Any advice re this school situation...

[hatesponge]

DS is now mid way through Year 7 at our local comp. He went there because he failed the grammar school exam by 1 mark, and the ever so helpful head at his primary refused to support an appeal (notwithstanding he was constantly top of his year from year 1-6, and no-one expected him not to pass the 11plus)

anyway, the whole 11plus thing is now by the by. DS's school is frankly not very good. it has improved a lot, but then it had to because it was in special measures a couple of years ago. but the standards are appallingly low. DS is in the top set for every subject, but having had a good look through his work at the weekend, he is receiving what his teachers say are top marks for what - with the best will in the world - i would term a load of crap. Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, poor handwriting, and little or no content. His teachers are marking this stuff at 6a-c and telling him this is well above average for his age. I honestly cant see this can be right? His French work for example is appalling...I know its 20 years since I was at school but have standards really fallen so far that what would have been the bottom of my class (and my school was just a run of the mill comp) can now be top of the class at DS's school?

even if this is 'above' where DS should be (& I find that hard to believe) he is capable of much more. his homework since starting at this school has never taken more than 30 mins a day. and nothing at weekends. I know if he spent more time on it the standard would be much better but how can I get him to do this? he has no motivation because he's already being told his work is good enough. but the point is he can do better.

I told the school a few weeks after he started that he seemed to find the work given very easy, and asked them to give him something more challenging. that hasnt happened. now I dont know what to do. in our area the choices are pretty stark - good grammar schools or crap comps. theres no middle ground. private schools locally have a poor reputation not that i'm sure i could afford one anyway. DS is happy at his school, but I just have the horrible feeling if i let this drift on, in 5 years time he's going to get a string of Cs in his GCSEs and be asking me why he wont make it to university.....

help!

There obviously has to be a cutoff for grammar school. The ones that sneak in are going to struggle, just as the ones who just miss the mark are going to cruise their secondary modern school. You have to just make the best of the situation.

Is there an option to do a 12+ exam? Some 'late developers' often get into grammar school in Year 8 by this route.

there's no 12+ at our schools, you only get one chance at 11 (or 10 in DS's case as he was when he took the exam) and thats it

It doesnt bother me that he isnt at grammar school. What bothers me is that he seems to be being encouraged to do the minimum rather than do his best, which I dont feel is right. I don't know how to make the best of the situation to be honest - I have asked DS to work harder, I have explained to him that its not easy to get to university etc & that clever as he is he needs to work. The problem is he believes his teachers over me, and his teachers are telling him his work is fine. It is above the average for the school, but its nowhere near what he's capable of.

Could you get him into this in some kind of sneaky way, by encouraging outside interests that improve his general abilities without actually being perceived as schoolwork? There are lots of subjects that would improve his ability to write and marshal his thoughts without him even being aware of it.

My dd, who is now in Yr 8, is missing masses of school every year due to health issues but is still getting very good results. The reason is not that she gets set that much homework, but that she spends all her spare time reading up on her own chief interests (literature and drama) and that seems to feed into everything she does at school. It is partly my doing: I got her into that by reading Ballet Shoes to her at an early age .

I also had a similar experience. I was very slapdash with school work, but because I read so much for pleasure I not only got on well in my own educational system, but was able to visit the UK briefly and get good results at GCSEs (in what was then to me a foreign language) after less than 6 months.

Fair enough, I was bright, but so by the sounds of it is your ds. Not suggesting you read Ballet Shoes to him , but maybe there is some hobby he could get into that has spin-offs?

I was going to suggest something similar to Cory - my DS who is in year 8 is absolutely mad about making films. He has a small digital video camera and some software that he uses and a very vivid imagination! I've found that a lot of what he does for fun feeds into improving his schoolwork: he writes never ending scripts about zombies taking over the world, he reads avidly about special effects and film making, he reads "ordinary" books to get ideas for films and he uses ICT to make the blasted things.

Another idea is a musical instrument, having to practice to improve is a good lesson to learn.

I am not a teacher, so am willing for someone to come and tell me different, but IME both of my DSs cruised in Y7, a lot of time seems to be spent helping the students to adjust to secondary, and then revisiting Y6 work and extending it to ensure everyone has the same knowledge base.
Homework often seems to be to finish work started in class, so a bright student will often finish the work then and so have no homework for the subject.
DS1 now in Y12 and did brilliantly in his GCSEs so it all seems to work out in the end
Can I ask, why are you doubting the school when they say he is working at level 6?

Homework should not be just to finish the classwork, every student should have something to stretch and challenge them whatever their ability.

Cory/webwiz - good points re non directly academic activities, he has in the past made comics for his younger brother (thought up story, illustrated it, written text etc) and made up posters/written reviews for imaginary films...I will try and encourage this, as I know it will improve his writing style and vocab. We have hundreds of books in the house (I love reading - in fact Ballet Shoes was my favourite book in primary school!) so there is plenty for him to read as well.

JGBMum - I see what you're saying, and good that your DS1 did well at GCSE notwithstanding an easy ride in year 7.

I think my worry is not so much simply that DS is finding it easy, more that his work doesnt seem like what I would expect of from a top of top set (which teachers say he is) pupil, and possibly not as good as work he was producing in primary. As an example, a couple of weeks ago he turned in 3 pieces of work, different subjects, in pencil, because 'no-one cares' if you dont use a pen! every piece was marked, and no comment made by any of the teachers. To me that seems wrong. It wasn't like DS didnt have a pen even, he just didnt bother, because no-one else does.

As to the level he's working at, well his work to me looks worse than stuff he was doing last year, and in any event I know my son. He is not a genius, but he is bright, and I know he's not even working in first gear at the moment. even if he's already where he should be in age terms, if his ability is greater than that, then I feel he should be given something to stretch and challenge him (to paraphrase WT&P).

Hi hatesponge, I'm not sure what the school is like. We have a fully comp systems so varying abilities. Have you looked at the results the school get in GCSE's and is there a sixth form? If they enter a good proportion of pupils for higher level papers and get fair results then I wouldn't worry too much.

Year 7 isn't a challenging year.

Does the school embrace G&T and could that give him a peer group that might spark an element of competition?

WT&P - sorry dont want to give the impression that finishing class work is all they get, all the time, but it does happen in some subjects, some times, so can seem like there is not much homework if your child is bright.

Hatesponge - you could also consider hiring a private tutor for your son for a couple of days a week - just to stretch him.

If a child is working easily above their 'designated' level at school, IMO you don't have to wait for the school to give him more challenging work if they're reluctant to do so (as they seem to be in your case)

Also agree with Quattrecento about the G&T scheme - find out from the school if they support it...

HTH

Would it be a good idea to ask the teachers to give him examples of how he can improve the quality of his work? To prompt them to think about how to develop him so spelling, grammar, handwriting etc etc or projects as other have suggested already. I read somewhere (possibly on MN!) that sometimes when pupils are doing well then teachers sometimes forget to push a bit more. And that this was a good question for parents evenings.

You are raising concerns about the culture of learning at the school though which would concern me too and maybe you would want to discuss these with staff.

hatesponge am and for you.

No advice I'm afraid just wanted to let you know you're not alone!

DSD is yr7 and her homework just gets a tick (I went to grammar school, we got grades on everything, I thought that was normal?!) and the standard of work is quite frankly mortifying - scruffy, poor grammar, rushed etc (i.e. well below her own standards). So annoying that they're being taught to be lazy! Unlike your DS, she doesn't particularly enjoy school.

DH and I are really upset about it. We actually would love to take her out and I'd HE her but obviously as she lives with her mum (in the same town) it's not an option. Her twin finds school hard but enjoys it. Thing is, we've seen her bro go through the same thing, he's 18 and may well fail his A levels even though he's on G&T!!!

There is a difference between them and your DS, which is the home environment. You are clearly dedicated to his education which is fab - we moved here to help them with school but unfortunately there's only so much input we can have when DH's exW doesn't give a toss about their education but that's another thread. Hopefully you can take the others' advice and get him back on track.

sorry for hijacking but webwiz what equipment does your DS use for filmmaking?

wondering as we were thinking about doing a film as a family project, maybe claymation or something...

TIA

Hi MathsMadMummy he started off using Windows movie maker which we had on our computer anyway and then he got Sony Vegas movie studio 9 for Christmas. He has got some special effects software as well called EffectsLab which can add light saber effects and fire.

I am hoping he'll end up as an Oscar winning film director then I can go to the Oscars as a reward for reading through his scripts for him and scouting for locations in the freezing cold.