It's been a week since we received results of the test. I hope everyone is doing well whatever the outcome. I'm now facing an issue that I hadn't considered... essentially, DD is just outside PAN for DRHS (first choice) so unless more than 3/4 of the girls above her get DRHS, that's where she's going.
We're all really happy about it, but I am now really struggling to get her motivated to go to primary. She's so desperate to get to secondary that she's not really engaging with school. Part of it is that it's a bit too easy (a lot of the kids didn't get much schooling over lockdown, so they're basically doing year 5 work) but part of it is just that she's ready to move on.
Is /has anyone else having /had this issue? We're thinking of getting her to learn a bit of stuff at home to keep her challenged (not maths and English as she's had enough of those with the 11+!) But if anyone has any suggestions of how to help they would be gratefully received. I half expected this if she didn't qualify for grammar, but I really wasn't expecting this with qualification. I'm hoping that the upcoming holiday will help, but I am not convinced that it will do the trick.
I'm really sorry if this comes across as bragging, that's definitely not my intention.

This is more of a question to put to her teacher who should be able to provide more stretch material for her. Bear in mind that the schools are doing much less this week and next with Christmas anyway and it will gear up in January as they work towards SATS.

Lots of challenging puzzle books, crosswords and reading will all still be good for her.

I second Polgara's input.

A quick polite email to her form teacher will help you gauge if she's getting involved as much as she can in lessons. I know my DC is being given 'greater depth' work in all key areas but he has been told very firmly to work on his spellings or else so that's what we are working on. If your child goes to a state primary I can assure you they will be very much upping the gears towards SATS in the new year. Quite rightly some are spending some time on a recovery curriculum at the moment as well as all the Christmassy socially distanced activities they can.

I would get her reading challenging texts that you can talk through and do some activities to encourage her independence. For example making dinner for everyone one weekend or some kind of organisational skills based task. Honestly if she is happy but a little bit demotivated don't worry too much. Year 7 will be quite a step in September and she's obviously bright enough to cope. Let us know how it goes.

What about doing some completely different things at home. Like sewing, crochet, other crafts. I'm sure work will definitely pick up. Most children going to grammar will be in a similar position with their schooling.

Hopefully the holidays will rejuvenate her ready for next term

Are her class are doing catch up from Y5? The situation could be exacerbated by that - could the teacher offer extension exercises at all (if they aren’t already. My daughter was in a mixed year class last year and is thoroughly bored so far this year as a result.)

My son was much the same in Y6: bored because a lot of the 11+ content covered Y6 work and there was a lot of SATs revision, and felt that he was ready to move on to a new challenge. Although when transition day came around in July he was a bit humbled as everyone was clever, it wasn’t just him and a couple of others putting their hands up!

Most of his class were a bit too cool for primary school from about February onwards which is frustrating, but knowing they are confident and ready to move onto secondary is a good thing.

Thanks all!

Yes, there's a lot of catch up. I asked at the recent parents evening for her to be stretched and was basically told that she's clever enough anyway, so came away feeling like a pushy parent. DD is desperate to get homework and start all the other subjects. She's already reading much more advanced texts than the school expects, so I'm thinking that we can start doing some of the basic science and language and arts subjects. I don't really want to become a teacher, but I am concerned that if the school don't pick things up a bit more after Christmas she could lose interest if we don't challenge her at home. I think though they will probably start the sats preparation which won't be anything new but hopefully will be a bit more of a challenge.
A meal is a really good idea... her intelligence doesn't worry me for grammar (she won't be at the top of the classes, but equally, probably won't struggle... StarCrazy, I think DD may be a bit taken aback by the cleverness of others at grammar too... she's been considered one of the clever kids throughout juniors, so there's going to be some adjustment required there!) but she could well be the least organised!
Really appreciate your thoughts on this, I think I will wait and see what happens after Christmas as far as school is concerned, but get her going with some fun learning at home.

Hi

My two are feeling the same and are starting to dislike school (horror!!)

Their Year 6 teacher is fab and they are loving non-core lessons such as art, music, geography etc. but were very bored in the main bulk of lessons. I reassure them on a daily basis that revising basics is always a good thing. But, I also felt the need to give them something to focus on too.

I fully agree with all the comments above - we have been baking, learning to knit (well, they have, I am awful!) and have discovered an obsession with the board game "Risk" since September!!

I have also brought home some CGP KS3 books for them from my own school focused on English, Maths and Biology. We use these with certain students as part of our intervention programme and they are the same format as the "10 minute test" 11+ books so are familiar. They are (obviously) aimed at Years 7-9 but are giving both my DDs a brain stretch. These are commercially available and are pretty good!

Oh, and on the "cleverness" thing, my DD who is now in Year 8 at Pate's was simply relieved to be amongst fellow geeks!!! She told me after about 6 weeks there that she felt that she'd "found her people"

Seriously, she always felt a bit of an outsider at primary and she's SO much happier and confident now.

DD2 and 3 are the opposite disposition to her and social butterflies so it remains to be seen how they take it all in next year!!

"She is clever enough anyway."

I can't believe that any teacher said that, let alone at parent's evening. Their job is to teach the students in the class and there are plenty of extension materials to use.

I know of a student who sat GCSE Maths in Y4 and got an A star but the teacher still managed to support them with extension materials. No teacher should be saying that they are not going to teach a student in their class. DG

Doing GCSE early is VERY much frowned upon these days. There's so many other enrichment opportunities.

For Maths look at:
* https://nrich.maths.org/primary
* Primary Maths Challenge [too late to enter but past papers are free] https://www.primarymathschallenge.org.uk/downloads
* UKMT Junior Maths challenge [open to Primary but aimed at lower Secondary - ask if she can do it] https://www.ukmt.org.uk/competitions/so ... enge-paper

STEM festive challenge: https://thestemhub.org.uk/index.php/festive-challenge