Non competitive spelling and reading. I hate it!

[Aloha]

My ds is really good at reading and spelling. it's his chance to shine. I hate the fact that his school don't hold public compulsory reading and spelling competitions in which the parents get to cheer on their children and see who comes last. I mean, competitiveness is so important, don't you think?

Does this thing of picking on clever kids really still go on? It certainly happened to me. I don't think I am that fantastic really, but from fairly average schools I did well.

I posted a thread yesterday about issues with DS's physical abilities and confidence (more the confidence really). But when I went to pick DS up from school today his teacher told me that yesterday he had been to do a "reading assessment" with the Y2 children (he is Y1) and got a really good mark. So, of course, I am really happy for DS, but don't want it to be tainted by this kind of attitude.

BTW do you think the reading assessment would have been a SAT - aren't they round about this time of year?

LOLo bk re streaming - DS is a snowflake in literacy which is presumably the top set (being as how only two of them did the reading assesment and DS claims it is).

bozza, IME these days its the parents who are more likely to be sneery, not the teachers (people who grumble about the profession should think hard about their own schooldays, I think they are far more professional and better trained now), and not the kids themselves. IME that is. Ds' best friend is a child who is still getting to grips with reading and writing and their current different levels of ability in the classroom have no negative impact whatsover on their close relationship.

There is still an unfortunate amount of 'Anti Boff' feeling in secondary school generated by the kids.

It is a vert interesting phenomemon. And in part is directed by the make up of the year. We have one year with an exceptionally large number of very bright kids. In this year academic sucess is treated in the same way as sucess on the sorts field (mostly, there are a few odd exceptions). But the majority of this year are 'pro' academic sucess. the bright kids are confident and happy.

In this year we moved some real troublmenakers out of lower sets, and into the 'top' sets. They behaviour resolved, the kids realised that there was no kudos in 'being a lad', and they worked and did amazingly well.

In other years, where they are in the minorty, there is more 'anti boff' attitude. The bright kids are more prone to hide their ability.

Classroom dynamics are amazing things. Not something mote people think about, if they have never worked with a class of kids

sorry, Aloha, are you being ironic? I'm all for cheering clever, precoscious, children, but I couldn't care less to see "who comes last". Also because that would be my son.
Maybe there's something that - as a foreigner - I didn't get in your OP. I used to shine in exams and oral interrogations (that's what we had in Italy), but honestly, why would other parents have wanted to know -formally - what was my position in the classroom?

franca - Aloha is being ironic; she's following up a thread about how some schools don't have proper competitive sports days any more.

mb - I'm sad this still exists. In DW's school it seems more of a problem with the boys than the girls. A girl can be unashamedly bright and still be "cool", but for a boy to be cool he has to be a bit thick and only into sport and music.

...news yesterday backs this all up.

Underachievers in school are white boys, from poor backgrounds.

I beg your pardon.

UD, interesting that you say that about the boys.

We use a method of 'internal excusion' with kids in our school that involves them being placed, with work to do, in a sixth form class. With no audience ti play to, they behave.

In addition is it great to see the boys (they are most often boys) watch the male sixth formers. Our sixth form lads are often very 'cool' indeed. Many have long hair, quite a few had tattoos and facial peircings. The ultimate in 'cool' to your spotty Herbert in Y8/9. And oddly these 'cool' guys are there, working hard, coming out with all sorts of clever 'Boff' stuff. You can almost see the younger kids world shifting on its axis!

...from BBC news today:

Newly-qualified women doctors outnumber their male counterparts by almost three to two, a survey suggests.

MB, sounds a good idea!

DW is about to change jobs to a school with no sixth-form, so she can't suggest that. On the other hand it is a 3-16 through school, son that'll be interesting!

It works very well, but you need to have quite a big sixth form intake to get it to work. It is organised well for us, since there is almost always a sixth form lesson running throughout the timetable.

My fav sixth former in this respect was a male Goth. Black and purple hair, tats, and piercings, and so sweet, and clever. Sigh, he is all grown up now and in Uni now!

wow 3-16.....that must be great! bet they don't have anything like the drop in attainment during the ks3 years!

One of the first in the country, apparently.

What causes the drop in attainment at ks3 then? Why would 3-16 tend to reduce it?

now that is the $64,000 question!

Wish I had the answer.

My money is personaly on lack of continuety, kids feel less secure.

Less personal monitoring.

Too little responsibility give to them....in y7 we tend to 'infantalise' them.....they are used to having lots of responsibility as the 'big kids' in y6, and them we make them babies all over again.

3-16 could help to solve this.

Oh and the big thing is the Hormone Pixie coming to visit! and there is bugger all you can do about that, except support them and ride it out!

Children often go temporary backwards academically when they change schools. This is partly because they are using lot of energy adapting to life in secondary school with new teachers, new friends, new surroundings. Going from a one form primary school to a secondary school with over a thousand children is a massive culture shock. Also the new school has to get to know the children. (Ie. which kids have SEN and which kids are gifted and talented .. or even both!)

OK thanks. Does anyone do any research into this sort of thing? Would have thought a comparison between transfer at 11 and areas where they still have middle schools to 13 could shed some light on it.

Middle schools were all the rage in the 70s, and were thought to offer children a good 'bridge' between Primary and secondary school.

Studies on them proved that they were a mixed bag, and have now gone of of fashion. Like all things they have their supporters and detractors. In reality, they probably sufferend from insufficient funding to realise the full potential.....as with mose educational interventions.

Research is done in schools all the time. Lots of interventions come and go.

The last big this was Gardener' sMultiple intelegences. That is now going out of style, as metat anaylsis of it, shows that it has little impact on learning long term.

The latest Big thing is Formative assessment....google Beyond the black box if you are interested.

The next big thing may well be Cross curricular learning in secondary (with the shake up of the KS3 curriculum). If that, it may be a neurological approach to learning

We are expected to keep up with all this stuff, and most schools cover it in INSET days

I think our anti-intellectual culture generally must contribute to that "white working class boys do worst in school" result. The very term "boffin" has a implicit sneer in it.

I also can't understand the idea that kids who aren't academically good get sports day as some kind of consolation prize. Lots of the clever girls were also the sporty ones at my school, and lots of the ones who couldn't do maths/ english etc. also weren't all that great at sport.

UNQUIETDAD, thanks!!! I spent the whole morning wondering whether Aloha's post was ironic or not, concluded it must have been and felt for having replied like I did . I've missed completely the thread about competitive sport. Thankfully.