At what age are children in the UK identified as G&T?

[Strix]

And what/where/why/how is this register I hear of?

And how would one decide if a child is gifted/talented?

Thank you!

You can join the library from birth in East Sussex too.
They do try and encourage people with that bookstart pack if they haven't joined.

Whether the G&T register opens doors or not depends on the individual school. At dd's school relatively little was done for G&T children (apart from a lunchtime club which she refused to join), but the teaching in the top set was very good and stimulating, so that was the door opener iyswim.

Surely the G&T list is just a formalisation of what any half decent school would do anyway? Even when I was at school (in the dark ages) some of us were given lessons with older children; had special activities; etc. Not that it's made a blind bit of difference as we've got older - some of us are achieving our "potential", most of us are not (including me).

Just wondering aloud, I suppose, but what doors were you thinking would be opened that you couldn't open yourself? And really am not trying to be contentious.

You can join the library at birth here too- anyway-even if you couldn't that wouldn't stop you borrowing books in your name for your child.

When I was teaching it was the top 10% of your class that was classed as gifted and talented. It is a pretty meaningless title- I think parents like it though. There is no extra funding for those 10% and regardless whether they are on the register or not their class work would be tailored to meet their needs.

I would say in 10 years of teaching the number of children I have taught that I considered truly gifted or talented are quite rare. Maybe 1 or too that have had a real gift with music, art or maths or sport or reading. The rest I would say are just brighter than average, but not really talented (although I have taught children who I know are more intelligent than me).

I personally think its a bit daft the G&T list.

My dd got recognised by her school as being talented in Taekwon-do. She started competeing nationally at the age of 5. She took up Taekwon-do at 4.

When i spoke to the Headteacher asking her what this meant for my dd. Her response was that seeinga s the school doesn't do Taekwon-do there was little the school could do. Apart from putting her on the G&T list.

The way the school do accomidate us is by allowing her the morning or day off after a competition if it has been a long weekend or particuly a long journey like theh one in scotland next month.

My dd has only just got off of the sen register of developmental delayed speech aswell.

"It's an abbitary list of the top 10% of a class/ school."

Is that word supposed to be 'arbitrary'?
If the members on the list are classified as 'the top 10%' how can it be arbitrary (to save you looking it up, the definition is: not bound by rules).

It does sadden me when you get teachers saying that they have only seen one or two Gifted children in a lifetime of teaching, and that most are just average. They will spout all this theoretical jargon about individualised learning but then let the cat out of the bag by saying that they think that all kids are pretty much the same.
That's why the Government introduced the G&T scheme - to try to overcome the dead hand of dumbing down to the average (and, as someone said above, to stop the middle classes going off to private schools where they actually encourage achievement instead of slapping it down with a 'think you're something special, do you?' put-down).

I didn't say most children were just average, I said I had taught lots of really intelligent children, but only one or two truly gifted. To me gifted or talented are either those with a particular gift such as being a spectacular musical ability or those children who posess a level of intellect way beyond that of any average child.(not just bright). I think of Mozart, Einstein, Darwin, etc when I think of gifted. These people are the rarities in society. I once worked in a school in a particularly deprived area, where many of the children attained much lower than the national average- there is no way that 10% of them were G&T compared to the rest of society- but none the less, we had to register them as so.

It is a pointless label.

As a teacher I think it is important to help all children reach their potential, I certainly have never dumbed down children to the average. In fact- quite the opposite- I would say in the schools I have worked in there is a concscious effort to bring the average up and to stretch the very top as far as possible.

What a bizarre library system...can't quite get my head around that. Cannot understand a system where 9 month old child is 'approved'of and identifies as G&T!!! I wouldn't share this with too many people if I was you.
G&T registers are a load of b*. Top 10% in each class. It doesn't really mean anything to teachers, but it appears to mean a lot to competative mummies ...

The Government introduced a scheme for Gifted. It defined those Gifted as the top 10%.
Why do you think, onebadbaby, that your definition should override the Government's? Do you often adopt this cavalier attitude or do you normally follow guidelines?

It is not a pointless label (or, at least, it shouldn't be. I know that in some schools that is all it is) it is a political statement that teachers seem to have misunderstood. It is, partially, to help keep parents on-side. But when have teachers ever cared about parents ...

I have an opinion, the government issue guidlines which I usually followed if that is what my Head Teacher thought was appropriate- it doesn't mean I have to agree with them, and 'guidlines' does not always mean they are mandatory.

I think adding a child's name to a list doesn't make the difference to how they are taught. I also think if you are a good teacher then you would already have recognised that some children are attaining more than others and be planning your teaching appropriately. In this sense the label is pointless.

"Just wondering aloud, I suppose, but what doors were you thinking would be opened that you couldn't open yourself? And really am not trying to be contentious."

I meant that if being on this list triggers the school to give extra tuition, or put higher numbers on the homework, or whatever else they might do then I would want my children on the list. If it is merely a list submitted to the government that says hey look here my child is in the top 10% then I don't really care.

I think my DD has a knack for maths (not sure if she G&T or where she would fall nationally against her peers) but I am keen to see the school challenge her in maths, which is historically not something girls are encouraged to pursue. I can only do so much from the sidelines. It needs to be happening in school too.

For example, they are doing number bonds to 20 this week. This is a waste of time for DD. We are doing number bonds to 100 on the weekend. And DH threw out some things like "Number bonds to 112. 53?" And much to my surprise she came up with 59. Now I might be biased, but I think this is pretty good for an almost 7 year old.

dounleexpresso why do you find it so offensive that a parent would want the best for their child? Why does it have to mean they are being competitive? At parents evening my sons teacher, quite matter of factly, stated that it's the children struggling in the class that get the most attention from the teaching staff. Why shouldn't they identify children who are working above the levels of the rest of their class and give them extension work to encourage their academic growth and interest in learning?

Here we go again, posters misinterpreting 'gifted' for 'genius'. Begins with a g though doesn't it.

"if you are a good teacher then you would already have recognised that some children are attaining more than others and be planning your teaching appropriately"

There's the rub. When the Govt introduced the scheme, only 30% of schools followed it. That meant that the other 70% thought that their kids weren't bright enough (statistically unlikely). Or 70% didn't have extension work in place. As outsiders trying to choose a good school for our kids, how are we to know which one it is?

If the G&T is only a label for what you are already doing, then why are you so against it?

(dc (3y) says she is a genius because she can hop on one leg)

Agree with Barry

BarryKent in my sons year we have two classes, his class teacher is lovely and approachable, the other class teacher is quite frankly a bit of a harridan! Is it a good school?

At my dd's friend's school, she was identified as g and t in Spanish and maths because she was assessed as Level 7 in these subjects, and was in the top 'some very small number which I forget"% in her class. Dd is also level 7 in these subjects and is in the middle of her form. It's not an objective measure - it's based on the cohort in each school.