Does DS need an IEP? Or something?

[TooManyEasterEggs]

My DS1 is in Y1 and is L3 in maths. At school he has worked through the material for Y1-Y3 and is starting on the Y4 books. I'm a bit uncomfortable that he's just being allowed to shoot ahead without broadening his mathematical understanding.

School have been good in letting him get ahead in Y1 as he was obviously bored before. But at this rate he'll have finished the Y6 stuff somewhere in Y2 or Y3 and then he'll either have to twiddle his thumbs for several years or start on the secondary curriculum. I fear he will be pushed through the system too fast: he's good at maths but at some stage maturity becomes quite important - when maths stops being arithmetic and turns into more of an art form, a 10yo maths whizz may miss the nuances that give the subject its beauty. And I don't want him stereotyping himself as a maths genius when there's plenty of fab things going on in other subjects.

So I want school to slow him down, and provide him with a more appropriate curriculum rather than just hand him the next textbook or workbook. Is this reasonable? Should I make an appt with the teacher or SENCO about this? Or am I having unreasonable expectations given it's a state school.

Is IEP appropriate here?

What "Yr 4 books" is he doing? if he's simply doing pre-printed workbooks then the school are letting him down appallingly.

They should be providing him with opportunities for extended, open ended problem solving at an appropriate level; lots of opportunities to apply the maths he's learning etc.

An individual education plan may be appropriate for him. A close family member of mine has an IEP for maths because the provision he needs is outside the provision for the rest of the class.

If he's a level 3 maths, then it's not just arithmetic he's good at, and he should be working towards level 4.

Any teacher worth their salt would want to extend him to his natural ability. Another teacher on here (I forget who ) has a child at level 8 in her class, and he's year 4 or something.

If your DS is capable of doing secondary work, then he should be given it. The problem is, his class teacher might not be secure enough to know how to set appropriate work.

I would talk to the school, but an IEP is unlikely. Gove has abolished the gifted and talented register, so schools are under no obligation to name children who are G&T. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't ensure he progresses.

Very surprised to hear a state school relies on textbooks! That's a very unusual way of teaching maths nowadays.

You need to talk to the G&T co-ordinater and tell her exactly what you've told us.

Some schools use IEPs for G&T some don't. Some use IEPs but call them something else.

however an IEP is only a bit of paper. It's not the IEP that's important. It's what the teacher does in the classroom on a day to day basis.

You could have been describing my ds! He is now Y5 and working at Level 8.

Both he and I had problems when he was in the infants in that the teachers simoly did not know what to do, so let him plough through the Y4 and 5 workbooks. Things were better in Juniors, and the school SENCO did help to put together a program for him which had some elements of pushing ahead but is mostly enrichment. The reality will be that if he loves maths he will probably oush ahead anyway but you are right to slow it down a bit - we have had advice for Cambridge University maths prof not to let ds take GCSE's etc too early, they simply do not like it and do not see the value. So no GCSE's at 10.

I would ask to mett the SENCO. As Juniper says, the teachers at school may not be confident enough to teach the KS3 work. Our experience has, tbh varied according to who ds's class teacher is - sometimes he is supported with fantastic enrichment, other times he is seen as a 'problem'.

Good luck!

Typos, sorry, on my way to work!

Thank you everyone.

He has just been doing the workbooks - he's allowed to go at his own pace. In reception, the teacher said he was average at maths, so it wasn't until Y1, when there was a bit more formal teaching that his abilities really emerged (although we did realise that it was unusual to have a 4yo who could tell you the change from a £5 note before the cashier did).

In Y1, the teacher gave him the Y2 workbooks when he'd done the Y1 ones, and then he finished those and got the Y3 ones. And now he's finished them too.

I will have a chat with his teacher to see what she thinks, but I will be a bit more assertive than I was at parents' evening about the fact I don't want him pushed on and on without any broadening or reinforcement of the topics.

TooMany - you need to ask the teacher what he is being taught. It sounds as though he may be being taught the same as everybody else, and then left to get on with harder independent work. It this is the case, then he is being sorely let down by his teacher and the school.

I meant, what, and how he is being taught.

I don't know if an IEP is appropriate, is there a contact for g&t at the school? That would be more appropriate I think.

My son has an IEP because he has a dissability that is affecting his learning, and for all it's worth it is the basis for any extra help he needs. At the moment, children with a mild dissability don't generally have a 'statement of special education need' anymore, except if their dissability is complex and the child requires more than 15 hours one-to-one per week. The budget for children with learning difficulties should in my opinion be kept seperate from a budget/resources for G&T.

Budgets are being cut everywhere, and I know that in an ideal world each child would receive the exact level of education customised to their personal achievements/stage of development, but sometimes you just have to accept that the money and resources will go somewhere more pressing, like looking after a child with a dissability.