Expectations of GIfted and Talented

[Zippidydoda]

My son has recently been invited to some day trips for pupils at his school who are gifted and Talented in some subjects. These needs to be paid for by parents and are quite expensive. We have paid for them but I do wonder about children whose families couldn’t pay!

anyway my query is- if you have a child identified as Gifted and Talented what does your school/class do to meet their needs and stretch them within school?

Other than these day trips I’ve heard nothing about my son being gifted and talented or any other type of stretching for him. He regularly says he finishing his work quickly and easily and helps by being a TA and helping the other children.

I am going to email the school to ask these questions but I am interested to hear what happens at other schools for GAT students.

The G&T as previously defined was not a special need, it was 'top 10%' or so of the class. They generally just need appropriate differentiation / extension activities. If there are trips for 'able scientists' or whatever then fine, but not out of school budgets.

It’s not out of school budget. In fact it’s £60 out of parents money if they choose to book it for their child.

How would a parent know if their child is getting adequately extension and differentiation? My son says everything is too easy, he completes homework easily and quickly and get frustrated because he sees it as pointless. He says he gets asked to help other students do their work when he finished his quickly. I know in the grand scheme of things that could be wrong (bullying etc) this is a minimal issue. I just don’t want him to get fed up and bored at school. He is so interested in vetting at home, learns a lot from reading books independently etc.

How would a parent know if their child is getting adequately extension and differentiation? My son says everything is too easy, he completes homework easily and quickly and get frustrated because he sees it as pointless. He says he gets asked to help other students do their work when he finished his quickly.

You go back to the school and say this.
You ask what extension work he is being given.
Helping others is a useful teaching tool (being able to explain makes sure he has depth of understanding) but it shouldn't be the only / go-to activity if he gets through stuff quickly.
For maths if nothing else he could have an extension problems booklet to work through as and when. For English he could be asked to write more or in a different genre or whatever.

@TeenDivided thanks. Don’t know I why I don’t just ask that question. His current teacher is off at the moment and has been for a lot of this year, so possibly that has impacted too.

@Zippidydoda
Ask about how the school has assessed his progress and how they give him extension work. Many schools see Dc who are very bright from time to time and all schools have teachers who lead subject areas. The maths and English leads should be advising the class teacher if they are unsure how to set in depth work. Is the replacement teacher supply or an existing staff member? If supply it’s more of an issue unless they are previous staff. Some supply teachers don’t do much more than hold the fort. If this looks like a lost year, that’s hugely disappointing.

I would also ask to see an overview of the curriculum. Good schools post this info readily. Others are more defensive. Try and find out what greater depth should look like. Agree that explaining is good but not in isolation.