How does your school support bright children in class and is it enough?

[zansi]

Hi parents this is bit of a long winded question but here we go. We recently received the year end report for my child in Y1. She received 2a for English writing, 2a reading and 2a for Maths. I have always known she is bright and tried to push the school to give her work at her level all this year but it has been a battle. They have given her some extended work for English in class although this was never consistent and I had to request it. Absolutely nothing was given for Maths and they don't believe in Maths homework either. Am a bit upset because she has been bored for much of the year and there is only so much I can do at home and surely it is the schools job to educate her. I had to push to receive English homework as they felt it wasn't necessary, as she is a fluent reader who didn't need to grasp phonics. Was a bit alarmed because English doesnt stop at phonics!. Spoke to the headteacher who has assured me that they will cater to her requirements next year but a year has been wasted. She is very happy at her school otherwise.
To cut a long story short I would like to know what other parents in my situation have been able to achieve in the way of help and support for their child?. Is there anything I can suggest to the school put in place ?

My DD (y2) is very bright and I did wonder if the school were challenging her enough. When I went in to speak to them last year at parents evening her lovely teacher explained that what they really wanted to work on was consolidating her knowledge. Yes she had learnt all she needed to learn in year 1, but they considered it was important to take what she knew and to expand on her breadth of learning rather than teach her more complex things. I have to say that I hadn't considered that but was really pleased with how it helped her grow in confidence and set her up for a great year 2. I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes you have to learn to trust the teachers. I'm really glad I was able to have a sensible discussion with her teacher and it showed me that they truly understood how to work with bright children much more than I did.

I agree with everything you say yellowkiwi

I am just finishing my 17th year of year and hand-on-heart I can say I have only ever taught four truly gifted and talented children. Yes, I have taught lots and lots of bright and very bright children, but they are/were NOT gifted and talented.

KATTT prime numbers and square roots are very much part of the KS2 curriculum. And I would like to ask how many times a day is your professional judgment and practise criticised and picked over?

Thank you for your post signet, you make some very valid points. At the end of the day teachers only want what is best for the children that they teach. Breadth, independence and the application of knowledge/skills is sometimes overlooked.

letthembe

My child's teacher came to me and said she couldn't teach her, they couldn't 'differentiate enough' I'm not questioning anyone's professional judgment.

(And it's a stupid thing to ask -pretty much anyone who works with clients and bosses in the private sector has their judgment and practice picked over hourly.)

My question stands. How do you teach a year 3 class where you've got kids like my daughter (I'm sure, not on your standards, gifted) who can do KS3 work and on the other hand you've got kids (like my other daughter) who can't tell you what 2x2 is? Something's got to give and in my experience its the first child who gets left to fend for themselves.

Well, I would assess her current areas of weakness possibly through a Y6 SAT or even a level 6 SAT. Or I would ask a TA to cover my class, whilst I sat with your DD so I could assess her actual maths processes and discuss her thought process as she did different questions. Once I had marked the assessment that would give me areas to focus on, if necessary I would contact the LA maths advisor or a secondary school teach or AST for maths.

In class, I would problem give her independent tasks - problem solving, investigations, a bit of computer based work, linking maths to the real world, for the start of the lesson so I could get the rest of the class work. Or I'd give the rest of the class a timestable practice, paired games, puzzles to solve etc, whilst I taught you DD... then back to the whole. I would also put in practical activities, investigations and tasks where the children have to apply their skills - this would also give the class, including your DD some collaborative work. Luckily, in my current school we ability group for maths. My previous school I had at least two TAs - brilliant and flexible - so we structured lessons to meet the needs of all. Does that answer your question?

On personal note my DH, both my parents, one of my 2 brothers and the vast majority of my friends work in the public sector - therefore I don't know the ins and outs of the private sector, nor do I pretend to. So can you post a link so I can question for work/capable and post judgments on the net....

Whoops - I would probably give

Quick question - if a child is working 'on target' throughout primary/lower secondary school (i.e. 2b year 2, 4b year 6, level 5 year 9), what are they expected to achieve at GCSE?

letthembe

I just wish you were teaching my daughter - all her teacher has done is (literally) throw her hands in the air and say 'I don't know what to do'.

The personal note I don't see the parallels.

KATTT I would advice to give up with the current teacher, I have with me DS (she's retiring, I have avoided her for the last few weeks). See how the first few weeks go, then see her new teacher - softly, softly (we teachers can be very prickly). Say you know her job is hard, must be challenging etc. etc. ... then ask "Is the maths leader in the school giving you any help?" Then move onto the LA advisor and a Advanced Skills Teacher. You could volunteer to contact the secondary school, asking for advice - saying how busy your DD's teacher must be. Good luck. If a child is a level 5 in Y3, I'd say they are GAT - and that is something coming from me.

Oh and KATTT I am less prickly today - must be something to do with my stress levels going down as I complete more tasks at work and in the home. But, I take criticism well - must be my feisty nature.

I know I am coming into this thread a little late but I have just read some of the comments and feel really angry by the response the OP has had from some MN's.

Maybe I am a little naive but I thought children attended school primarily to learn and be educated. All the other aspects of their life I would hope to pick up as a parent. If your daughter/son is not been stretched and is starting to get bored you have every right to complain. Anyone who saw the programme on BBC1 last week about the school in Leicester will testify - more time and resources get given to struggling children than those at the other end of the spectrum. I don't necessarily blame the teachers on this - I think class sizes are a massive problem as is the focus on SATS and league tables.

I know I will get annihilated for saying the above but I felt it had to be said. My DD2 for example is starting school in Sept. She can read (taught herself) and can add/take away/multiply. She loves solving puzzles (BBC Bitesize) and reading. I have no idea if this makes her 'bright' or 'G &T' and I truely don't care but I know I won't be happy if they make her go through all the phonics again/learn numbers 1-10 etc......

lexie01

I know there are good teachers (and the one's who post here seem very good ), but so far I've had experience of three primary schools and a combined 12 years and all I've seen is teachers who regurgitate the curriculum at a pace set by central government - your child can take it or leave it, struggle or become bored, the lessons are set.

I agree entirely and it is such a shame. I feel that education is now about putting a tick in a box - done that subject now onto the next. If this isn't the case and education is more about instilling a love of learning and broadening ones knowledge why is Yr6 so geared towards SATs. From what I understand term 1 is devoted to practising past papers, term 2 sitting them and term 3 having a break. Education and learning shouldn't stop because SATs have been completed.

The primary reason I posted here though wasn't to have 'a go' about the education system in this country but to contradict the view that is prevalent amongst MN's that to want your child to be taught & stimulated from an early age doesn't automatically make you a pushy parent. Some children prefer to read, write & solve puzzles. They might not actually want to play for most of the day. And dare I say it might actually want to be pushed.

Thank you for a very helpful thread. DS has just been graded 2b in all subjects at end Y1, and this reassures me that he is doing well but not unusually so, and that I don't need to be too anxious about him being stretched more at school.

Hi, lexie01. I have a ds2 like your dd - he started reception last September able to read fluently (he even reads Harry Potter books to himself), loving maths (quite capable of doing the work in maths his brother's peers were learning in year 2) and puzzles, etc. I wouldn't be annoyed about phonics if I were you, though, unless your dd taught herself to read by sitting herself through a phonics programme... I think phonics teaching does help with spelling strategies for children and it isn't limited to the basics of what individual letters "sound" like, or simple letter combinations, like ai, oi, etc, etc. At the start of reception, ds2 didn't really write much - not independent writing, that is, rather than just copying words he saw around him. Now, at the end of the year, he can write independently at some length (including correct punctuation, capital letters, etc, etc), with good spelling, and what he writes is always comprehensible, because what is spelt wrongly is spelt phonically. Without phonics teaching, I'm not convinced his attempts would be quite so plausible - he may be able to read well, but that does not automatically translate into someone being a good speller from an early age.

Yes, he did have a patch during his reception year of being disenchanted, but to be fair to the teachers, I think that was more to do with the fact that, unfortunately for him, there doesn't appear to be another child in the year yet working at anywhere near the same academic level as he is and that can be quite isolating - he finds what the others are learning and doing a bit boring and simplistic (including the way they play), but doesn't want to be off on his own all the time, either - so yes, he sometimes has to be bored/play with what everyone else wants to play with, rather than playing with things in a way that he would like to. Yes, he probably would be happy to stop "learning through play," already - he likes structure and constant challenge (unlike his brother, who is very bright, but very scared of difficulty or failure, but who also has got happier the more structured the work has become and who is really looking forward to the more formal work of KS2). I'm hoping that next year, when he is in KS1 and the school starts phase teaching, the school will be able to cater for him better, in that the other children in his year will by then be more mature, so hopefully the gap between him and the others won't be so big, and hopefully he will also get to work with some older children in some subjects (whilst remaining with his peers most of the time, as he may intellectually be capable of working with older children and may cope OK socially most of the time, given his experience with his older brother, but he is still physically and emotionally a 5-year old). Until then, I'm stuck with a child who looks like a reception child, but thinks he's the same age as his older brother and tends to behave like it. I do think, nevertheless, that he has learnt a lot in his year in reception.