G+T moving schools- what should we expect?

[sunnylabsmum]

We are currently overseas and DD has just got a place at a small (100 Pupil) English Primary. Her current school(450 pupils) have her on the G+T register and do some extension work with her. There were little opportunities for work outside the school as only 6 schools in local area which all follow UK NC
She is in year 2.
Do we tell the new school about G+T?
Any advice welcomed- especially how to convince her that afternoon school could be fun- she currently is home by 1pm!!

The thing is that she may or may not be g&t in the new school: g&t simply means among the 10% most gifted children in this particular school. So a child who is not labelled g&t in one school may actually be considerably brighter than one who is so labelled in another school- depending on the standards of the school.

I would leave the new school to make their own minds up.

Won't the current school provide info direct to the new school?

I have two very able boys. I've never gone in to a school or teacher to tell them how bright they are, I haven't needed to. Within a few weeks (at the first parents' evening) the teachers have worked it out for themselves and are telling me about their exceptional ability.

Tbh this route produces more positive results, and you are not going to get labelled as a pushy mum before you even step over the threshold.

Agree with cory , just because they are given that treatment at one school doesn't mean it will be the same at another. If you are overseas the range of academic abilities at this age may well differ to a uk school. The mix of children (ie some bilingual, others having had little formal education before 7 or joining as esl) will not be the same. Unless your dd is an extreme case she may simply not stand out as much. Also at year 2 it is still possible others may catch her up, particularly boys who develop at a differnet rate. Try not to have fixed expectations, let the new school assess her over her first few weeks and determine for themseleves .

My experience has been that not all teachers are that great at picking up on bright kids. My DS is a quiet chap who doesn't push himself forward for anything. He was miserable for over two years before his Y2 teacher picked up that he was 4-5 years ahead of the rest of the class at maths.

And among those that do pick up on the bright kids, the system gives them an incentive to even these kids out while the teacher concentrates efforts where she'll get the most brownie points - bringing up the L2 pupils in Y2 at the expense of challenging those who are already at 3A.

Give her a week or two and get some feedback from your DD about what she's doing in class. If the teacher hasn't picked up on it, there's no harm I believe, in letting her know that you are aware of just what your child's strengths are.

I wouldn't use the G&T term. As cory says, she may not be G&T here. Also, this school may not be working to 10%, it may be only the top 1% (yes, schools have discretion in the cut-off point).

OP, what are your perceptions of your dd's strengths? As previous posts explain, being on the register says very little, but your perception as a parent might tell us a lot more. Do you think your dd might be unusually gifted, compared to other children you know, or compared to your own childhood memories? Have a look at the work she does at her new school and have a look at her- do you think she is on the right level or not? This is going to be far more relevant than how she was ranked in her previous school.

(DAL, though the OP's dd may well be one of those bright children you describe, she hasn't actually told us that yet. All we know is that she was in the top 10% in an unusually small school. I would have thought it would be worth establishing that first, before you ask the teacher to give her extra work).

Thanks to all for these very useful replies. It has certainly given me plenty to think about!
As an ex teacher I have a pretty good idea that DD's performance and levels are easily in the top 1+2 in the class. Her reading is 1.5 years ahead and its the same with Writing, spelling and Maths.
I have made a big effort not to extend activites too much at home, as she needs time to do the normal socialisation type of things that children need to do. However, she and I often discuss how things were in the past and she is very curious about working out how long ago certain Tudor kings and queens were reigning aand what conditions were like then for rich or poor people. Not the usual sort of thing that a Yr 2 pupil would do. Also, her reading and comprehension of text is far advanced to other children. I had the opportunity to do some supply work in a higher year group recently, and realised that DD could have slotted in about mid to top level in this group, who were chronolically 3/4 years older.

However, as I haven;t taught this age range for a few years I am a little unsure about what G+T means in practise.

Although we are overseas, the school is a forces ones, so there are very few bilingual children which I appreciate could affect the classification of who is G+T and who isn't.

A year and a half ahead, even across the broad wouldn't necessarily be classed as G and T on its own I'm afraid

I think it just depends on who else is in the class tbh - and that may change as you change schools. Dd isn't (to my knowledge) on a G&T register, despite being miles ahead in everything - her last reading assessment in terms of reading age was at age 5.10 when she was assessed as having a reading age of 8.6. She is now miles ahead of that again, is at the beginning of Y2 and is easily NC level 3++, writing is what you would expect at end of Y3. I don't think she's particularly 'gifted', just a bright girl. I DO think she is musically talented however, and as long as she is getting extension work appropriate to her abilities in class that's fine, but if there were some extra music opportunities going I'd love her to have those.

I also thing G&T should be segregated by gender. Ds1 is not classified as G&T, despite being extremely good at all literacy type subjects - he is up with the top girls in the group, which for a boy is unusual - he is the only boy in the top literacy group, and he could do with some extension work here I think.

This is depressing.
OP mentioned that (1) her DD was G&T and (2) might need some help with the change in the structure of the school day. Everyone has piled in, without knowing he child in question, and said that she probably isn't that clever. No-one has addressed the afternoon school question.

Why is everyone so negative about this subject?

Senua, we are not negative. I for one thing that stimulating a child's intellectual side is a great thing in any case. We have not said that she probably isn't clever. It is perfectly possible to be clever and still not on the G&T register in one particular school.

We just ask the OP to provide information about how her dd might be regarded as G&T in more general terms, in order to formulate a more helpful answer re what she tells the school. Because if the school go very ambitious, going on their view of what is G&T, it could either be too little or too much for the child, depending on how she fits into it. Better to let the school decide an appropriate level imo.

But most of us would probably agree that being clever is something positive and needs stimulating anyway.

Having now had the OPs reply, I would say that whether she is or not, there are clearly lots of positives here that you can build on. Strictly speaking, you don't need to know her IQ rating to encourage an interest in the Tudors, as it is clearly going to be something that gives her great joy in any case. I think your desire not to overload her is a good idea, but there are so many ways you can encourage her talents without making her feel overworked. Often the best things I have been able to do for dcs have been fairly casual things, like passing the book case and saying "this is one I think you might enjoy". Or chats on the way to school. Maybe telling an anecdote out of a book to whet their appetite. And of course taking them both to any exhibitions etc that I could manage. Dd I think is someone who would be regarded as G&T in many schools, ds is in one of the bottom sets, but they have both shared an interest in history since the Reception years and I think it is a great thing to have.

thanks alot cory. Your approach about suggesting things she might like is spookily like how I try to extend with out putting pressure on her. The other day I acquired a set of pony books for her. Initially she glanced at them, said too hard and put them to one side. Then when I wasn;t looking she picked it up, started reading and then said - yes it might be worth a read!! This was great as for the last few weeks she has said school reading books were boring, and only showed interest when she had to read outloud a poem from a book two stages higher than that which she is on. I have decided to take the pressure off reading school books, as I want her to read for pleasure and I know all too well how being forced to read things can turn you against reading.

I think I will wait and see what the school says. I am hoping that we will get the chance to meet up with the teacher after a month or so, as that is what happens here when a child is new to the school. Does this commonly happen, or do I have unrealistic expectations?

Any help on the afternoon school concept. I have few ideas how to convince her it will be ok, as I think ending school at 1pm here is great. What a shame I can;t take that with us!!

Afternoons: the out of hours clubs all start at 3pm, so she'll need to be around at home-time for any of them. And it means seeing more of her friends, if she's in school longer.

Typically English schools do maths/English in the mornings, and 'topic' in the afternoon; how much topic does she do currently? Ie, history, science, geography, ICT, PE, swimming, art, music, etc.??

When is she starting the new school? Start-of-Year parents evenings are about now. But you should, whenever she starts, be able to request an appointment after school with her teacher, about a month after she starts, just so you can review how she's adjusting. That would be perfectly reasonable of you.

fortunately her current school follows UK NC and is ofsteded as well- comes out very well on ofsted's. They do lots of topic and being in a warm climate loads of swimming. The ICT is fabulous- better than the secondary school out here and curriculum wise I have no concerns about her fitting in.

When we moved here DD took a very long time to feel able to do afternoon out of school activities and I am expecting this again this time. She clings to us, as we are the constant, and so for a while out of school stuff will probably be dog walks, visits to grandma and possibly one club a week. She knows a few children in the new school from pre-school 2 yrs ago, but whether these will be picked up on who knows!

i will think about asking for a meeting with the new teacher straight after christmas if one is not offered earlier. I understand how manic christmas is so would not want to add extra pressure at this time