Primary school not meeting DS needs

[SalsaP]

Hello all.

I’ve not posted on here in a loooooong time but could really do with some advice.

My Ds is in year one at a decent enough primary school in North London. He is a very bright boy. Reading fairly fluently when aged 3 and an absolutely whizz with numbers - he LOVES numbers! He also knows more about the periodic table than most grown ups I know. When he was due to start reception his nursery called a meeting with his school-to-be to discuss having his needs met.

Fast forward a year and a bit and his needs just aren’t being met. I had a meeting with his HT near the end of reception year and she has set me up with the SENCO in an attempt to create an individual learning plan for him in year one. This all sounds very reasonable and proactive I hear you say. Well it would be if his class teacher would actually make the effort to implement the extras for him. I’m particularly concerned with his maths needs being met as it seems he is being given things to do that never challenge him but just keep him occupied. His love for numbers is slowly being quashed!

I keep wondering if private school would be better simply because of small class sizes if nothing else. Having said that I don’t think we could really afford it unless he was awarded a scholarship.

So I’m not really sure what to do next. He is my only child and I’ve no
real knowledge about the education system, who to talk to about what, what expectations I should have and what I should do if I’m unhappy. Can an state school ever meet the needs of a child like him....?

Any words of wisdom please?

And just to add, I have emailed his class teacher today to ask to have a meeting with her this side of Christmas to discuss my sons progress. I’m waiting to hear back....

Yes, of course state schools can meet the needs of bright children.

Is it an 'academic' primary or not?

I would expect teachers to be differentiating activities for different abilities in year 1invkuding stretch.

Our DD who is now on yr 2 was being stretched in year 1 in a very mixed ability class. For example, being given work from the year above sometimes.

Have you looked around at other schools?

So his teachers give him extra work it's just not advanced enough? To be honest, a state school can only do so much, they also have to think about the other children (and I know for a fact that they focus more on "behind" than "advanced" children).
Are there any private schools that would offer a bursary in your area? Exceptionally bright kids can get funding, subject to a entry exam.

Yes, of course his needs can be met. It just sounds as if at the moment the agreed plan is not happening, which should be the first thing to resolve.

Is he happy at school? Has he settled in socially and does he have friends? Bluntly at reception level these things are far more important than being stretched academically. If he is ahead in numbers and reading then maybe he is spending his time on other areas (artwork, drama, etc) instead.

The only reason for concern would be if he was bored and spending his time staring out of the window or (more likely at this age) getting into mischief. Is there any sign this is happening?

It’s a fairly ‘academic’ primary school in that they focus heavily on SATS etc. They do however seem to pump a lot of their resources into helping the children falling behind.

So the teacher is differentiating and DS is on the top table but the work just isn’t being pitched at the right level for him. His maths is so advanced. I get the feeling he hasn’t been assessed properly and that their is a struggle or reluctance from the class teacher to provide material solely for him.

DH earns fairly well but with a London mortgage we don’t have much surplus income hence the difficulty affording private fees. I work part time. To be honest I would be surprised if we would be offered a bursary based on the rewsearch I have done on eligibility.

We are relatively near a super selective school that offers 7+ scholarships but my DS is a sensitive chap and I’m worried he wouldn’t cope with the pressure of that type of school. As for other state schools nearby many are church schools and we aren’t religious. Not sure if that’s a deal breaker.... The others aren’t known to be any better than ours but I don’t really know what I’m looking for. Certainly don’t want to pull him out of his school unless I can be sure it will benefit him significantly.

Ultimately I want to try and get his current school to meet his needs. Just not sure how to get that to work!

Yes he is happy at school and has friends. He is year one now not reception and I’m aware just how much other children are learning and progressing. It just doesn’t seem fair that he isn’t and apparently just waiting for others to catch up. He is a very compliant little lad so won’t make a fuss even when he’s bored. Not yet anyway.....

They should be able to differentiate and perhaps they need you to make suggestions?

Most assessment and work at that age will be outcome focussed. For example if learning about great fire of London some 5/6 yo will recall a fact and write a simple sentence. Some like your ds can research further and write whole pages.
I’d make sure he’s given the opportunity to do this to occupy him.

Thai has like reading - they should offer him material appropriate to his reading ability and comprehension.

Maths - perhaps they can offer him work from year 2 on same subject?
What they’ll be careful of is that its mastery now and it’s not usual to teach skills above what’s expected. Perhaps they have some websites he could access to extend his learning?

Chill out. No need for hot housing. Let him enjoy school.

There it is, I knew there would be at least one. If I wanted to hothouse I would have frogmarched him to the super selective by now. I have already expressed I don’t want that for him.

youarenotkiddingme Thank you for your suggestions. The reading books he has been sent home with this year have been inconsistent in level but always below his reading level. Having said that I have been told that some harder comprehension work is being organised for the new year so that sounds positive.

For maths they follow the Maths no problem scheme which is all about maths mastery. It does sound like a really good scheme but DS is sat there doing single digit addition worksheets which is just not right for him. I appreciate that skipping topics out in maths would be unhelpful which is why I find it difficult to know what to suggest...

I’ve PM’ed you.

I had/have exactly same problem regarding maths. My ds is way ahead and school did try to meet his needs, but it really depended on individual teacher, and now totally not happening.
I think if you can afford private, I have no question but to do so.
One thing is lack of resource, but another is lack of knowledge of maths for normal primary teacher to extend most able at state schools, imo.

But if you have other state nearby which you can move your dc, they may be better for stretching and differentiating. Some state school seems to do better, reading on MN.

Have you read about maths mastery online? I'd never heard of it until your post. A quick google - seems like it's an approach based on Asian educational techniques where the whole class learns the same thing - no differentiation.

There's a load of theory behind it, and it seems to be gaining traction. Could that be what's behind this issue? In which case it wouldn't be the teacher it would be a whole school approach.

www.ncetm.org.uk/files/37086535/The+Essence+of+Maths+Teaching+for+Mastery+june+2016.pdf

So far DS has had teachers in both reception and year one that are only in their 2nd year of teaching. I’m a wondering if this isn’t helping our case as an NQT won’t have the experience and resources to draw upon that other teachers would have built up over the years.

As for Maths No Problem I was told by the HT that she would be keen to follow that scheme with DS to see if that would work for him. She didn’t suggest what the alternative would be and I do wonder how it would work for DS to be learning Maths with a completely different scheme to the rest of the class. I didn’t realise that it didn’t involve differentiation though. I’ll read up a bit more on it and then bring that up at school with HT or class teacher if it turns out to be the potential problem.

Thank you for that link reynoldsnumber. Interesting how it talks about how no pupil will be left behind but makes no mention on not holding other pupils back. It reminded me that that the HT suggested that the scheme allows the teacher to help the pupil “dig deeper” with each topic which was supposed to enable DS to always have more to do with each topic. He has, however, told me a number of times that when he hasfinished the workbook chapter he was told to just sit at the table and wait whilst the other children finished their work. That’s not right is it!!?

Can you have a look at the 7+ exam. I think you dismissed it too quickly. Have a chat with the school and maybe give him a (maths) exam paper as fun homework to see where he is. I think you might find that they are used to deal with intelligent but sensitive children. They would really have resources to help him meet his full potential!

I was going to say, why does it matter whether he's being stretched or just "kept occupied" - children who are very bright don't lose their brains if not stretched.

However "Sit and wait while the others finish" is utterly crap and precisely what's likely to lead to the kind of boredom/mischief/general going off school I was asking about above. He could at least be allowed to read surely?? (I was way ahead academically in year 1, and was always allowed to get up and find a book to read if I'd finished I also used to correct other children's work which didn't exactly make me popular)

Well, it will be interesting to hear what the school says about how they are using it, if indeed they are.

I was very good at maths and would have hated to be taught like that! Even at primary I was working through things on my own and enjoying it. But if the evidence is that overall everyone does better in the end then maybe it's worth it...

If you read around it, maths mastery is also connected to growth theory which is a theory about learning I do like and which is also gaining popularity. However, at my DD's school they use growth theory language to support all learners alongside differentiation, rather than whole class teaching.

This sounds almost exactly like my son. He is now in Year 3.

The teacher tries her best to give him more maths activities but he races through those as well and still ends up sitting waiting for more to do. He is allowed to read his book if he's finished - he is doing a lot of reading.

Unfortunately the school is so stretched for money that the extra maths lessons that he was doing had to be stopped last year. There is nobody else in the class as advanced as he is (a couple that are close in ability but not as fast so they have enough work to do).

We are now moving him to a private school.

So, you want him to be stretched way beyond the rest of the class but you don't want him to be in a pushy environment where there is pressure?

I think you are after the moon on a stick.

If, say, the rest of the kids on the top table are doing TU x U using the grid method, but you know your DS could be doing ThHTU x HTU using long multiplication- who do you think will sit and teach him the new method? It's not just printing a different worksheet is it- it's 15mins of individual teaching, day after day. There just aren't the resources.

Maybe he could go with the Y2s for maths.

How are his social skills? Does he prefer to play with older children?

I think going to year or 2 above is stretch enough, most teacher are capable to differentiate within a class, ime.

My boys are fairly academic and their state primary catered for them, work from year above etc.

However, this happened a little later - yr 3 onwards as prior to that seemed a bit young.

In one year (one of them - they are twins) had a poor teacher and the other a really strong teacher and the differences were clear.

May be thay year 1 is too young, or that it varies on teaching each year.

Our state primary was amazing and there is no way we could have topped that in private. We were so lucky.

I would research maths mastery too as I believe not everybody favours that approach. I don't know why though (sorry) so it would be good to check out all views.

nrich.maths.org/

wild.maths.org/