School don't seem to care

[king1001]

My son, aged 10 is just finishing year 5. He has just had to redo his maths paper. He did a lvl 6 paper and got 4 questions wrong 96%, which gave him a 6C, so I made him it sit a paper at home. The lvl 5 to 7. Which he scored a 90/120 without doing the mental maths section. He took it to school and showed his teacher who, asked him to sit a different lvl 5 - 7 paper at school. Which again he managed a 90/120 already giving him a 7C without the mental maths. He is gifted in other subject, too.

I am slightly concerned that without my having him do the higher level test at home, then he would have got the 6c with nothing more being done.

We have tried to contact the school and was waiting for a phone call or an email but nothing. They seem to not care about this.

I am not sure how we handle to situation we try with the school to get him on education trips with the year 6s but get told that its unfair to others in his class. We previously asked for him to go up a year which was denied. We are looking to move school but where to? Another primary school that takes the same approach? A private school that would offer better tutoring perhaps but with that comes a cost we can't really afford.

Where do we go from here?

proudmama2772 He's a 7B. We do a lot of work with him at home. Not harsh, its how I feel about the situation, which I am entitled.

You are totally entitled to your feelings about the situation, but what you have avoided answering is why you feel the school doesn't care, based on lack of a single test? What more do you feel they need to do to prove they care? (except do the test you want them to, as the test v's assessment situation has already been debated and explained as a non-issue)

I am not avoiding responding to that question, simple answer is, it isn't a simple answer. DS has been at the school since reception, its a feeling that has built up over that time

Why do you feel the need to do so much work with him at home?

Obviously, I get that some children are incredibly self-motivated and will do a lot of independent learning outside the classroom - I have a child like that myself. However, I don't really understand the need for parents to do a lot of "work" at home with a child who clearly isn't struggling.

You seem very invested in his "giftedness" tbh. I hope he is not under too much pressure, and that he is encouraged to develop in ways that aren't just academic.

So your 7B is based purely on 2 tests?

What do you want the school to do that they aren't doing?

The responses to this thread seem to have gone a bit like this:

Poster: Are the school stretching your son and providing work at the correct level?
OP: he got 7b on the test we did, school didn't provide the right test.
Poster: is your son working at the correct level on a daily basis at school.
OP: he got 7b on the test we did, school didn't do the correct level test.
Poster: do you have any concerns about the level of work your son usually does at school?
OP: he got 7b on the test we did, school didn't test him properly until I asked them too.
Poster: I have taught lots of children capable of level 7's at the end of year 5.
OP: my son is unique, there is nobody else like him.
Poster: I have taught year 5 and over the years I have seen lots of children capable of those levels and we provide appropriate work.
OP: I don't believe there is any child on the planet like my son.

It seems like we have gone around in circles on this thread because we are still non the wiser about whether the school provide appropriate level work on a daily basis or not.
But seeing as the OP's son is apparently the only child in the whole universe who is capable of level 7b at the end of year 5 I don't suppose any of the important day to day stuff that school do really matters .

Did I miss anything in my summary or have I totally misunderstood this thread?

CharlesRyder Thank you I suppose they are.

Missunreasonable Both my children were registered Gifted and Talented. However the older one is good but not academic and will never get a 1st Class Hons Degree. Just because they do well in one subject at Y6 six Sats does not always mean they will fly through High School and Uni and you are incredibly misguided if you think that. There is a long way to go from Y5 !

I still think it is incredibly sad that a parent of a Y5 fist thought when they got home having done well in an exam was to make them sit a harder one and not to go out and celebrate and relax.

Both mine have always had interests other than school and exams and I think compared to many of their contemporaries they have grown into very able, independent adults who I had no worries over going to Uni and looking after themselves.

They are both musical and play more than one instrument and have both gone through Scouting and are now a Cub Leader and a Beaver Leader. They are both at very good Universities doing Engineering Degrees.

They both took entrance exams to their High School and one did 11+ as well and we did not have a Tutor for either of them. If they need tutoring in Primary school to get them into a 'good' High School then you have to ask yourself, 'how will they cope when they get there?' and are you prepared to 'coach' them through High School? But then what happens when they go to University when you can't coach them and be on their backs? If they have never done it themselves they will really struggle.

Missunreasonable It seems like we have gone around in circles on this thread because we are still non the wiser about whether the school provide appropriate level work on a daily basis or not.
But seeing as the OP's son is apparently the only child in the whole universe who is capable of level 7b at the end of year 5 I don't suppose any of the important day to day stuff that school do really matters hmm.

This is my feeling. School is much more than blooming Sats in Y5. Shame the op doesn't seem to see this. Shame more for her child.

Just because they do well in one subject at Y6 six Sats does not always mean they will fly through High School and Uni and you are incredibly misguided if you think that.

ADP: I don't think that for one second. I think you might have misread the tone and point of my post.
I have a son who is G&T and he has a generous scholarship to a good prep school. He is by no means outstanding in all areas of the curriculum. He is very good at most academic subjects but maths is his main G&T area. He won't be doing sats because the prep school don't bother with them as they are not useful to the individual child. I couldn't care less whether he could achieve a level 5 or a level 8 on sats. I do care that he is happy and learning.
I was G&T myself at school but didn't achieve what I was capable of because I was bored and lazy in the classroom. I am well aware that not every G&T child sails through high school.

Sorry - cross posted.

The op is obviously concerned that her son is given enough material to stretch him next year, not just allowed to coast with level 4/5 material. Ignoring all the arguments about whether this is a stealth boast etc...

OK op - firstly I would say - if your son has scored 7c on a Key Stage 3 test, and you haven't been doing loads of extra work with him at home, then his year 5 teacher has obviously been teaching him well and giving him material to do that is above average for year 5 (otherwise he would not have known how to tackle the level 6/7 material on the test).

Secondly - I would analyse the test that he did at home. Look at where he lost marks. Are they in particular areas of maths or randomly spread across the whole paper. I suspect they are likely to be in chunks where he has not yet been taught to do this material. I would expect that his year 6 teacher will cover this with him. If you know what the material is (from looking at the test) you can ask how they year 6 teacher will make sure he has access to this curriculum at this level. But for goodness sake don't do it now, or in the fist few weeks of next term. Give the teacher time to settle down with the class!

Thirdly - consider this: www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-greene/the-hardest-part-teaching_b_5554448.html
This is one of the most true things I have ever read about teaching. If you feel that given the time constraints on his Year 6 teacher, he will need more individual attention than his teacher can possibly give him, then you need to think about how you can enrich his mathematical education yourself. This might be by using some of the Nrich activities linked to above, getting a tutor who will do fun and interesting extension activities with him or looking online to see if there are any group tutoring activities near you that he can do. Some universities run activities for younger children in the summer holidays so see if that might be an option.

Kingswife, dd is just finishing year 5, her teacher says she is top of the class in literacy ,reading and writing and pretty close to being top in maths ( her best friend is working at a slightly higher level ), at her last parents evening we were told that her levels she has been marked at are not that accurate due to the papers that she sat ( she was only given level 5 ). She actually enjoys sitting exams and would happily sit them at home so I'm not sure why people are moaning about you allowing your ds to sit a extra pare at home ( my dd would enjoy doing this ), dd is looking forward to sitting SAT's next year ( unlike a lot of children ). We looked into applying for scholarship last year but decided against it as it was for a single sex school and dd prefers the company of boys , we feel she will do well what ever school she goes too but the one we have chosen seems best suited to her and her needs.

I don't understand some people on this thread, maybe they don't have a child achieving at such high levels, I don't push dd, she enjoys learning, I encourage her but she doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do, she choses to do maths games in her stair time and will write short stories, she reads a lot because she enjoys it, if a child has the passion to learn then they will do this without being pushed. My dd is already working a level a lot higher than I ever did ( she doesn't get her brains from me ) so she has gone past the point where she can learn from me.

I wish these threads had a like or dislike button....some people are really helpful, some not so. So, I will just ignore those who fall into the latter category. That's not to say if I haven't directly responded to you that you fall into the latter, just that I am limited in terms of time to respond.... ;) hehe

Jinsei - My ds loves it, he can't get enough. As mentioned previously, I have to tell him when to stop reading/ doing math, otherwise he would stay up all night reading/ doing math. We just help him. We don't push him. We don't "feel the need" to do a lot of work with him at home, as asks, we help. Its that simple.
Invested? I hate to sound repetitive but we just want the best for him, not sure invested is the right term as that seems to have a negative connotation. And absolutely encouraged in all areas.

mrx - "So your 7B is based purely on 2 tests?" No, tests, plus teacher assessment.....

Hakluyt - "What do you want the school to do that they aren't doing?" I probably want what the school can't provide. I understand they have limited resources and, truth be told, they have probably gone as far as they can. That doesn't mean I'm happy to leave him there. He needs more. As a parent in this situation, its hard to know where to go. I've said before that I expect some help from the school, some indications on nurturing, on options, but, like I said, I think this might be expecting too much of a state primary school for reasons previously noted.

adp73 - He honestly wanted to do this extra test. Honestly. I wouldn't make him do anything he didn't want to do. Please don't think its sad, its just not. He doesn't have a tutor and we don't "coach" him, we support him.

educatingarti - Thank you for "getting" it. Agreed, his current teacher, after a word in her ear last year ;) has done extra work with him, has spent time with him on a 1:1 basis yes, she has worked well with him. I'm not sure, however, this would continue through another year (also don't know who his next year teacher would be) which is a big concern for me, keeping him busy and learning etc. Points #2 and #3 noted and I will look into these, thank you.

marne2 - Same year as DS then ;) Yeah, he enjoys the exams too (no idea where he gets that from lol) But its an excellent trait to have as many times I have seen bright child suffer when it comes to sitting exams... Have you considered secondary school for your DD? I think me moving DS now almost saves me from that decision.... ;) But so many things and options to consider. I completely agree with you, DS is just the same, sounds like DS and DD might get on famously :) Thank you for your positive post xx

So his current school has assessed your child as 7B?

So when you say the school don't seem to care, what do you mean?

And what do you want from the school? You still haven't said. Imagine you could have anything you wanted- what would it be?

I think it a okay to vent and feel frustrated tbh. And I suspect that the OP did exactly that to a certain extent.

State schools are fabulous but if your child is not mostly average then they can struggle to have their needs met adequately....and that's at both ends of the spectrum.

I think in the OPs case it is likely that the school have done all they can within their resources to meet her DS's needs. It is equally likely that this is not enough but not through any fault of the school. I bet they are hugely proud of him and his achievements.