How does G&T work? Stupid question <ironic>

(52 Posts)
PrincessOfWails Wed 12-Dec-12 11:55:08


morethanpotatoprints Wed 02-Jan-13 23:42:31

I don't think my dd will be giving any of the high IQ dc here a run for their money as she is really not very bright.
However, she has shown an interest and talent for music from a very early age. Actually singing before talking. When we deregistered her from school they told me (merely in passing) that it was a shame they would lose a G&T dc from their register. No issues but had no idea of this fact until now.
One Friday afternoon the dc chose own subject and dd obviously did music and there was nobody else. She told me she was playing games with the music coordinator (y6 teacher) and she told her she was working at level 8. I checked this out against level descriptors and what she had covered and she had been assessed up to level 8 . This sort of level is clsssed exceptional for an 8 year old but useless now she is out of the system. Also hovering around beginner, gr3, 4 and 5 is nothing exceptional compared to the likes of a little girl in a recent comp who aged 5 had a distinction gr 5 piano.
However, when dd sings in public, something happens, audiences love her and she wins the competitions. People keep telling us and her (ahem.....) how good she is, what a talent she has, how her potential is great, how we must be so proud, what are OUR plans for her future, blar blar blar . We have no plans, dd is the one with the plans (world Diva domination) I think. She believes she was born to sing and tells us regularly. Now she could have heard this in a show, documentary or something or could be part of her culture, upbringing etc.

What is the use of a name on a register? What do grades and levels actually measure? Oh, and it must be good for you who have really clever, intelligent kids, too. I'm sure it shares a lot of challenges.

ibizagirl Fri 14-Dec-12 13:33:02

Exactly Wallison. I think it is so unfair on more able children. Dd was left to her own devices at primary school and was getting bored. So she was told to help others when she had finished her work. She even taught one girl to read! There were groups for the less able too but nothing for dd. I was always asking for more challenging work for dd and i was told to look on the internet. Very helpful i'm sure. When i asked about it when dd started high school, the form tutor said that g&t didn't exist any more.

Wallison Fri 14-Dec-12 13:19:15

That's been my experience too so far, ibizagirl. They just say 'He's gifted and talented' but that's pretty much it.

If I think about it, it does make me cross because they have brilliant schemes for helping kids that are less able, but kids that find the work too easy are just left to get bored.

ibizagirl Fri 14-Dec-12 13:07:00

Its all a load of rubbish in my opinion and dd has been on g&t since she was about 4 and she is now 13. Nothing happens to be honest. Nothing at all happened in primary and not a lot happens now. Like i said in a previous post, as dd is in set 1 for all her subjects, the whole class is regarded as gifted and talented even though they are not "officially" on g&t. I don't think the work is any different either. They may be chosen to go on a different school trip (as dd was) so only a few may get chosen. The last trip had 8 i think out of the whole year. As long as the child is doing well then what is the point of it?. She was also chosen again this year to light the christmas advent and that is about it but that was through hard work and wearing her uniform well (that is what the head said) and not being g&t.

lapucelle Fri 14-Dec-12 10:13:54

My child tested in the high 150s on the Weschler WPPSI test aged 3 (admittedly not in the UK, she was tested by school to see if they could get extra funding for her). She was free reading in nursery in several languages (we are a multilingual household) and was many many years ahead in maths etc. I definitely wouldn't call her a once in a generation child, just one who is bright and was interested in reading, maths etc at a young age.

From discussions with our local authority she wouldn't be offered anything much in a local state school, certainly no 1-1 TA. I am truly astonished that a child would be offered 1-1 support just for lime level reading and year 2 maths in Reception - in our (private, UK) school such levels are certainly not that unusual.

noisytoys Fri 14-Dec-12 05:41:46

10 hours 1-1. I think it's because she is in reception where the adult-child ratio is higher and she does some work in year 2 so they do it to make it legal. I would be surprised if she got it as she gets older

madwomanintheattic Fri 14-Dec-12 00:21:39

Ok. Ft 1-1, though? Stunned. Dd2 has a higher iq and cerebral palsy, and got half that. This postcode stuff is truly bizarre!

noisytoys Thu 13-Dec-12 23:55:36

PM'd you. I like the relative anonymity of MN if I write on here where I live it will out me wink

Wallison Thu 13-Dec-12 23:55:16

I was told my son was gifted and talented in maths and science and every year they tell me that he still is, but they don't seem to be doing much about it. He does all kinds of stuff outside of school - for eg, at the beginning of yr 1 he set out to 'count in patterns' including the usual 12 but also 13, 14, 15 etc up to 20. He also, having seen it in a book, took it upon himself to memorise the periodic table. He can do all sorts of maths calculations in his head - multiplications and divisions of three and four figure numbers etc. and has been able to since he was 5 or so. When I ask him to explain how he does it, I don't really understand his explanation, tbh - he's got his own way of doing things and finds his way around with patterns. He sees colours when he thinks of numbers, and I think that helps.

But, as I say, the school don't seem to be doing that much. They have a 'gifted and talented' scheme for kids who are said to be g&t at sport and they get extra lessons and coaching and whatever but the rest of the g&t kids just get treated the same as everyone else, as far as I can see.

madwomanintheattic Thu 13-Dec-12 23:44:27

Oh, same here. Everyone assumes they have been hothoused to within an inch of their lives, but we've never even bothered to learn spellings. Didn't bother to join Mensa as it seemed pointless.

Tbh, we don't make a big deal out of their iq because it isn't a big deal. I might feel differently if they were PG, but in the 140s is too common to bother with, particularly. The only time I dredge it up is if someone is patronising dd2 because they assume she has a learning disability, in which case I do point out they way wide of the mark. I can honestly say that iq in the 140s doesn't feature at all in their lives, even in school... The only time I get into a discussion about gifted needs is if there is a difficulty in school for some reason (for example, because of the difficulties associated with being 2e, like two of mine.) I can honestly say that they aren't special at all, lol, purely because of their iq. grin

I still can't get over the statement. Which LA? (Pm if you prefer. As I said, we aren't even in the UK, but we lived in Hants, Oxon, Wilts, and Renfrew, and none of them were remotely interested in gifted)

noisytoys Thu 13-Dec-12 23:35:28

I don't make a big deal to her about her IQ. If anything I make more of a point to make her feel like a little girl. I buy her more toys and games, don't do any work above what she does at school, don't push her at all. Not one little bit. She is getting all she needs from school and she is happy at school. That's all I care about at this age. We live in a grammar school area so I'm not worried at all from now til 11+ I appreciate she was fortunate live where she does and have the opportunities she does. She is a member of Mensa, but it is a pointless membership as far as I can see they have done nothing but send her a shiny plaque grin

madwomanintheattic Thu 13-Dec-12 23:27:06

Om actual g.

Forget what I said about sour grapes.

Trust fund?

Fecking hell. For a 140?

That is hilarious. I am gobsmacked. It just goes to show that folk will believe anything!! Dd2 has a higher iq and drools! <actually, she doesn't any more, lol, but she did at three.

Please tell me you are teaching that she is bog standard and nothing special, right? Because she is going to come up against some equally bright kids, and some far cleverer, and if she already has social difficulties, then you don't want them exacerbated by teaching her she is something different?... Lots of bright kids get to university and really struggle up against the really gifted, and I can see it would be really easy for dd to be in that position (so many reallys....) given the media excitement (about, well, nothing particularly! How weird!)

Man alive.

I am proper shocked. I expected her to be PG.

Good luck to you both, though. I mean fair play, if someone had offered me a trust fund for my three, I would have taken it. I would have gladly accepted one to one for each of them, as well, not just the one with the physical disability lol.

But how on earth can it be right that one child gets tested and lauded (for a reasonably common result) and the rest get denied everything?

That's not your fault, noisy. It's just well odd, and shows the utter nonsense of the media. And highlights the complete inadequacy of most UK state ed.

I'm not sure if I would be touting her as the highest iq in Britain at that age, though. Highest iq in Britain that informed the papers? Or highest iq in Britain that informed Mensa? I dunno how that tag came about, but it's really misleading.

Proper shocked, I am. The media is bonkers.

NaiceDude Thu 13-Dec-12 23:08:35

Can't be the only one who thought this was about Gin and Tonic.



<shuffles off>

madwomanintheattic Thu 13-Dec-12 23:07:39

Oh, I understand re school. In yr r no one could compute that the poor kid in the wheelchair (head tilt, oh bless) was the one their kids were talking about in terms of 'x goes to mrs y's class to get books'. It took until the summer term before anyone was brave enough to ask me if it was true.

noisytoys Thu 13-Dec-12 23:06:19

No she doesn't present with any additional special needs. She struggles with socialising with people her age, but that's all. Her dad is ADHD and her uncle has aspergers and she doesn't present with any of them traits. I think it was purely luck of the draw being in the right place at the right time. I have a DD2 and she is completely 'normal'. Following what is expected for her age but nothing out of the ordinary

archilles Thu 13-Dec-12 23:01:53

Surely it would be the wppsi at age three? That is very young to test by any standards.

Do the school require re testing at a later date?

madwomanintheattic Thu 13-Dec-12 23:01:39

Oh, whenever, if you find them. I'm just blown away by how this happened for you, seemingly so easily, when there are kids all over the UK in exactly the same position who are being refused even to be tested, until they present with something else that is more problematic... I assume dd didn't have any behavioural or other difficulties associated with her ability? Or not associated?

(Ie, dd2 was only tested because of her cp. ds1 was only tested because of his ADHD/ aspergers type issues. Dd1 was tested when we moved to Canada because within a month they realised she qualified for the regional gifted programme on the basis of her grade work). No one would have offered to test otherwise - even ds1 where the nursery were begging the LA to do it! And obv I'm curious what the difference between ds1 and your dd is - how did she get tested so early, and why wouldn't they test him? If it's just postcode, it's truly mind boggling.)

(I'm over the sour grapes bit grin just left with fascinated and horrified in equal measure that so may kids in this position are being ignored, and others not! 'twas ever thus.)

noisytoys Thu 13-Dec-12 23:01:17

I don't know which one it was I will have a look tomorrow I will dig out the report grin I didn't realise it would be such a big news story. My dad knows someone who works at the local paper so it was ran as a local interest story. Within a day it was in the national news and we were offered media deals we couldn't turn down. I will probably get flamed for that but it gave DD a large trust fund she can have at 18 that I would never be able to provide for her and she loved every minute of the attention and filming. Most people even at her school don't know she was ever in the media because the story isn't a story anymore it's old. And I don't tell anyone at the school gate because having a bright child doesn't make you or them popular. Very few people in RL know she is any different to her peers

madwomanintheattic Thu 13-Dec-12 22:54:30

Oh, god, I know all about statements, like I said up thread dd2 is statemented because she has cerebral palsy. She also happens to be gifted, lol. (Yes, that made a few eyebrows raise in the playground).

I know I sound like a loon - but was it WPPSI or the WISC-IV? I'm not familiar with the WPPSI particularly. 140 on the WISC IV is lower than dd2 tested in yr r though, so am lolling at how much fun I could have had splashing the kid in the wheelchair all over the press. grin I wouldn't, obv. But it is kinda funny.

Was the statement applied for by nursery? (Am fascinated. When they wanted to get Ds tested at three, and were refused, they just ran him with the yr r kids as it was a foundation stage unit. Had l realised that people were testing kids and getting them statements at 140 it would have saved us one hell of a lot of angst over the intervening years...)

noisytoys Thu 13-Dec-12 22:48:34

I'm guessing the pre school one as she was 3 when she was tested. I can dig out the reports to look into them if you are interested but she is nearly 5 now so this was 2 years ago and will take a day or so to find the reports

archilles Thu 13-Dec-12 22:47:26

Arf at wenches test, 140 is most definitely 99.6 not 99.9.

Huge difference. Most likely the highest tested at that age by that tester.

noisytoys Thu 13-Dec-12 22:46:42

That is one of the benefits of the statement. When your child has a statement, you get given priority of a place that will best suit DCs needs. I haven't been turned away from any schools, but going to look around schools, some do make you very uncomfortable and make it clear you will be a burden on the school hmm

madwomanintheattic Thu 13-Dec-12 22:45:52

Wechsler? The pre-school one?(WPPSI) Or the one for 6+? (WISC-IV I think?)

madwomanintheattic Thu 13-Dec-12 22:43:40

(I sound like a nut. Sorry, I've had a state school turn my kids away, lol, as they couldn't offer appropriate differentiation, so I'm well versed in the vagaries of gifted ed.They didn't offer to statement though. grin I do have rather an unhealthy interest in how other families in similar circs manage)

noisytoys Thu 13-Dec-12 22:42:33

It is 140 on the welcher test. That is the only test they would do at that age. I was told by the ed psych they don't use any other test until 10.5

Join the discussion

Join the discussion


Register now