What do I say now?

[Darem]

Hi, wondering if anyone could advise me on what to do with regards to DS's parents evening.
He is in Year 4 and at every parents evening I get told the same thing. "He's lovely, wish we had a classful of children like this. He's doing well with all subjects".

And then some - normally small - thing that he needs to work on. Last time it was needing to use more descriptive words. Well, he got a "star of the week" award the following week for his descriptive writing.

I am concerned that the whole politically correct - we can't say anything bad about your child situation - is not letting teachers say EXACTLY what they think.
Or do you think I'm panicking over nothing?
I've also asked about the Gifted and Talented scheme and the school don't seem to do anything with regads to this.

I suppose at the end of the day, my concerns are mostly whether my son is just "cruising" through school. Doing well enough to not really get any attention but not being stretched. He is finding school quite boring and says he gets fed up waiting for the teacher to explain things to the other children.

Whilst I do some things with DS at home, we spend time after school playing sports.

Should I be doing more school work with him at home?

Sorry to waffle on but next parents evening is coming up and I just KNOW I'll end up doing exactly the same thing and coming out frustrated.
Thanks for any responses.

I really don't mean this to sound so horrible but why are you trying to find fault? Maybe your DS really is just near-perfect, academically? :)

I DO see your point about them letting him cruise - but they are still giving you, albeit small, things for him to work on.

Two examples of DCs with similar parents' evenings/reports:

1. DH's DS. In a really rubbish school, living with his mum who doesn't give a flying fuck about education. Easily the smartest kid in the class without trying. Never given challenging work or ways to improve any problems. Cruised all the way through, never challenged (despite DH trying to get this to happen), has pretty much failed A levels.

2. Me. Always told I was a delight to have in the class, did well in (decent) school. Always given ways to improve or further challenge myself, work was well differentiated from the start. My parents had very strong interest in my schooling and made sure I worked hard and enjoyed it.

Do you see the difference? You are evidently very invested in your DS' schooling and that's great. It seems like you will KNOW if he's not being challenged, and would take appropriate steps if so. It sounds like he's doing fine! Unless you have any worries about his ability, I would just enjoy having such a delightful boy :)

FreudianSlippery,
Thank you for your comments. Yes, he is a delightful boy and I am very proud of him.

The school he goes to is in a "nice" area but has a lot of children who don't do so well academically. The teacher always seem to spend a lot of time getting the kids to stay quiet and get down to doing some work.

I think because my son does well the teachers almost forget he is there because their time is spent sorting the other kids out.

And like you, I went to a good(ish) school and had parents who were always encouraging me.

I guess it's a case of me thinking I SHOULD be doing more! Forget pushy parent, guess I'm a paranoid parent!

dont think there is a gifted and talented scheme any more ?