Help! Meeting with Head to discuss how school is failing Gifted 7 yr old. What to say?

[DadAtLarge]

My child is six (and three quarters!) His teacher in reception recommended he be put on the G&T Register for Maths. It didn't happen. His teacher in Yr 1 requested he be put on. And again in Yr 2. It didn't happen. Or maybe they did but it doesn't seem to mean anything.

He just did the KS1 SATS in which he got Level 3As in everything. The external SATS coordinator told his teacher that he should be moved up to Level 4/5 work for Maths. We requested he be given the KS2 Maths SATS, the school administered it and he got a Level 5. I don't say this to boast but apart from his maths knowledge being on par with 11 yr olds he can do mental problems involving squaring or cubing double digits numbers or multiplying 3 digit numbers by other 3 digits numbers faster than any teacher in the school can do them on paper. He's a whiz with the Rubik's cube, Sudoku and stuff like that. He loves pondering conundrums involving infinity and playing around with irrational numbers like Pi.

And he is made to sit in with other Yr 2 kids laboriously adding 5 to itself again and again ...and other mind numbingly boring work. The teacher does try to give him "special" challenges but they are still far below what he can do. I don't believe the self-confessed Maths-phobic teacher is even up to the task (though she is lovely and does her best for him). He is BORED.

The school is an excellent state school with very high Ofsted results and SATS rankings but they are refusing to let him sit in with older kids in Yr 5 and Yr 6. They point blank refuse to accept that it's in his best interest to sit at least occasionally with any older children. Their policy on G&T doesn't give any guarantees - it's all about "we'll try" to match them by ability and "we'll endeavour" to challenge the more able and "it's our goal" to accelerate them through the curriculum.

I'm meeting with the Head. Any suggestion on what I can say or do to get them to provide for him in some way, shape or form that doesn't bore him to death and cause him to lose all interest or get disruptive?

I don't want him to become like those kids on TV taking their A levels at 8. He doesn't need recognition or tags or being made to feel special. But he's beginning to show signs - albeit very early ones - of being "superior", of can't-be-bothered, of rebelling against authority. Which is not him - he's always been a quiet, likeable chap and the teacher's pet in every year. I want to stop any downward behaviour spiral now. He does not complain much about doing lower level work in English but the 2+2 is making him very miserable.

Someone suggested elsewhere here that I can offer to be more closely involved in what work he is set in school. My wife and I don't want to appear pushy but we are more than happy to do this.

Any other suggestions on how I can get the school to DO something? Is he entitled to get teaching resources/work from secondary schools? Any ammunition you can give me for my meeting?

Sorry for such a long post.

Surely, Tamarto, you can always get better at reading? Even in adulthood there is a difference between the person who can read Mills and Boons and the person who can read Thomas Aquinas. I'd say there is a very clear difference between my dd who can get through Vanity Fair in a few evenings and some of her friends whose limit would be a Jaqueline Wilson.

And when you get to university there is certainly a difference between the student who can cover several thousand pages in a week and understand what he's read and the student who takes a week to read a single textbook. Often the difference is between passing or failing your degree.

And if you carry on reading, your reading will improve. I am a much better reader- faster, more accurate, better at sorting essentials from non-essentials- than I was when I was 18. Not to mention that I can do it in more languages. Doesn't have to stop at all.

True cory, i suppose i was thinking more that the room for improvement is less, if you at a high standard to begin with, which is what we are talking about here.

see what you mean, but I think there's always room for improvement

my Mum was reading Dante in the original when she was at school

after she retired, she took up reading chronicles in Old Church Slavonic

there's always something harder

This is a response to Tamarto on bottom page 3, who I confused and to dadatlarge just above Tamarto...

My point was that all ability is relative. One is more or less able compared to other people. A child who is very advanced in any subject for their age may as they get older, not loose ability but cease to be so advanced for their age,

So a 6 year old who is able to do the maths of a 12 year old now, may not when they are 18 have the ability of a 24 year old. They may just have the ability of an 18 year old. So if a child comes to believe that being advanced is really important then it becomes a problem when later on they are not so advanced.

I say "may not." But one cannot exclude the possibility that there may be a really important talent here. Also ability at mathematics opens doors. It should be fostered with care.

Which is why I am so keen that you get advice from a Psychologist. Good news about the school. And good luck anyway.

Thanks, nlondondad, I understand what you mean now. Thanks for your input and your wishes.