Should I ask the school to pick up the pace? What should I hope for?

[MrPickles73]

DC1 attends a non selective independent school. GCSE and A level results are ok but nothing amazing. Our local comprehensives are very poor (15% gain 5GCSEs including maths and english). There are no available grammar schools.

DC1 just started at this non selective independent school in Year 9 post their prep school, which they enjoyed and found academically challenging.

The problem is they are finding Year 9 of the non selective school not academically challenging at all. The complaint is the lessons are too slow as the teacher takes a long time explaining and re-explaining to those who struggle. Even the lessons which are streamed (maths and languages) are slow for DC1. DC1 is I would say top 10% but not a genius. There are other smart kids but they are lazy whilst DC1 is more motivated.

I have been to ask the school and they have told me we need to be patient and the pace will pick up.. DC1s feedback from the teachers is excellent and they are frequently top of the class. But they are frustrated and hence unhappy.

We have looked at other local independent schools but not found anything any better. Full time boarding is not an option due to the cost, travel time, sports commitments etc.

What else can I do? I am wracking my brains.. do I go back to the school? What can I reasonably expect them to do? My feeling is they haven't really tried anything yet other than the existing streaming... DH suggests to continue where we are but I basically tutor DC1 in my spare time but I already work full-time and I wonder what we are getting for our school fees if I am tutoring them myself.

What should my expectations be? What can I hope for? Are our expectations unreasonable? Where are the smart motivated kids (we live in the sticks)?

A non-selective indie might make more effort if you mention that if they continue to be bored then you'll look at other options for next year.

It doesn't need to be GCSE work or a lot of extra stuff - just a recognition that they might need an extra question to explore. That might be when they have finished the regular work; even better if the teacher realises when they could actually skip the easier questions in the regular work. In maths, the UKMT challenges and/or mentoring scheme. In languages, a book to read. In humanities, an extra question which requires more thought or explanation. DD's (state comp) geography teachers were very good at noticing that she had finished and asking her an extra question that gave a her a bit more of a challenge.

What @lanthanum should be absolutely standard practice everywhere!

With some teachers you can sense that they have a box on their planning for "how will I keep picklesjunior challenged?" It's usually not a whole extra resource - just a "what if?" or "can you think of other examples?"

Serious question, why are you paying for this? It doesn't make sense to me to pay for education but then have to spend so much out of school time supplementing it?

Have you looked at all the local options including state? There may well be somewhere which would challenge her more even if their results aren't necessarily any better.

OP

Don't dismiss the state school as 'poor' just on their results, you need to look at their intake.

I taught a Polish girl in college, she had arrived in the UK two years previously with no English and two years later had 9 GCSE passes but didn't get her English GCSE (got a D grade - old system) so by your standard (and the government) she was a failure.

Year 9 can be an odd year, lots of not motivated children and some treading water until the start of GCSEs.

The teacher should be differentiating, and doing that for one or two bright academic students is easier than for children who do need more explanation / time - this is why some teachers get an academic student to explain the task to a less academic student.

As a PP said it can be extra questions, or even skipping some questions. Handouts can have three sets of questions and the student selects which set they can answer confidently.

Keep an eye on things, after Christmas there may be a change of sets or the pace may pick up as the teacher has got a feel for the class.

I know you said you've been in once to ask for extension or enrichment work and didn't see results. Has your DC asked their subject teachers directly for additional things to do in class & at home? How did that go?

You to look to extend and enrich out of school, though that won't stop the boredom within it.

What I would do is move to an area with better state schools - not grammar necessarily, just better. My ds' are like your dd - bright but not geniuses. There was a fair bit of wheel spinning at primary but they're really in their element at secondary and they're just at a good comp (no grammars round here).

I wouldn't dismiss the state school.
Even if the overall results are low if it is a large school there will still be plenty of academic students in the top sets.