What is exceptional?

[thecaptaincrocfamily]

At parents evening dd1 was described as exceptional in literacy and I have no idea what exactly this means!

Ask the teacher.

well, it partly depends on how old she is

if she's 6 and writing a novel then that would be exceptional!

she's obviously doing really well in comparison with her peers but then you must know that, surely ...

Just be very pleased for you and DD and keep feeding her plenty of good books!

Exceptional Performance around here means that you are performing above the top levels for that particular key stage. So instead of the level you get EP in your report.

Are you sure, cury? I've never heard of that.

? cory

Certainly not done here if a child is working at a level that is what we report no matter if it is above expected levels for the key stage.

What is exceptional for one age group is different to that of another and there will be difference between schools too.

For me to describe a child as 'exceptional' they would really need to be exceptional i.e outside normal range.
So if you imagine in Reception, some children are still making marks and learning basic sounds whilst others are beginning to read. If I had a Reception child reading Harry Potter, say, then I would describe them as exceptional. If however, they were 'just' reading at the level of a Y1 or even Y2 child, I would describe them as very able.

Mmm, it is very interesting to hear all these different views. DD is only reading 1-2 years ahead (guaging it on book banding) but her teacher was describing her role playing ability and vocabulary/ understanding. Her reading ability (decoding) is behind her comprehension and speech. She appears to be similar in maths and knowledge and understanding of the world. Asks questions like 'will the world end?' and 'why did God not make people so they don't die and live forever?'

How old is she?

IMO exceptional is a child that is working substantially above the age-related expectations for one or more subjects. e.g. a year one at level 3 reading. I don't use reading test levels (e.g. Salford)or reading book levels as such because children need to do more than read a certain band of book or get 10.06 years to achieve a level 3 (look at the APP guidelines if you want the criteria)

Sounds like fairly usual comments for reasonably bright and curious children in reception. Also, the concept of 1 or 2 years ahead in reading is a really tricky one, as it appears from the various conversations here that different schools have very different paces of learning to read eg some by this point in reception just starting phonics, and some charging up through the various schemes.
As long as she is enjoying school and learning, I don't think labels at reception really need to have much impact.

BluddyMoFo

She's 5 yrs and 2 months (reception). Michealahpurple I am slightly about theological questions being usual at 5??? Do you teach in a private school? or a parent?

My children asked questions like this at about this age - and they are clever but not world shaking. AND they go to state schools. There are lots of clever children at state schools, you know!

We teach philosophy from nursery in our standard state school so I would agree it's very common for young children to come up this type of question.

Exceptional at 5 yo is questioning God's existence.

i dont think it is particularly excetional if brought up in a house with parents who question the world around them my DS 15 has always been interested in factual programmes documentaries and the news but Mrz is right my other DC's and especially my DS with ASD around that age was asking these sorts of questions and giving us his theory but i dont think it matters what this means exactly it means what it says on the tin lol they are VERY pleased with her progress and so you should be too, this does not mean throuhout heraccademic life she wont get behind at times and romp ahead again at others though as its a bit like growing everyone does it at their own pace but this can change and invariably does

She probably means that she has gone on the Gifted and Talented list for this subject. And what is lovely is that your dd has a teacher who recognises her abilities and is therefore helping her to make the most of them.

I think these sort of Qs (God/death etc) are normal when they start on the Bible stories in school. My DD 5.5yrs is obsessed with this and we are a non-religious family!!

They are exactly the type of questions that my older two asked at that age. Neither I would describe as exceptional but both bright and curious.

DD1 is in Reception and can read reasonably fluently including the first 200 HF words. She kows all 40odd sounds and uses this knowledge to read longer, unfamiliar words. She can could above 100 and add or subtract a single digit number from any 2 digit number. She can also double numbers up to 12. Her comprehension is also very good. She can write legible but basic sentences.

She askes questions like, 'How can FC possibly get round everyone in one night' 'Who was FC's mummy?' 'Why aren't some mummies kind?' (saw something on the news) 'Why aren't people as tall as houses?' 'How do you get up the stairs to Heaven if you've died having your legs blown off?' These are the ones I remeber from the last few months.

I'd say DD1 was bright but not exceptional.

These sorts of questions are normal at this age, although they come across as very worldly! My 4.9yo DD asked me only yesterday what happens to your thinking bit when your body dies. She can also tell you whether any number (between 1 and 1,000,000) is odd or even because DH explained it to her once. She is not exceptional, just curious!

lol. ds1 went off to sleep one night after expressing his dissatisfaction about the creation v evolution explanations.

but yes, i'd say she's just working above the expected levels. that's not uncommon in itself in yr r, as children start at such wildly different levels - from not being able to read their name, to speed-reading chapter books and answering comprehension questions. yr r results are impossible to standardise really. it's where value-added actually means something.

DD1 is exactly the same age (and at a state primary BTW ). She is masively into how the world was created, what happens wen we die, will dinosaurs come back etc..

I don't think this makes her exceptional, just curious. Did you not ask the teacher what they meant?