What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

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Plum
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Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:26 am

What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by Plum »

Hi

Went to DD's (Yr 4) parent evening last week. Her teacher told us that she was in the G & T for Maths and English. There are about 4 or 5 in each group, mostly the same children and they go off with other teachers and do work different to the rest of the class two or three times a week.

We were a bit surprised :oops: by this (I know she's quite bright but she's also rather dopey..... :roll:) so we didn't think to ask what else G & T entailed. Also, I've been wondering if it means she's bright generally, across her peers or just compared with her immediate classmates????

Any advice is welcome! The plus side of all this, hopefully, is it will put a rocket up her older brother's backside as they are fiercely competitive with each other and he won't want to be outdone!!!!!

Thanks
Plumx
mitasol
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Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:59 am

Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by mitasol »

It generally means that she is bright within the context of the school. I think it is the top 10% of the year group who are targeted as gifted in one or more subjects and/or talented which covers music and sports etc.

Some schools are more forthcoming than others about who is on the G&T register.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Sch ... G_10037625
Plum
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Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by Plum »

Thanks for this, Mitasol. Very useful.
yoyo123
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Location: East Kent

Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by yoyo123 »

the school will have a policy on G&T if want to know more about the set up in your particular school
Daogroupie
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Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by Daogroupie »

The real key here is in the context of the school. Both my dd's have done G&T days with children from smaller schools where my dd's have commented that some of their candidates would not even get in the top maths set at their school. We know a girl who only got 2A for Maths who was still G&T Maths at her school. In fact some children from the bottom maths set at our school have gone to secondary school and suddenly magically become G&T in Maths! But that is because all the top set Maths kids have gone somewhere else! It is really great that your school actually does some real work during the week with the G&T's. Our school does nothing but my dd's get invited to lots of summer schools and days at secondary schools. My elder dd even did summer schools meant for children going to the school in Year 7 because none of the children actually going there were interested enough to respond! But it really is the luck of the draw if you happen to be the best in your school at something. It is very unlikely to translate to secondary school if you go somewhere where there is a wide range of different primary school intake. We are seeing children who were clearly top of the tree at primary school coping very badly with not making it into the teams and the choirs and the orchestras at secondary school. Make sure your dd understands that it is not her, but her skills when compared to her current classmates. But it does sound like your school have implemented the register the way the govt intended unlike our school who seem to do it because they have to and dont seem to put any actual thought into it at al. DG
Plum
Posts: 284
Joined: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:26 am

Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by Plum »

Daogroupie wrote:The real key here is in the context of the school. DG

This is what I thought!

When DS was at the school (now Yr 7) they didn't have anything for his year but I don't know if they didn't think it was worth it (they were a bit of a nightmare year) or whether they just didn't do it then.

However, from Yr 3 a small group of children including DD were given different maths to the rest of the class. It was intended to stretch them and give breadth to the curriculam as opposed to bringing them on faster and getting them ahead of their peers, which I thought was a good idea and DD really enjoyed the work.

Since she's gone into Yr 4, they have continued with the maths approach, mainly as all the parents of the kids in the group have asked them to and have now added the English.

I don't know whether it's because her brother has gone to a GS but her teachers are already telling me that she is GS material :roll: I still think it's a bit early to tell and I don't know whether it will suit her but she wants a tutor like her big brother when she gets to Yr 5 :)
Bat120
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Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:16 pm

Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by Bat120 »

You may find some primaries set up a "gifted and talented" group in Year 5. Not entirely unconnected with those children who are likely to sit eleven plus who may not otherwise have had the opportunity to do a lot of algebra or some of the other bits not covered very much in the year 5 curriculum ..... :wink:
mitasol
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Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:59 am

Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by mitasol »

All schools and all years have a G&T register. It's compulsory!

However what schools do with children on the G&T register and if they make parents aware who's on the register will depend on the schools policy.
tiredmum
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Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by tiredmum »

mitasol wrote:All schools and all years have a G&T register. It's compulsory!

However what schools do with children on the G&T register and if they make parents aware who's on the register will depend on the schools policy.
very interesting! i thought the primary dd1 and dd2 went to did not have a Gifted and talented register as it was never mentioned to any of us parents. Yet when dd1 was in year 6 she was in a maths group with just 2 other children - doing more advanced maths than the other class groups - so that was stretching them but not really anything extra.
hermanmunster
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Re: What is gifted & talented all about in primary school?

Post by hermanmunster »

I find G&T a triumph of PC.
At a GS it is likely that the majority of the school will be doing better than the secondary modern down the road - however 90% of the GS will not be on the register.. whereas 10% of the kids down the road will be ?? .. how does that make sense. So if a child moves school they go on or come off the register depending how they compare with the standard in the new school - guaranteed to make you feel great!

DS missed out on a G&T trip (his school do v little) - was upset initially as felt he ought to have gone - apparently on the trip the teacher asked the others where he was, was told he hadn't been invited and the teacher realised he had forgotten to invite him....
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