Greater powers are needed to censure private schools which are not up to scratch, the Law Commission has recommended.

In a report issued today, Law Commissioner Sir Geoffrey Palmer said the 90-year-old legislation covering private schools was "past its use-by-date".

Private schools that do not meet standards can be deregistered, but lesser penalties are not available, the report said.

There were also gaps in what is required of private schools with no restrictions on who can operate them, including people with lengthy criminal records, and schools are not obliged to look after students' welfare.

"This is obviously unsatisfactory in the 21st century," Sir Geoffrey said.

The report's recommendations aim to make the legislation less ambiguous and provide more options for dealing with schools that do not meet standards or comply with the law.

Schools should be required to offer a "safe and supportive environment" where students' welfare is taken into account, and staff should be vetted to ensure they are "fit and proper" for employment.

The report also recommends that enforcement powers be increased to ensure schools comply with registration criteria and fulfil their statutory duties.

Government should also be able to step in when there are reasonable grounds to believe criminal activities are occurring, such as fraud or harm to children.

A number of new actions against non-compliant schools should be introduced, including prosecution, withdrawing some or all Government funding, and suspending a school's registration.

"It may seldom, or never, be necessary to use such powers, but they need to be there in case," Sir Geoffrey said.

The emphasis should be on assisting rather than penalising schools, he said.

"The purpose of this report is certainly not to make fundamental changes to the private school sector.

"For the great majority of schools it will be business as usual."

The private school sector in New Zealand was generally strong and many schools were "very good indeed", Sir Geoffrey said.

New Zealand's 99 registered private schools last year had a combined roll of about 30,000 students.

The Government has been criticised by Labour for increasing funding of private schools.

Even if she feels bored sometimes in the classroom, school is still one of the best places to gain invaluable social skills. One of the most important skills for our children is their ability to have fun with other kids . By the time your daughter is a teen having friends will be a big part of how successful she feels - and spending time with them will be high on her list of favourite things to do. One of the positives about being one of the older children in a year group is that emotionally they are able to confidently cope socially - so that’s a real plus.

Maybe you could also focus on afterschool activities to develop her skills in sport, music, drama, art or whatever  else she enjoys.

Another question that question comes to mind with any gifted child is, has she been assessed by an Educational Psychologist?

Cognitive testing looks at both intellectual functioning and academic functioning.

At the completion of the testing a report will be written and feedback will be given to the parents along with recommendations for the young person’s future development.

This process often includes
- an initial assessment with the young persons parent
- an assessment phone call with classroom teachers.
- Approx. 3 hours of testing , scoring and report writing.

If parents prefer the feedback session can take place at school and include teachers and other involved agencies.

This is expensive but the school may provide some funding to help with costs.

If your child is genuinely gifted then many schools will be flexible in meeting her needs. One thought may be that she attends the morning extension class and has a dual enrolment with the Correspondence school in the afternoon. Or maybe she completes GO in the afternoon , an online version of One Day School run by the Gifted Education Centre. Your Ed psych. will be able to give you good advice here and also work with the school to ensure your daughter’s needs are met.

I would also suggest you go online at wwwgiftededucation.org.nz to check out all the resources they have available. They also have a parents’ forum and it would be interesting to chat with other parents as to what they are doing for their gifted children.

I wish you all the best in mapping out a personalised learning plan for your daughter.

JulieMulcahy