Removed

[Glos_Mum]

.

[turtleglos]

I have a similar situation. Ds1 passed really well, loves school and learning and makes sure he has completed any homework etc. Ds2 (yr4)tells us that he wants to go to grammar(he likes our local one) yet hates homework and needs to be pursuaded to do the work. I feel that in a lot of ways he is brighter than ds1 yet he is a long way behind where ds1 was at that age as he wont put in the effort and has had a lot of health issues(was deaf for 2 school yrs).We will do the same for him as we did for ds1 though, as we don't feel that it would be fair to him otherwise, and see what happens. He may well mature in the next year.

[Glos_Mum]

.

[First-timer]

Sounds like my DS. Now he's at GS, he's enthusiastic about school again. Your son will have to work hard to gain a GS place and this in turn will give him a personal investment in his education. If he wants to go for it then let him.

[Waiting_For_Godot]

If he is bored and therefore not achieving as he should then he most definitely needs to be in GS.

[mike1880]

Quite right. I don't see why there's any doubt about it.

[Amber]

Could I just make the (likely to be contentious) point that even children who do not go to GS might just end up enjoying secondary school and finding it interesting and stimulating? I have several children in mind here, not just my own; they have gone off to comprehensive school this year, having been 'bored, understimulated' and all the negative adjectives which people use to describe bright children in years 5 and 6 of primary school; and are now thoroughly enjoying school, going off with a spring in their step, feeling stimulated - in other words, all the ways people on this forum describe their children once they get to grammar school. I was talking to one mother yesterday whose daughter has gone to one of the largest comprehensives in the county. She told me how she was 'a new girl', had exceeded all her first half term targets (report cards issued at half term) and had grown up enormously. My own son -bright, not at GS, is also really enjoying school and finding it challenging and interesting. I am not saying that any particular parent should or should not apply for GS, but the contention that a bright child has to be in a grammar school or s/he will not go to university, will not get stretched and challenged or enjoy school is, I believe, bunkum.

[mike1880]

True, but speaking as a bone idle ex-comp boy I would say that it will be much more likely that he'd maintain that initial enthusiasm through to GCSEs and A-levels at GS than at a comp where he can, if he wishes, subside quietly into the mass or (perhaps worse) cruise along making 70% effort, stay comfortably ahead of the pack and then struggle with the demands of A-level. Not that I'm speaking from 30-year old experience or anything you understand, I wouldn't behave like that .

Mike

[Amber]

True, but speaking as a bone idle ex-comp boy I would say that it will be much more likely that he'd maintain that initial enthusiasm through to GCSEs and A-levels at GS than at a comp where he can, if he wishes, subside quietly into the mass or (perhaps worse) cruise along making 70% effort, stay comfortably ahead of the pack and then struggle with the demands of A-level. Not that I'm speaking from 30-year old experience or anything you understand, I wouldn't behave like that .

Mike

If you think that a comp these days would let a bright boy rest on his laurels and cruise along making 70% effort Mike, you are so wrong. Comprehensives live and die by their league tables, and they track all pupils from the moment they get in there. The trouble is, you are speaking from 30 year old experience, when it was quite likely you could get away with minimal effort, just like I did too.

The OP is from Gloucestershire, where the superselective system put just 5% of children into GS, and some travel from well outside the county too. This means that there are many excellent comprehensive schools. It is sad if the impression created by this forum is that any child not in a GS is doomed.

[capers123]

Sounds like a typical case of 'coasting along with the minimum of effort needed to not be nagged too much by the teacher - why bother doing more?". I'd bet that he does well in tests. I've been there, done that, got the medal whilst frustrating many teachers, as did my DD1 in primary school (but not now ).

Definitely needs stretching. It could even be that he'd find any 11+ practice tests, etc, an amusing past-time. I know that some parents place a lot on pushing their children as far as they can, so 11+ tutoring becomes a major unpleasantness, but for a bright yet bored child it can be quite a nice, fun, mind-expanding thing.