Clever Girl!

Late last week the Principal of the girl's school asked to meet with me regarding Kate and "some of the data feedback we have been getting from her".  He told me that (just as I had warned him would happen) she was  doing very well at school.

We had a few days to mull this over at home, and lots of thoughts ran through our heads.  Would she be moved up a class on only her second week of school?  Was she being naughty in class because she was bored? Marty was keen to come along to this meeting today too.

We were both SO happy with the school's observations, questions and feedback.  They had recognised that Kate is "screeds ahead" with her learning in all areas, especially text and computer based learning.  The school had put some thought into options around this, and had already recognised that moving her up a class would not solve the issue of challenging her academically as she was actually at a level ABOVE even the next class up - she would be more suited to be in Jaimee's class, but nobody wants that to happen (our school only has 6 classrooms for Y1-8).

So we felt really happy with the decision to keep her in her current class, to keep her with her age group and to help her adjust to all the new school routines as a new 5 year old.  The teacher has been giving this a lot of thought and is going to do some special extension work one-on-one with her, challenging her  in different ways.  The school did not want to have a "ceiling" placed on her learning (one of my concerns was that she would be ignored as they don't like the kids to jump too far ahead of the class and she already is there!).
The school had had even considered giving a teacher aide time in the classroom to allow this to happen.

We will re-assess the situation at the end of term 1 and term 2 - in fact, he even considered the possibility that at the end of the year she may just skip a class altogether, we will just see what happens with her learning (it could just plateau eventually).

In terms of her attitude in the classroom, we were reassured that Kate is an "neat kid" with a great attitude and willingness to learn - she just laps up everything that she is given to do.  So proud of my little girl today.

I was also impressed that the school had considered Jaimee in all this.  Has she showed any signs of unhappiness with Kate being "on her heels" with learning (no).  How is she coping with Kate being at school - and the fact that Kate is clearly adored by all Jaimee's friends (fine, but please keep an eye on it)?  Mr Anderson even talked about possibilities of giving Jaimee a special sports team or some area to be involved with at her age level (that Kate would not be doing) to help her feel special and individual.  They are also redirecting Kate gently to make her own friends at school.  Perfect.  

There were lots more discussions that really put us at ease that the school has been really thinking about the well-being and education of both my children here.  I am a happy mummy today, feeling proud of St Matthews Primary and all they are doing.