When do schools 'stretch' more able children?

[Feelingsensitive]

Possibly going to be flamed but this is a genuine question. DD is in reception and according to her teacher and previous nursery is 'very able'. She is basically reading/writing/doing maths about a year ahead. She is my first born so I am new to this. At parents evening the teacher said she didnt want to start sending reading books home until after Xmas when they all start learning to read as then she will have loads of requests from other parents to do the same. I can see where she is coming from and am happy to just read at home using library books. The only thing is it sounds to me that DD is not having anything tailored to her abilities. Now I am not suggesting she should be sent home with 'War and Peace' and it could be that her abilities are not even that remarkeable or they all even out at the end of the year. However, this is the second time I have been told she is working about a year ahead of her age group. Should I be asking the school for her to be pushed a bit more or does that come later? Common sense would suggest it shoud come later as they are all still so young and she loves school so I want it to stay that way. I have friends who are teachers but I dont want to ask in case I come across as a prat. Any advice would be appreciated. As long its not too much about me being a PFB pushy mother

[piscesmoon]

'Primary schools and the national currriculum levels do not stretch the most able pupils.'

You can't generalise with statements like this-it simply isn't true. At my DCs primary the most able mathematicians had special lessons with the Head. In one school the yr 6 boy who is way ahead goes to the local secondary school once a week-he started in year 5. The brightest DCs regularly go to special workshops inthe secondary schools-teachers are keen to help the bright DC. I had a whole terms work where I taught the 'high flyers' in Maths and Literacy and it was very rewarding. There are lots of really bright DCs in our schools. (it is quite possible that parents think their own DC is exceptional when they are average-just a thought).
Too many parents are caught up with the fact that their own DC must be best-hence them getting upset about domesticsluttery's DS-instead of thinking how lovely for him, they wonder why their DC doesn't get the same or excuse it by thinking he has a problem!
I am amazed when mothers look in their DC's friend's book bag to see which reading book they are on!!! Why on earth do they need to, and why is it relevant?

[lovecheese]

Jealousy, pisces, pure and simple.

Sad.

[piscesmoon]

There are too many people living through their DCs and their DC has to be 'top' or the 'best'. You get threads where there are complaints about one DC getting chosen for something and instead of thinking how lovely for the DC-they must have special talents etc they think -'why not my DC?'
You would think that other parents could rejoice for domesticsluttery's DS and think how lovely that his ability has been recognised.
Most DC in the class will be average (and if they are all fairly bright the average gets higher).
It never occured to me to even ask what reading books my friend's DCs were reading-I can't see what good it does-as long as my DCs are progressing at their own rate they are fine.

[Feenie]

"Primary schools and the national currriculum levels do not stretch the most able pupils."

Beenbeta, your ds's school certainly doesn't - you've told us about Maths lessons where children routinely work through a textbook - but I don't think you have the experience therefore to make a statement like the one above. No state school would get away with teaching Maths like that, NC or no NC.

earlycomputers "It seems the education system today is all out for helping slower kids but if youv'e got a kid whose above average ability then teachers dont seem to want to make extra work for themselves by stretching those kids. I thinks its just a real shame not to extend the bright ones, but apparently I seem to be in the minority. Teachers, I think, work to their minimum set targets (ie catering to the below or average level pupil) and anyone outside this band are left alone."

What absolute tosh - none of the replies you were given confirm any of this and you are preventing your dd's teachers from even having a chance of teaching what you're cross about by keeping your dd off school to teach her - that's what people told you was ridiculous.

[mrz]

I'm now wondering if I sat in a management meeting tonight planning extra sessions to support our most able children in literacy and maths or was it a dream...

[Feenie]

Yes, and we definitely didn't have any level 6 children in Y6 again this year - oh, hang on......

[spanieleyes]

I had level 6s in yr 5 last year, ner-ner-ne-ner ner!

[Feenie]

No, I think you'll find you are 'working to your minimum set targets', spanieleyes - whatever they are .

[faileddoctor]

[It now becomes clear to me why I'm called faileddoctor, it's because I wasn't streched enogh in reception. In fact I didn't learn to read till I was 6y (on the continent)]

[spanieleyes]

As I've got them again this year ( I teach 5/6) I now have to try to get them up to level 7. Have you seen the curriculum for level 7!!!!!! We now have algebra sessions at lunchtime

[Talkinpeace]

Richard Feynman memorably said that his father knew that school would never, ever be able to "stretch" him upwards. They were to stretch him s-i-d-e-w-a-y-s
music, arts, sport, socialising, sharing, understanding the abilities and needs of others.
Richard was never moved up a year at school, even when he was academically years ahead of everybody (even many of his teachers)
He turned into a balanced individual with a hunger for learning all subjects (and a Nobel Prize)
not a bad role model IMHO

[Clayhead]

domesticsluttery, my dc's school sounds similar to yours and I also have a ds who's a fab reader but could not learn to ride a bike without stabilisers for what seemed like forever...

Both dc have had loads of help with extending their knowledge in areas which they enjoy/are good at. Every teacher they've had has done their best to keep stretching them (8 teachers in total so far).

They also spend loads of time making friends and painting/playing sport/being Playground friends/going to school council meetings.

Also run of the mill state primary in a very average area.

[Cortina]

Talkinpeace, interesting re: Richard Feynman. What a great, sensible father.

[waterlooroadisadocumentary]

I am still waiting and my dd is in year 4. I have to spend my day teaching my own students and then come home and teach my own dd as she is being failed so miserably at school. My husband has cut down his hours at work so he can help as I was finding it exhasuting and he can work with dd straight from school rather than her having to wait for me to get home.

We don't live through our child and we are not pushy but she sits in a classroom watching children around her riot, avoiding the odd thrown chair, worrying when she is next going to be hit and wondering who will be teaching her today. My dd is a bright sparky girl who would have lost her love of learning if we had not intervened.

As a teacher I do stretch able pupils and object to earlycomputers saying I cater only to less able students.

[SkyBluePearl]

Reception is play based but at the same parents and children at my school were allowed free access to Biff and chip reading scheme books. Lot's of bright eager kids wanting to learn and they blossomed.

[ShoshanaBlue]

In our school, we bring home reading books from the summer term in Nursery. My DD has SEN, was getting individual help (not on a statement though) and Nursery teacher discovered DD could actually read (we didn't know).

She is in Y1 with same teacher and is doing really well (still SEN though) - we also get 10 spellings per week (I think spellings may be differentiated though).

I'm chuffed to bits about the reading because it's one thing that my DD can be good at. Being special needs means that you can miss out on a lot of the good things in life, but at least she can have something she can actually feel proud about.

In reality, our school is quite laid back in its approach to reading than a lot of others in our area (others read more but have daft policies about having to read every single word of every single book on reading scheme for example) - very mix and match approach with various schemes but all at appropriate reading level for DD.

I thought most schools were like my little girls but from reading here it seems like a lot of children miss out the nursery year and start in reception. Our Foundation Unit was entirely play based (Reception and Nursery were mixed a lot of the time) and yet they were still able to do reading, I don't see why being in the Foundation Stage means that you can't read when it's not been a problem in our school.

[Feenie]

Or most others!

Bloody hell, waterloo - why can't you move her?

[domesticsluttery]

ShoshanaBlue well done your DD!

[domesticsluttery]

waterloo your DD's school sounds awful, as Feenie said why can't you move her?

[piscesmoon]

' but she sits in a classroom watching children around her riot, avoiding the odd thrown chair, worrying when she is next going to be hit and wondering who will be teaching her today.'

This is unacceptable! Can't you move her? I would be logging incidents and phoning, or going in daily, no DC should have to suffer this! Make waves if you can't move her.
My DS was once in a maths class like that and they eventually made a video recording to show parents, who wouldn't believe that their 'little darlings' could act like that!
He did succeeed in getting decent maths lessons in the end.

[Byblyofyle]

OP disappeared? (again)

[Feelingsensitive]

No I am still here. Byblyofyle - Could you direct me to the post you wish me to respond to as I can't see any from you on this thread. Not sure what the 'again' is about as I had already responded to the first few posts. I've just been busy with RL.

Thanks again for those who have posted. I don't share the view that the teachers do the bare minimum but thats because I have had such a good experience from our primary school and nursery system so far. Seems to me that the system is a bit hit and miss for some. As I said before I will just wait and see. DD appears to be bright now but who knows whether this will continue as it could just be her development is a little ahead in the things we measure rather than those that we are less aware of. Whilst I would like to think DD is a genius it's more important that she is happy and enjoying school which she is. I think we have to see how this year at school goes and what happens next. In the meantime I will keep getting books from the library and getting her to read them as and when.

[domesticsluttery]

That sounds like the best idea feelingsensitive

As for being a genuis {grin] I like this quote by Albert Einstein:

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

[Goingspare]

The 'not responding' referred to the OP on the other thread, not to you, I think, Feelingsensitive.

[piscesmoon]

I thought it referred to the other thread as Feelingsensitive asked for advice and listened to it.