how do you measure potential?
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how do you measure potential?
Hello All,
I'm new to this forum, I have 3 ds all of which are a bit to young yet for tutoring etc, Yr3, Rec and pre-school. However I am already starting to think of the future and due to where we live unfortunately(only unfortunate in that so hard to get into) the only grammar school we could travel too is Tiffin, therefore I was wondering if there is someway of assessing potential as early as 7/8 years old before we start on a mad tutoring rush (either home or professional). I would say that my eldest ds is bright and is lucky to go to a good state primary (but am also aware that most parents think their children are bright
thanks for any help.
I'm new to this forum, I have 3 ds all of which are a bit to young yet for tutoring etc, Yr3, Rec and pre-school. However I am already starting to think of the future and due to where we live unfortunately(only unfortunate in that so hard to get into) the only grammar school we could travel too is Tiffin, therefore I was wondering if there is someway of assessing potential as early as 7/8 years old before we start on a mad tutoring rush (either home or professional). I would say that my eldest ds is bright and is lucky to go to a good state primary (but am also aware that most parents think their children are bright
thanks for any help.
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SunlampVexesEel
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:31 pm
I agree with SVE.
Read books together, do jigsaws , play scrabble, boggle, yahtzee etc and make sure they know mental arithmetic, esp tables inside out and back to front. There are lots of fun games free on teh internet
Games like Brain training and Professor Layton on wii or Ds
These things will help with their general education too and they won;t even realise it's work
Read books together, do jigsaws , play scrabble, boggle, yahtzee etc and make sure they know mental arithmetic, esp tables inside out and back to front. There are lots of fun games free on teh internet
Games like Brain training and Professor Layton on wii or Ds
These things will help with their general education too and they won;t even realise it's work
I'd be wary of saying "not until year 6." So much of "it" depends on the primary school and the child, if the child is allowed to coast while a low expectation is sought class-wide then you need to be ready to supplement this and boost the child's aptitude for on-going learning (education not just being a 9-3 thing or a dirty word).
This came home to me recently when on holiday. A woman, a teacher, was surprised that our Y6 boy was allowed out of school to go away. This was last week.
I said that there had been no probs with him, only with our Y8 boy (bear with me, there IS relevance!!) I asked her why she was surprised about the Y6 boy, thinking that in Y6 they tend to coast along and not do much (at least at our gaff).
"Because of SATS," she said.
DS2 was on 5s when he was in Y5, and he's secured his grammar place so maybe I'm slacking off big time but I murmured vaguely that that was all OK and she said,
"oh, well, maybe it's just a problem if they're borderline 3/4."
I was shocked (easily done) at the paucity of expectation. Maybe I'm naive, OK, I'm naive, but our school aims for 5s (gets 3s in nigh on 100% of the year in Y2 so need to get 5s to demonstrate the necessary uplift) and here, already, the assumption is that 3s or 4s might be on the cards. Talk about aiming low. (And here, am not denigrating any child who is not academic or who works hard and is rightly proud to get their 4, just that if the ability is there to get higher, the support should be too.)
So, if your primary is a vibrant lively one, promoting an interest in learning, keeping the brain buzzing in all sorts of different ways, then it's one thing. Keep them alert and interested, as yoyo suggests. You can ask the HT for their VRQ scores. These aren't told to you unless you ask but provide a marker against which you can assess their relative placings (which is what it all comes down to) and how much above the national average they are as plotted from, I think, Y1. Our head had great charts of it all, and would tell you (no names) what children who achieved grammars in years ahead had got at the earlier stages to give you an idea of cross reference/comparison.
This came home to me recently when on holiday. A woman, a teacher, was surprised that our Y6 boy was allowed out of school to go away. This was last week.
I said that there had been no probs with him, only with our Y8 boy (bear with me, there IS relevance!!) I asked her why she was surprised about the Y6 boy, thinking that in Y6 they tend to coast along and not do much (at least at our gaff).
"Because of SATS," she said.
DS2 was on 5s when he was in Y5, and he's secured his grammar place so maybe I'm slacking off big time but I murmured vaguely that that was all OK and she said,
"oh, well, maybe it's just a problem if they're borderline 3/4."
I was shocked (easily done) at the paucity of expectation. Maybe I'm naive, OK, I'm naive, but our school aims for 5s (gets 3s in nigh on 100% of the year in Y2 so need to get 5s to demonstrate the necessary uplift) and here, already, the assumption is that 3s or 4s might be on the cards. Talk about aiming low. (And here, am not denigrating any child who is not academic or who works hard and is rightly proud to get their 4, just that if the ability is there to get higher, the support should be too.)
So, if your primary is a vibrant lively one, promoting an interest in learning, keeping the brain buzzing in all sorts of different ways, then it's one thing. Keep them alert and interested, as yoyo suggests. You can ask the HT for their VRQ scores. These aren't told to you unless you ask but provide a marker against which you can assess their relative placings (which is what it all comes down to) and how much above the national average they are as plotted from, I think, Y1. Our head had great charts of it all, and would tell you (no names) what children who achieved grammars in years ahead had got at the earlier stages to give you an idea of cross reference/comparison.
[img]http://sl.glitter-graphics.net/pub/47/47055t4vjrz296r.gif[/img]
Hello again,
Thanks for such quick replies. I wasn't thinking about tutoring yet (although many in my ds1 class do already!) It was really because we are presently renting and are thinking of buying, I would love to stay in the area and I'm very happy with the primary school so would hate to pull them out but I worry that we may be completely deluded in thinking that any of our children stood a chance at entry into Tiffin and would like some sort of indication, if we were able to completely rule out Tiffin then it would be time for some tough decisions about moving out of London. Hence why I hoped some sort of test may be available(even something to do at home just to make sure we are in the right ball park)
VRQ's? not sure what these are? have had a quick google but seem to be coming up with something vocational. I'll ask his teacher at the next parents evening. Thanks for the tip, these seem to be exactly what I need. Do all schools use them?
Thanks again.
Thanks for such quick replies. I wasn't thinking about tutoring yet (although many in my ds1 class do already!) It was really because we are presently renting and are thinking of buying, I would love to stay in the area and I'm very happy with the primary school so would hate to pull them out but I worry that we may be completely deluded in thinking that any of our children stood a chance at entry into Tiffin and would like some sort of indication, if we were able to completely rule out Tiffin then it would be time for some tough decisions about moving out of London. Hence why I hoped some sort of test may be available(even something to do at home just to make sure we are in the right ball park)
VRQ's? not sure what these are? have had a quick google but seem to be coming up with something vocational. I'll ask his teacher at the next parents evening. Thanks for the tip, these seem to be exactly what I need. Do all schools use them?
Thanks again.
Hi
A very (and I emphasize very) rough indication would be their SATS results at the end of year 2. It was suggested to me when DS did his, that Level 3s indicated potential grammar school material. DS didn't get all 3s (he got 2A for Writing) but he did go on to get a place at WCGS. Of course, a lot can happen between Yr2 and when a child sits the 11+. I'm sure others would disagree with this but as I said, it's a very rough measure so please don't hold it to me!
I would also add that DS was tutored (1-1, once a week) from the beginning of Yr 5. However, this was more to do with what Milla was saying about being in a class that is not particularly academic and DS was coasting along doing the bare minimum to stay at or near the top of the class!
Plum
A very (and I emphasize very) rough indication would be their SATS results at the end of year 2. It was suggested to me when DS did his, that Level 3s indicated potential grammar school material. DS didn't get all 3s (he got 2A for Writing) but he did go on to get a place at WCGS. Of course, a lot can happen between Yr2 and when a child sits the 11+. I'm sure others would disagree with this but as I said, it's a very rough measure so please don't hold it to me!
I would also add that DS was tutored (1-1, once a week) from the beginning of Yr 5. However, this was more to do with what Milla was saying about being in a class that is not particularly academic and DS was coasting along doing the bare minimum to stay at or near the top of the class!
Plum
