Perfect 10

[Eccentric]

[Guest55]

Eccentric, you are correct! When I am checking books in my department they know I will be looking for evidece that students are challenged and bing challenged means you will make a mistake sometimes. I've said before that you learn maths when you get stuck and 'first attempt in learning' [not 'fail'ing] is something students know we encourage. I won't help someone unless I can see they've had a go so 'What have you tried?' is my first response to a question - students won;t learn if I always get them unstuck.

http://nrich.maths.org/5727" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has some interesting points.

[Eccentric]

[Marylou]

he french teacher accused Dd of using google translate which she never has (her french is just good)

Strange comment by the teacher, as she should know that the results of using GoogleTranslate are generally anything but good!

[Amber]

The implication from all teachers is that she needs to do anything outside the average at home.

At risk of being controversial, why is that such a problem? Your daughter is 11 or 12 - Y7 isn't a particularly vital year at school and she is finding the work very easy. Why not look to channel her energies in other ways? One of my children has always found school work rather easy but we see this as a positive thing as it leaves time for so much else. I am not sure why you want your daughter to be continually pushed and challenged in Y7 - it isn't going to lead to anything great later on, and seems to be making her very unhappy now. Perhaps if the focus could be moved away from school and onto something else (does she have outside interests? If not, could she be encouraged to explore a bit, while there is so much slack in the system?) then perhaps the issues at school would start to seem less important. I am not saying that you don't need to continue to ensure she is performing well at school, but she has to be there for another 5 years, and the pressure of work at GCSE will stretch her whatever her current performance, I imagine.

[kenyancowgirl]

+1 Amber...

Eccentric - if memory serves me right, your dd did not pass her 11+ or 12+ and you are now appealing? I understand you felt that she didn't pass the 11+ because you have only given her practice papers rather than tutoring her for the test - what do you think happened in the 12+ test?

And I think she was having problems in the school because she felt that she was vastly more clever than her peers which was one of your reasons for looking at a GS? And, (again, I apologise if I am remembering wrong) she finds it difficult to make social connections with her peer group? This can be common in children who are academically bright, but is a fairly useful/essential tool to be able to progress appropriately. Whilst she is finding the work at school relatively easy, would it be worth challenging her in a different way, by addressing the social needs she has, maybe encouraging her to engage in some activities with her peer age (if not necessarily school peers).

[Yamin151]

As you say you have not 'given in' to her reluctance to attend school. Do you think, however, that she is aware of your frustration about her not being challenged? Was she at the parents evening? What I'm getting at is is the reluctance to attend school being fed by her awareness that you feel she is too bright for the school? Indeed, might this feed the social problems too in that she may unwittingly be passing on a bit of an intellectual superiority feeling to her peers, probably without meaning to, and I expect you don't 'big her up' or anything, but it's amazin what childrn pick up, and just like catching anxiety from your parents, or political views, or car rage, her own frustration at school may not be helped by yours........?
I agree with KCG and Amber for what it's worth, let her coast and enjoy the freedom, whilst reminding her to enjoy it now as it will become harder as time goes on. If she is desperate and asking herself for more work, by all means buy her workbooks and let her do extra at home, there is lots out there, but I'd be inclined to aim for contentment and enjoyment at being able to navel gaze a little this year! And as the others said, perhaps with the extra time on her hands she might enjoy another activity that might benefit her in other ways. Musical instrument? Sailing? Ice skating? Anything really!

[scary mum]

he french teacher accused Dd of using google translate which she never has (her french is just good)

Strange comment by the teacher, as she should know that the results of using GoogleTranslate are generally anything but good!

Smiling as I remember one of my children thinking he could do his year 7 French homework using google translate
As you were (sorry!)

[Catseye]

One of the most important life skills is able to communicate with people of different hues , from the super-bright to the intellectually challenged( we can all learn from each other)

I will give you some anecdotal nonsense , my DD is supposedly one of the those who is considered super-bright , had her Maths yr8 exam today, in tears" the teacher had not covered some of the exam material "

the fear of failure may well be her failure in the long term.

it sounds like your DD may well be perfectionist, there lies the road to ruin, she needs to learn to overcome adversity and get on with it, there is nothing special about selective education.

accelerated learning is often detrimental to a child, she will do gcse and A levels in time, challenge enough for any young person.( the exception would be bulling, then get her out of there promto!)

[southbucks3]

he french teacher accused Dd of using google translate which she never has (her french is just good)

Strange comment by the teacher, as she should know that the results of using GoogleTranslate are generally anything but good!

Smiling as I remember one of my children thinking he could do his year 7 French homework using google translate
As you were (sorry!)

You mean there is another way???

Eccentric, I feel for your frustrations but agree with others, the academic side of things seem to be very strong at school and she is achieving what is expected for year 7, so transfer your energy into helping your daughter with the social integration side. The morning battle will become far less awful if she has a good group of friends to meet up with before the bell rings. Is she popping into the local town after school with her peers? She loves some of her lunchtime clubs, extend on those at home and include friends.
There is far more to secondary school than academics, the comprehensive sited near the bucks/oxon borders at Thame has a fantastic local reputation and has recently sent children to Oxbridge, so I am guessing they probably do start stretching the higher ability children as they get older and settled into secondary school life. I understand it can be very frustrating to feel your daughter could achieve more, but even at gs year 7 is not particularly heavy going academically, presumably because teachers realise that the transition year is so busy for pre teens in many other aspects.
Does the school stream children from year 8, when do they choose their subjects?