Very bright 9 year old

[ColaFizz]

My daughter is 9 and is currently achieving L4 in english (11 year old average). Is it worth me pursuing a scholarship to a school which is more apt at her high achievments or am i just being a bias mum? (Most private schools take bright children for free, as long as they fall within the top 25% ability range and pass an entrance exam)

That's why i'm here, i don't know where to turn for things like this. Her teacher said she is very bright, and i just want the best for her, I don't know if anyone else has been in a quandry about schools, and never had a problem until now

level 4 in english - is that reading, writing or both?

I don't think a level 4 in year 4 is that unusual I'm afraid

It's both, just read up on it and they should be level 4 by the end of year 6, so hoping she can expand on that a lot

arf @ angry.

I'm the least angry person I know.

And I was being friendly, believe it or not. I was asking about your child. What it is she's showing an aptitude for. If she enjoys it. What you and her are hoping for. Why you think a certain school (grammar or otherwise) is best for her. How the school is challenging her atm. I was trying to engage with you about your child.

Hully, I am NOT frightened of Dulcie. Kerazee hair or otherwise. And I own her btw. Therefore you can't threaten me with her.

Oh you're thinking I might set her on you? I thought you took her. Where is she? I'm so lost. I need to stop spawning imaginary folk.

I don't know if anyone else has been in a quandry about schools

oh yes!

My DD is just starting yr 7 so we've been through all the options in our area recently. I think you got off to a bad start by making a statement that was unfortunately not true. But we all want the best for our kids and its good you're looking into things now.
It would be a shame if your daughter could get a grammar school place but you didn't get her registered for the exam and familiar with the practice papers in time.

no the national average is a level 4b by end of year 6 - that's what they aim for.

As I said a level 4 (without sub-grading) is not that spectacular - from a 4 you move to a 4c, 4b, 4a then a 5

she's doing well, you should be pleased but I wouldn't be talking about very bright and maing plans until you talk to her teacher

Worse thing on here is lack of emotion :) She love writing, reading, inventing stories etc. I just know the fee paying/state grammar schools, have the best exam results. I'd pay for her to go if i could afford, everyone wants the best education for their child :)

Not me.

I want my dd to make me rich. I'm going to put her on Britain's Got Talent.

oh, yeah then, if thats how it works, she's level 4b, i didn't know there was a difference, wish they'd give you a manual on this stuff!!! :)

SOBS is a very angry person indeed.

She has a baaaad rep, watch out.

pmsl @ bloody stumps comment:o

The lack of emotion on here is difficult. I come with a disclaimer. 75% of the time I'm joking, the rest of the time sarcastic and/or confused.

I liked reading, writing, inventing stories etc. I didn't have a choice re school (our local school was fine thankfully) but my mum did do lots of things that helped foster my love of all things English (including David Mitchell, no hang on, my mother had bugger all to do with that).

Stick around on here, you'll get lots of advice.

One thing you can do now is check the school websites for their open days and put them in your diary. The best source of information about a school is the school itself. Private schools are only too happy to answer inquiries - you're a potential customer.

Cola, really, talk to her teachers, go to the Open Day and see what you think.

Thanx every1, I got one either end of the spectrum here, my dd is very bright at english, and my ds is at a school with a specialist provision for speaking and language, my heads bouncing off the wall at the mo

As others have said,level 4b is average for Year 6 but many, many children will achieve significantly above that. My ds2 is also in Yr 5 currently and achieved 4b in his end of year assessments last year. He is very average in his (state) school, probably somewhere in the middle of the class. Apparently 11 children in his year of 45 achieved Level 5 this year. This is supposedly a particular "clever" year in the school but not completely exceptional. I am saying this just to give you an example of where your daughter is at.

It is certainly worth pursuing selective schools for secondary. However, you seem to have confused state grammar schools with private schools. State grammar schools will take the top % of students and they are all educated for free in the state system. What that % is, is determined by how many people sit the exam and what the pass mark is. There are only a few grammar schools near us (Surrey) and the competition is fierce so nowhere near 25% of the students who apply are accepted. I think Tiffin boys admits about 10% of those who apply.

Private schools will probably also ask you to take a test. Depending on the results of those tests, and sometimes based on ability in music or sport e.g., they may offer a scholarship. Scholarships are not easy to come by, your daughter will need to be very clever, and the scholarship will most likely still only cover between 10-30% of the fees. There are larger scholarships available (definitely not at any of the schools around here) and mostly seem to be as rare as rats' teeth.

• rare as rats' teeth.
  (those are pretty common. I think the expression is hens teeth)

got one here that offers upto* 75% of fees, and i know music scholarship only offers 50%. This is why i'm on here really to see if its worth pursuing. We're in West yorkshire, btw :)

My DS was a 4b in maths at the end of yr4. he's not that bright, tbh. Standards are very low in state ed!

DS1 was L4 in reading in Yr 3. I thought that was pretty good but not entirely exceptional.

Good luck though. I hope it works out well

Ya know, I knew there was something wrong with that comparison but in my rush to post supervise ds2's homework I couldn't think straight!

There are state (ie free) grammar schools in West Yorkshire - Heckmondwike, Bradford, ilkley, Otley, Batley that you have to pass an entrance exam for. I suggest you go onto the LEA website and see what the requirements are.

AS a teacher I can say that SATS results mean very little - it's quite easy to be getting Level 4s and 5s and once they get to secondary school the teachers will retest them and tell you your child's not as bright as you thought. This is only because they've had the Summer off and are a bit rusty but it shows that testing does nothing to prepare them for any kind of future. Your daughter is doing well and if she's happy at school be proud of her and then make sure she's getting enough creative and critical thinking activity in her life. These are the skills that really matter in the future.

DS1 was considered 'very bright' by his school and was assessed as a 4c at the end of Year 2 (aged 7).

He is now 10, nearly 11, and may get a scholarship for our local (independent) Grammar, but it won't be worth more than 10% sadly.