Quiet children

[nikos]

Just been for dd parents evening and been told yet again how quiet she is. They assume she is shy and lacking in confidence but she just so isn't and will happily throw herself into new situations. She just doesn't like speaking in front of a group. She is in year 5, doing brilliantly academically, but we can tell they are concerned that this will become an increasing problem as she moves up the school (she is in a middle school). There only strategy seemed to be picking on her to speak in class
We have made an appointment to see the head. But in the meantime, are there any teachers/parents who have been in this situation and found strategies that work?

It is tricky, because for every pupil like your dd, there will be one who could give you a brilliant spoken explanation of the subject but can't write it down. So it has to be a balance but we are def being pushed away from using written assessment

What sort of methods would people suggest to get her to talk more in class?

My husband had just pointed out that she has put herself forward for loads of things in the last year. She is reserve class rep on the student council, has been playground buddy and served on tuck shop. So she is willing to put herself forward, but just not verbally.

it's a shame that they still feel the need for a one-size fits all approach to assessment isn't it.
I wish it was up to the class teachers, who actually KNOW the pupils, to be able to say "well so-and-so writes brilliantly and shows a clear understanding so I'll use her written work for assessment" or "such and such shows a clear understanding verbally but written skills are lacking so we'll assess verbally"