Hi am all this- any advice would be very grateful

[michelleclaire]

Hi there,
Am new to all this so was wondering if anyone could give any basic advice as to where to start. My son is in yr 1 at school and since reception teachers have been saying they think he is gifted. He is well above peers in most subjects such that he is most often sent up to yr 3 for his lessons, usually alone.

I'm not a pushy mum and am a bit overwhelmed by it all to be honest. I'm not sure its good for him to be so regularly separated from his peers but is this normal practice?Also do school have a responsibility to be supporting him in any way? He doesn't have a lot of friends due, in part, to him being seen/acting as a bit of a "know all" which alienates him

Just don't know where to go from here

[YippeeTeenager]

Hi, my daughter is 13 now but was spotted at school as being gifted in Year 1. They didn't really know what to do with her, and whether or not she got appropriate work really depended on individual teachers each year so for a lot of the time she was really bored in lessons. It's great that your son's school is being more proactive. Schools don't seem to get any extra funding to support children like your son, not like they do at the other end of the spectrum (although I know they have to fight for that).

I would say that the number one thing is not to be embarrassed by the fact that he's bright. It can feel as a mum as though you're being pushy and too proud! But when we applied to secondary school my daughter got offered two scholarships to leading independent schools which made me realise that I really hadn't been making it up!

Could you be brave and make an appointment to go and talk to the school about what they can do for your son, not just now but in the longer term? At some early stage he'll finish the primary school curriculum and they will still need to keep him busy and learning so it's never too early to talk about that. Schools used to have a Gifted and Talented register and got some extra learning materials from that but I think that's gone now.

Don't be worried, just go and talk to the school as an interested partner in his learning and ask for their help too in supporting him in making friends. It might be that he'll be more comfortable socialising with older children too...

Good luck!

[YippeeTeenager]

Forgot to say that there is a fantastic group called Potential Plus that can give you lots of help and advice:

www.potentialplusuk.org/

[michelleclaire]

Thank you YT! All v helpful

[LittleRedBonferroni]

Are the NAGC and potential Plus the same thing, i.e. has the name just changed ?

[YippeeTeenager]

Hi LittleRedBonferroni, yes I think it's the same thing, just a name change.

[LittleRedBonferroni]

Interesting that you recommend them I have been dithering about membership. Do you mind telling me what you felt you got out of them?

[YippeeTeenager]

I just found their website, publications and newsletters reassuring and informative. And I guess more than that, because they campaign so positively for better provision for bright children in school generally it gave me more confidence to talk to my daughter's school about her needs. I didn't feel quite so alone facing some of the challenges or so unreasonable in asking for help and suggesting ways forward at school. We never attended any of their events but did use their resources to supplement school and find things to do in holidays.

[LittleRedBonferroni]

Thanks

[anitasmall]

As you read through Mumsnet you will find out that it is quite common for the teachers to send more gifted children to higher classes. It happens in my daughter's school, too.

My daughter is also more advanced than her classmates (but not G&T) however she likes to go to school and she doesn't find the lessons boring. The teacher discussed with her that she has to work in mixed ability groups and support her classmates or work with LA at group tasks.


My daughter is in year 1 and after her class was assessed she had the highest scores both from Maths and English. They did not sent her to year 2 probably because she is the youngest in her class (born in August, other HA are all September born). However she mentioned me that the others are staring at her when she starts her task (she can do most of the tasks in seconds even drawings). So it can be good for you child to go to the higher class where they can be on a same level.

Does he/she has many friends outside of her school?