Just interested - why is friend's DD G&T

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Promise this is not competitive mum but I am genuinely interested to know....

my good friend's DD (aged 6)is 5 months younger than DS and they're in the same year but different schools. She has been highlighted as G&T in reading/writing and been going to special events to boost her skills, getting extra supports etc.

I'm not surprised - she seems a sharp kid and her mum coaches her a lot. But DH and I just happened to see the two kids read side by side this week as all on hols together and were astonished by how much further behind DS she is. No way is her reading or writing anywhere as good as DS (who now reads paperbacks on his own). In our primary she wouldn't be anywhere near the top band of kids.

So is this because different schools have different criteria, or can some schools opt out of G&T (noone has mentioned DS is spectacularly great)?

Are you upset your son isn't n the G&T register?

Different schools doing it differently that's all.

It does.sound a bit as.though you are sore that your ds isn't identified as G&T

Afaik, G&T means the top 10% of each class/year/school, so OS a.movable feast.anyway. the bottom 10% at one school may be far more talented than the top 10% at another... its all relative.

No I knew you'd think that LOL but I'm really not bothered.

My sister works for the G&T quango and does a lot on their website. Infact she told me originally it was only set up (with a secret agenda) to identify children from deprived or poor backgrounds who needed support. Obviously this has expanded (my friend is defo not deprived!!)

I guess I was just interested because my friend's little girl now has access to loads of extra curricula things and noone at our school seems to. So maybe it is just that our v unhelpful headmistress doesn't really engage in G&T (knoing her she probably doesn't believe in it).

The whole thing just seems so ridiculous. Why cant they just abolish it because as has already been mentioned, the top 10% in one school can be miles behind the top 10% in another. So why should these children get all the extra support, visits to special events etc? its just so so unfair. In dds school one of the g/t pupils, who has had every chance, visit, special event etc has been rejected by every uni applied to and not a single one of the others managed to get into oxbridge.

You probably wouldn't know about the G&T provision unless your child was accessing it though, IME schools keep it on a need to know basis probably to stop other parents complaining that their children aren't doig the same things.

venus I think i agree with you. It seems very arbitary to me.

notso I hadn't thought about that - so maybe there are some kids getting help!! I know a couple of girls in DS's class are exceptional readers. Still a shame that one child 8 miles down the road gets loads of extras and kids who are more able at our school aren't.

As said already it is relative to each class/year - and as you said if DD was at your sons school she would probably not be on the bloody register. YOU know how well your son is doing and that is all that matters.

I think it very much depends on the teachers/schools concerned tbh.

My friends DS is G&T at PE because he can climbs to the top of the wall bars during PE lessons!

my dd is on the list and it is so low level - i think it is only to tick a box during ofsted to be honest

its prob a good idea if a super bright child isnt getting support from home or the school to pick them out and make sure they get lots of encouragment - but for most schools the kids are getting a great education so no need for more help

I think the theory is that the teacher is trying to teach to the broad level of the class. There is provision for those who need extra support at the lower end and provision for those at the higher end.

So if your son was in the middle in his school, then he is being catered for by the general day-to-day teaching... Your friend's dd would need extra support as the day-to-day teaching is not catering to her needs.

It doesn't really matter what they can do. G&T is just a label.

That's the theory anyway.

I used to wonder the same thing about DD, not because I particularly wanted DD on the G&T list, either.
I have now learnt that implementations and interpretations vary from school to school.

Update: my friend just emailed me - the school have cancelled the G&T programme - govt cuts. She's very upset!

Ha Ha Ha! sorry, my inner 5 year old suddenly came to the surface. Presumably your friend will now tell anyone who will listen that it has been cancelled...

G&T is dreadful as it was implemented so patchily across the UK that it was essentially meaningless anyway.

G&T is defined as the top 20% in that particular school, I believe. So every school has some G&T pupils, but they may not be on the same levels as children in another school.

Do you know, the more I read and hear about the scheme the more I think it is a load of crap; stretch the brightest children from within school but please do away with the label, it seems to cause so much angst.

I know, I feel sorry for my friend - she was so proud of her daughter but hard not to feel a touch of schadenfreude (tt tt).

It is particularly annoying to see 'G&T' children getting extra support (wtf?), when most state schools haven't even got the basics right in supporting those children with specific learning difficulties

hmc - exactly. See my thread, cunningly titled "cant think of a title but bear with me". I have 2 bright children, both top sets ya da ya da, but I personally would rather see extra time and resources(If there are any) spent on raising the attainment of the whole class.