but he is doing very well in year 1, excels in maths and nature related topics. He is very well stimulated, he is tri-lingual, has violin lessons, karate and tennis, drama club and does physics and chemistry experiments with his dad daily. We also go on many outings, wetland centre, botanic gardens, etc.

I agree there is a lot you can do outside of school that will keep her challenged.

We are facing abit of an opposite problem now, as we are moving back to Norway where they start school at six. So, he has already had nearly two years of schooling. But the head teacher is unwilling to place him in a class above as they think it very important to stay with their year group, for reasons of social maturity.

I know my son, he is a mixture of on the one hand "old" for his age, yet he can be very "childish" and full of a six year olds sillyness if it suits him.

This is what our new school is proposing:

He will start in a small G&T fast track class of 6 year olds starting earlier than the school year, but incorporated into the current year 1, now in April. These children will receive teaching tailored to their skills, but in the year 1 setting.
In the automn, the headmistress will decide whether he shall move into the new year 1 or proceed to year 2 with the current year 1 group. He will receive English tuition with year 3 or 4.

I think you should talk to your headmistress as soon as possible, as I am sure they would be keen to accommodate. It might be better to stay in her year group, but maybe join other classes in fields where she is ahead?

Good LUck.

Ds was moved from reception to year 2, in spite of being born in August.

the school did this without notifying me, and I was not happy. he may have been bright, but at age 5 and 2 weeks, he was not able to mix comfortably with 7-year-olds. (We moved away from that school!)

Anyway, as a previous poster recommended, start your dd on a challenging outside activity. Learning the piano (including the music theory!) is an excellent way of supplementing school learning.

I have a bright year one child too. (And a bright year six child and a lovely, average-ability year three child). I really second the musical instrument thing. All mine learn a string instrument and it really is great in so many ways. The original idea was to improve DD1s fine motor skills (she is dyspraxic) and it has done that and so much more besides. She needs to work hard at it which is a bonus as she doesn't need to work hard at her schoolwork, she has learned to enjoy and appreciate classical music, she plays in an orchestra which helps with teamwork and gives her a lovely feeling of being part of a group that is creating something wonderful collectively. DD2 plays the cello and DD3 the violin and they are beginning to reap these benefits too, although DD3,being five, has only been doing it since September.

great to get so many ideas from everyone! Thanks very much.

Piffle, what is Kumon maths? I've heard of it but I don't really know what it is.

DD doesn't do many out of school activities - only gymnastics and at the moment, Spanish after school club. She loves the Spanish but that finishes this week. I'v tried to find a Spanish class locally but haven't been able to because she would love to continue with it. She is suddenly getting very interested in music. She wants to go to a concert, so I have been looking for a classical concert to take her to. She has a recorder which she is getting interested in, so I think it's time to find lessons for her. She also keeps asking for a drum kit!

She is starting Brownies in September which I think she will really enjoy. She is certainly back to her happy self since joining the G & T group. She is now happy to get ready for school in the morning whereas for a while it had been hard to get her out of bed. It's lovely to see her enthusiasm back. I think she was actually depressed before.