come and convince me that bright but quiet children don't get lost in large comprehensives

[sunshinecity]

Assuming that in the largest schools they are worried about the trouble makers and disruptive pupils...and that teachers are grateful for quiet pupils who just get on with things...
Then how do you ensure that a bright but relatively quiet child gets pushed to achieve rather than just swimming along doing ok but not necessarily their best?

I was bright and quiet in a comprehensive school with a 7 form entry.

I achieved highly academically.

pointyhat: of course I asked for extra input!

If she had been Oxbridge material, she might have got it (merely conjecture: can't remember the last time the school had an Oxbridge candidate). If she was struggling, she would have definitely got it. But she was in that middle-ground that gets little attention.

When you say extra input - do you mean over and above normal teaching? Or do you think the teaching itself was substandard? Did oyu know she was underachieving? Was that picked up on by her teachers?

I knew that she was underachieving and went to see the school about it. Their attitude was that she wasn't the Number One Best Pupil in School and therefore was nothing special and didn't merit extra attention. I was very firmly put back in my place.
They looked at the result (above average, so that will do) not the comparison to target.

As an experiment, I stopped signing off her homework planner to see what reaction that would get. I was still waiting for someone to notice, never mind react, by the end of the year.

She was underachieving across the board? It's difficult to comment of course without knowing the situation. I teach children who are currently underachieving (grrr for my residuals...). I can usually pinpoint why. Sometimes I can do something about it, sometimes it has to come from them. What extra input did you want?

DS was very quiet when he started his secondary partly due to friend/bullying issues, but thankfully he likes talking to adult so he has really thrived.

They were set from yr7 in Maths, english and then another set for all the other subjects. He is one of the high fliers in his year but still got a nagging at parents evening last year from his science teacher because he felt he could do even better.

This is a mixed ability comp in Herts, but not in the expensive parts of Herts.

Oh, silly things like making sure she did her homework. I can check that she's doing what is written in the planner but
if she doesn't write it in, then I can't check
if the school doesn't check the planner, then she won't write in
if she twigs that there are no repercussions for missed or shoddy homework then she will slide (human nature, innit)

Ah. Homework should be chased up for sure. I check my form's homework diaries, but I don't think they're any substitute for subject teachers chasing it up. Or indeed for students actually doing their homework...

TheFallenMadonna Tue 06-Oct-09 22:21:25 Add a message | Report post | Contact poster

"Ah. Homework should be chased up for sure. I check my form's homework diaries, but I don't think they're any substitute for subject teachers chasing it up. Or indeed for students actually doing their homework..."

That last sentence is not unimportant. Unless the child has SEN or some kind of emotional problem, it is not unreasonable to expect him or her to be responsible for organising homework by the age of 11, let alone 15. They are no longer babies, they ought to be able to understand that they are in charge of their future.

Not saying schools shouldn't do their bit, but just being quiet is no excuse for not getting the work done.