Any chance that an average kid may blossom and do a lot better in secondary than primary?

[sunsout]

My wishful thinking

My daughter has. She has struggled with maths and concepts for years, and her english wasn't brilliant. She's gone from set 5 to set 3 for maths and is in set 2 for English, expecting a B at GCSE. Secondary was better for her.

I did, I always felt little and stupid at primary, even though it was a lovely school. I think it came from being the youngest in the year and struggling with maths and spelling.

I did very well at secondary, I think the separate lessons and to be honest, the tests, worked well for me and I was suddenly one of the bright ones.

I did, I always felt the teachers at primary didn't get me, I knew I was clever but they kept giving me reading books that were too easy and putting me in middle groups when I knew I was brighter than the children in the top groups (not sure how/why I felt this but I do remember it clearly). I was a very shy child, not quick to speak up, so maybe they just didn't realise I was there!

Anyway come GCSE Olevel, I got the actual best results in the whole school

Friend of mine was average at primary

Lived in a grammar area where the top 20% went to grammar, she didn't she went to secondary modern

Straight As at GCSE and ended up at Oxford

I'm a big believer in late bloomers. Applies to me, DH, most of my family.

My ds, he's always has excellent vocabulary and secondary school suits him better. He's not super clever and struggles in some classes but the way they are spoken to and treated is better for him.

I pray that it does.

My very lovely but average little girl has been passed over again at primary for a stupid award. Her sister who is academically very clever has had this "respect" award on 4 occasions now. It's not even linked to academic skills - its supposed to be about kindness.

Got parents night in a couple of weeks - looking forward to that....

My DS's confidence blossomed in secondary. Partly with maturity but the more competitive environment - knowing how you are achieveing in comparison to others in terms of grades - gave him lots of confidence too - more so than the very non-competitive primary, where his only benchmark was his own fear of not getting things right. Which made him not risk being wrong / anxious to try.

In what ways do you think your dd could blossom more, or in what ways do you think she is under-performing?

Absolutely. DD, while academically bright (sorry not trying to stealth boast) was very quiet and reserved in primary school. She barely made a noise in class and was reluctant to try anything new for fear of getting it wrong. She's just coming to the end of her first year of secondary school and it's like we have a different child. A new school gave her the opportunity to reinvent herself. She blossomed, found a nice set of friends and started talking and contributing in class. Her grades are bouncing skywards as her confidence grows.

Friend's DS completely written off academically at primary. Didn't come into his own until start of GCSE courses. Now at highly regarded university after excellent science A levels.

Yes definitely - it took my niece until the first year of 6th form in the local Comprehensive School before she fully 'took off'. She managed enough GCSE's to get her there and then 'bang' she flew. She got 4 A's at A level, a first class degree at a 'good' university and is now well on the way to her Doctorate. She has an August birthday and my sister always felt she started school too early. Not only is she now the most academically gifted member of the family she's a lovely person as well.

I think reading is a key skill to doing as well as you can at secondary. It would be unusual for a child who is several years behind to catch up. If you are average, the top of average is actually quite good but ability to access the curriculum is key. Average people can get 1st class degrees. They find their niche but I doubt if it would be in maths or PPE. Just does not happen.

I was a late bloomer. I lacked confidence at primary school, and didn't blossom until GCSE, went on to get good A Levels and went to a good university. I think perhaps for me, and a lot of people, I had a more introverted nature and struggled in the school setting which seems to favour the extrovert and teaching methods which favour extrovert personalities.

I meant to add, (pressed post too soon), that I think GCSE allows for a little more individual learning and recognition, where as I felt there were too many group learning scenarios prior to that which wasn't conducive to the way that I learn.

Yes.

Especially if they work steadily throughout secondary and go to a good school that pays attention to all children not just the top and bottom sets.

My DD1 is outperforming expectations at the moment.

Thanks I think dd's literacy is ok but maths is very average as she never developed much confidence in the subject. Now I hope a change of environment will change her attitude.

Providing they haven't got themselves seriously behind in the essential skills, then I'd say yes.

ds was a very average student in primary, but really began to show a spark in year 5/6. He went to secondary at year 9, having secured a scholarship at one of the most selective schools in the country ...

No one saw that coming...

Ds2 left primary school with little confidence in himself.
He struggles with english and other wordy subjects but has just been diagnosed with dyslexia.
He told us at the information evening before he started secondary that he would be happy to get ds.

He has just received his first end of year exam result which was a B.

He is doing much better than he thought.

I did! I was literally bottom of the class (prep school) all the way through primary, then took a 10+ and was put up a year with a partial scholarship and did much better.

yes, lots of kids do improve considerably and sadly lots of early high flyers end up with very average results and often crash and burn in their AS exams. One of the reasons I don't like the labelling of G and T.

A great deal of it is to do with confidence and attitude. Some kids just suddenly get 'it' and everything falls into place. Others just work their socks off and gradually improve.

I've even known a student with very average gcse (selection of B's and c's) to come out with 4 A's at A level.

My dd has a very ambitious aim but very average academic progression. [sigh]. I don't want to put off and I don't want to rise her hope too much. It is hard to find the balance. All I say to her is " just keep going and do your best".

She may well blossom. My DC have so far all preferred secondary. I have also seen students who were pretty much written off at primary (nice but dim), are now off to Uni having blossomed.
Keep encouraging and hope she finds her niche.

Thanks to you all - hope hope hope