is this possible with my son?

jodie114

ok, so 1 week back from school holidays and i have been called in 3 times by my sons teacher.
He is in year 4, but only just 8yo.
Aparently it is little things that are constantly annoying the teacher such as constant noises and fidgeting and having very little concentration.
We had this last year as well.
The thing is, at the moment he is being branded the "naughty" child and i think there is more to it.
The other common factor is that right from when he started nursery the teachers have commented on how bright he is, at the end of year 2 he took all the sats for year 3 and passed, even a couple of teachers have used the words gifted and special.
the more i read, the more i wonder if that is as much the problem, he does find work boring, and can do everything so quickly, has been reading harry potter for years and loves any maths problems and complex vocab work... but how do you brotch(sp?) it with a teacher without sounding like you think your child is "the one"?
i don't want to waste this year as another oh dear, if only he behaved year!

Bennifred

Given what you say, I would speak to the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) at school and ask whether he/she could arrange an Ed Psych assessment for your boy, in light of the difficulties he/his teachers have been having for all this time.

If that isn't possible, I would be inclined to arrange one privately. It is very expensive, but can be very helpful when it comes to organising support in school - gifted or talented children are just as much "Special Needs" as children with learning difficulties.

Raksha

If other teachers have noticed a 'gifted' or 'more able' streak, speak to his teacher and the SENCO at the school (or whatever term they use these days). My youngest was put on the Gifted Children programme (or Clever and Dangerous group as OH used to call it :eek:) It helped prevent him becoming disengaged as they call it.

Sometimes you just have to keep pushing.

make_me_wise

Sounds to me like your son may be fnding the work set to easy and then be getting bored. I teach year 3, so the children are around a year younger than your son. If a child were behaving this way in my class and I knew them to be bright I would think that they needed more challenging work to be set. One of the first signs of a child not being stimulated enough is for them to start misbehaving and becoming disruptive.

It is a major part of the teachers job to maintain a level of discipline in the class and deal with issues with a child without constantly referring to the parents. I am surprised it hasn't crossed your sons' teachers mind that before approaching you there should be strategies he/she should be applying to try and correct this behaviour. I sense an element of passing the buck going on and I bet that is getting on your nerves a bit.

Firstly approach the teacher and explain just as you have on here what you feel may be the root cause of your sons behaviour in class. Ask if work is set at different levels in the class so as to meet the abilities of all the children. In my class I set 3 levels of work and always have an extra back up piece in case some of the real bright sparks finish the work I initially set.

Last year there was a gifted and taleneted child in my class, absolutely exceptional. For maths he went to a different class altogether as the level I was teaching for year 3 he was way beyond. He went to year 5 for maths classes. We are close to running out of options of what to do with him next where maths is concerned now he is in year 4 and flying through year 6 level work.

If after speaking with the teacher this situation continues ask to speak to the deputy head and see what their take is on it all.

JC9297

Bennifred wrote: »

gifted or talented children are just as much "Special Needs" as children with learning difficulties.

Not according to the SEN code of practice.

jodie114

thanks guys for your input. Last year they were split for maths and reading into upper and lower (and then within those groups 3 more levels) and he was top table of top group for both.
He has been referred to somebody at the family centre (got the appointment today) by the school but that is in realation to behaviour i think, so am a little worried they are trying to mark his card, all the info i have is its with a docotr next month and i have a huge form to fill in about development stages and siblings i and my oh have!

pigpen

He could also have an attention deficit disorder.. dont rule anything out!!

I would speak to the SENco ask what the protocols at your school are for having a child asessed and go from there.. it isnt nice for the child or the teacher or the other children in the class havin 1 who is being disruptive.. deliberately or not.

He cant be THAT bored on week 2.. even mine manage longer than that and they have the attention span of gnats!

jodie114

i have just been reading through some advice pages on both gifted children and add children - the symptoms are very similar, is it possible for an add child to be gifted?

Spendless

It might be. Have you heard of these?

http://www.nagcbritain.org.uk/

Even browsing their website I found very helpful. It answered things I'd spent years wondering about.

Nicki

Bennifred wrote: »

. gifted or talented children are just as much "Special Needs" as children with learning difficulties.

How to make the parent of a child with a serious learning difficulty spit with rage!

My eldest child is gifted and talented. He was reading Harry Potter independently at age 6, doing maths several levels above his age, could explain anything happening in the news to everyone, and knew more history than his teachers. He needed differentiated work and challenges in the classroom, plus extra opportunities to keep him engaged. All of which came from the G and T school budget, as it should have done. He is not, and should not be, described as special needs.

My middle child has severe learning difficulties and autism. She has a full statement of special educational needs. She needs speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. At times she has 1:1 TA support. She needs work differentiated to a much lower level than her age group. She DOES have special needs and it is right that the school special educational needs budget should be spent on her, and on children with other specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia or those who just can't keep up with the pace of learning and are on school action or school action plus.

As a governor with responsibility for SEN and a parent of a child with SEN, it really really annoys me when parents of bright children try to argue that their child with no specific learning problem should be able to access the SEN budget. If they are bright, then they can already access every other opportunity in the school - all aspects of the curriculum, any lunchtime or after school clubs, etc - and in addition schools do have a G and T budget allocated to provide opportunities to stretch these kids too. They should not however be allowed to take money and resources away from the kids who need a lot of extra help to have any chance of keeping up.

Bright kids with dyslexia or aspergers are a different story, but budgets are set up so that each group of needs gets a fair allocation and one pushy group should not try and grab all the resources.

And don't even get me started on the parents, who think their perfectly average child should get extra attention and help to push them up to being in the gifted and talented set.

pigpen

jodie114 wrote: »

i have just been reading through some advice pages on both gifted children and add children - the symptoms are very similar, is it possible for an add child to be gifted?

it is indeed...

Nicki.. at our primary it is the SENCO who has responsibility for the G&T as well.. I was led to believe that is the norm..