Independent school for DD who is weak at maths?

[christmasbaby]

Wise people, my DD is top of her class for Literacy. She excels in spelling, grammar, reading, comprehension and composition and one of the top 6 kids in her class for English. However, she's in the bottom set for Maths (not the middle set, the bottom set) . Does anyone know if there are any independent selective schools in the North London/Herts area that favour English over maths? She is being tutored to help with her maths but it will never be as strong as her English. Any thoughts are welcome. Many thanks

[loobylou]

Do you mean for the exam? Ie an exam that would play to her strengths more?
Or do you mean the school itself?

[Guest55]

I think the issue could be her current school. I have not met a child who is very able in English and is 'weak' at Maths - unless they have dyscalculia.

Confidence is the key and I'm sure that being told you are in the 'bottom' group is not helpful. I would suggest some work on her confidence and problem solving - make it fun! Perhaps making up her own questions would be a start?

Single step problems. Start with a piece of information e.g. bananas cost 30p each. What could she find out?

Multi-step: extend to another piece of information or finding change.

[christmasbaby]

Thanks for getting back to me. I suppose both but initially, an exam that would play to her strengths would be ideal. She is flourishing at her current school with maths being her only weak subject - getting her in somewhere is my biggest hurdle at the moment. If there's a school exam that looks for strong English candidates and forgives those who are less able in maths, that would be ideal. x

[christmasbaby]

She has been tested for dyscalculia and been seen by an ed psych but they haven't found anything. She definitely has a confidence issue which we work on at home and with a tutor. The problem is that they are streamed at school for maths and she is very aware that the kids she is sitting with for maths are not the kids she sits with for English so it's not necessarily the school's fault. x



I think the issue is her current school. I have not met a child who is very able in English and is 'weak' at Maths - unless they have dyscalculia.

Confidence is the key and I'm sure that being told you are in the 'bottom' group is not helpful. I would suggest some work on her confidence and problem solving - make it fun! Perhaps making up her own questions would be a start?

Single step problems. Start with a piece of information e.g. bananas cost 30p each. What could she find out?

Multi-step: extend to another piece of information or finding change.[/quote]

[Daogroupie]

Where are you considering?

Did she sit any state selectives?

In my opinion Maths is a lot easier to fix than English. There is plenty of time before January to improve her Maths. DG

[Guest55]

It is the school 'maths diet' then - why do they stream them for maths? Is it a Private school?

[christmasbaby]

Thanks DG - She's Year 5 so I'm just working out what my options could be. Interesting to hear your opinion. I've always been led to believe that state selective is harder to get into than private so figured it was a no-go. We are continually working on her maths. I too have always felt it was easier to fix than English as it's a stand alone subject. I was just wondering if there were any schools out there which would favour a strong English candidate and slightly overlook a weakness in Maths. I went to SAHS (20 something years ago!!) and it was perfect for me (I too am good at English and less able in Maths) but I gather that these days, SAHS has changed somewhat! x

Guest55 - no it's a state. I guess there is such mixed ability across the year that they see it as a way to push those who excel at maths (and hopefully bring the other sets up too by teaching them with kids of similar ability). The stream for English too which I'm very happy about as it's good for my DD. I don't have a problem with streaming. Most the kids in our school will be sitting for state selective or private and the school are aware of that. I think it helps parents know where their kids are across the year and the expectations that school have of them x

[Guest55]

The streaming in maths is seriously affecting her attainment - I teach maths and we 'abolished' bottim sets a long time ago for this very reason.

What work are you doing with her at home?

[christmasbaby]

I appreciate your comments but streaming is not the issue. They have only been streamed since September. She has struggled with maths since Year 3. We have done all sorts of workbooks, kumon etc since then and have had a tutor since Year 4.

She will always be significantly weaker in maths and we won't be able to bring her maths up to anywhere near the standard of her English. I'm just trying to find out if there are any selective schools (and in turn exams) which would favour a candidate with very strong English skills and be able to work with her weakness in maths. x