Work differentiation KS1

[ReallyShouldBeDoingSomethingElse]

DD is slightly advanced in some areas of the curriculum. This is something that has come about quite naturally because she is interested in stuff, likes reading and asks questions. She falls down on focus, perseverance, carelessness and coping socially in groups.

She can read the books being sent home from school fluently, with expression, good comprehension and have a relevant conversation about them. WRT numbers, she has a good grasp of basic sums and when to use them. ie she has never learned sums by rote or to do mental arithmetic like a calculator like some kids can but she knows how to use maths to work stuff out so can work out how to share 18 sweets between three friends for example.

The work at school just isn't grabbing her and she is saying it's boring. She hears the year 2's instructions as they're in a merged class and wishes she was doing their task instead of the year 1 task. We've had no communication since term started about what the children are doing work wise and DD isn't good at relaying it. I know from another parent that DD does phonics with the year 2 children.

I'm stuck between not wanting to be an annoying parent and worrying that DD might just disengage if she's already thinking things are boring. At the moment she is enthusiastic about learning generally and I want that to continue. I also want her to have to learn to persevere which means she needs to encounter work that she doesn't know how to do.

I've read threads on here talking about sideways learning which makes sense to me. I don't want to push her on ahead otherwise it'll perpetuate the problem but I want to engage her so that she doesn't lose the spark for learning. Without knowing what they're doing at school I can't meaningfully do sideways activities and nor do I want to tread on any toes.

I feel as though my first step is to meet with her teacher and ask for an insight into the work they are doing and ask what differentiation is already in place and what happens when DD finishes a task. I get a feeling she gets to go and play rather than being given anything else. Beyond that I'm not sure what an effective approach is. I'm so nervous about the teacher not being pleased that I'm bringing this up and I need to plan what I'm going to say to make sure it doesn't come across as critical of the school or that I think DD is a genius (which she really is not!).

That was always the way the state system worked, for years at least. The brightest worked above the curriculum level. Some grammers reduced their GCSE's by a year to get them in early.

S

Yeah, there are lots of parents who talk about how great differentiation was for their kids in state school but the budgets to do it have really been slashed over the last 10 years and harder times are ahead.

The cynic in mean wonders why the approach in state schools has changed-- i.e. is there any research to back up the approach or if its just about cost savings. I totally agree with the need for mastery / problem solving but that really isn't going to be enough for a small subset of pupils.

The research evidence, for years, would very much be on the side of mastery. The research evidence to link early attainment in maths, reading, writing with later success is non existent. However teacher reported, in EYFS, active learning, engagement and problem solving has been linked to later success in GCSE. That and early vocabulary development - which is another current push of the curriculum.

Which is why EYFS and continuous provision is so important.

I didn’t mean either or. You can do a mixture of both and there is lots of research on the benefits of acceleration for academically gifted students.

Then you get into what is gifted. I wouldn’t call my HA ability children gifted, just HA. And ability grouping is still a common feature in all classes. I think the point of this is that they are flexible though.

I don’t think I have ever thought a truly gifted child. Very bright sure. Selective schools have their place and can be a very enriching environment, not because of acceleration though but because of the higher basic verbal level in the classes which leads to a continuously high level of higher order thinking level discussions and the like.

Ultimately, all parents need to do what they think is right for their child. And in the end, my personal feeling is that so long as the emotional, social and mental of children are looked after and that their class doesn’t contain an extremely high level of need which leads to disrupted learning, that they will be fine.

@AuroraCake, I am finding your posts extremely interesting. I have been an instrumental teacher both privately and peripatetically for over thirty-five years now and taught some very able pupils but only once in my career have l ever taught someone who is truly, outstandingly gifted.
When I was a child, I would have come into your category of high ability but not truly gifted in a general class and, as I grew older, was expected to pass the 11+, which was still current at the time. My brother, however, was really outstandingly gifted. He taught himself to tell the time all round the clock before he was three, for example. Such is his outstanding intelligence that it is as much a special need as being at the opposite end of the IQ spectrum. At the age of ten, he went to a selective school and was a year ahead of himself until he graduated from university. This was definitely the best thing for him.
Whatever it is called, differentiation is necessary. Not one child is the same and to try and pretend otherwise is to fail everyone.

Absolutely to be gifted, or talented, is truly to have an educational need which again can often mean that a mainstream school just isn’t right. My bro5er had one in his class at school but the parents refused to move him on because of his social skills. He is an accountant now at sone of the big firms. All parents know their children and what is right for them.

I think the research suggests accelerating is beneficial for the top 2 percent and above academically. For the profoundly gifted it’s even more essential but 2 percent would still be about 8-9 students on a typical primary school across all years.