Forced into home education

[Frequency]

Year 11 DD has struggled in education since year 7 for a number of reasons, mainly to do with her mental health but recently there was a serious issue with another student involving the police. Because DD was not well enough to push ahead with prosecution this student is still at the school. Since then her attendance and mental well being has plummeted.

Last Thursday she told me the new set-up in school made her feel suicidal. She was on an attendance plan prior to this which also had a massive negative effect on her mental health.

This week I made the decision to allow to study from home. I felt that was my only option if I wanted to keep my child alive. Initially the school were supportive and said they would allow her to do flex-school. They would send work home for her, she could attend school to check in with teachers out of hours and they would still enter her for her exams. They've now decided this is not possible.

I've spoken to the HE department of our local LA who have said because DD hasn't been in school this year I can't officially HE for the rest of year 11. I can off-roll her and teach her at school but as far as child tax credits, child benefit and council tax is concerned she would be an unemployed adult and I would receive no money for her. This is going to make things financially difficult for us but my child's mental health has to come above money. I work full time on NMW so we'll survive but it will be a massive struggle.

I've spoken to the local private school who have said I ca pay for her to sit iGCSE at their school to the tune of £93 per exam. This is manageable, only just considering my sudden loss of income. There is no way I can afford to lose my child benefit and child tax credit and pay for online schooling. It's simply not an option.

My questions are;

Is this allowed? Can I fight this? (the benefits and/or the lack of support from her current school)
Are there any good resources for home studying for iGCSE (Edexcel) besides Khan Academy and BBC Bitesize which I've already found?
Has anyone managed to get their child through iGCSE with no support?
Does anyone have any Edexcel/Pearson iGCSE revision guides or textbooks they would be willing to sell? I've looked online but they're all quite expensive and considering I am facing a loss of around £100 per week on top of a £700 exam bill I am trying to make things as cheap as possible.

I'm taking her to the local FE later this afternoon to ask if there are any evening courses she could take with them. She doesn't want to start college in Sept without her exams. She is determined to sither GCSEs. She is considering taking an extra year (doing some exams this July and some next year. She has until Feb to decide if she ready to sit any in July)

Is there any other options for us that I have not yet mentioned?

TIA.

[JollyAndBright]

What an awful situation, I’m so sorry for you and your DD.

Have you looked into moving her to a local collage to study for her GCSEs?

A friends son left school in yr10 due to bullying and threats of suicide.
He was able to move to the local collage to do his GCSEs, it had to be arranged by the LA though.
He is now studying for his alevels with plans to go to uni.

[FriedasCarLoad]

No useful advice except

1. list exactly the revision guides you need and ask on freegle/ free cycle. Get your daughter to look on FB marketplace and in local charity shops as well as - of course - the library.
   
   
2. sign up to local HE groups on FB.
   
   But mainly posting to give your post a bump so someone more useful can see it.
   
   You sound like a great mum. Wishing you all the luck in the world.

[Frequency]

I don't think she will agree to attend college instead of school. The local private school did mention reduced fees/the option of paying over a year for the last few terms so I offered to put her in there full time but she told me that would make her worse. She is willing to attend an evening class with me. I was hoping for some kind of IT course or maybe an A level, but we'll see what, if anything, the college have to offer.

We're going to pop in to the library on the way to the college.

I'll have a look at Freecycle later. Atm we're attempting some very badly designed GCSE History worksheets that she had left over from the few sessions of school she did attend this year.

[Drizzzle]

Just a few points. HE doesn't make any difference to child benefit, you will still get it.
Off-rolling is when schools "persuade" parents to take their children out of school. What you will be doing is de-registering. Please have a look at home ed charity Education Otherwise's website for legal advice and a sample de-registration letter.

[Frequency]

It was the local LA who said she wouldn't receive any child tax credit or child benefit as she wouldn't be classed as being home educated due to some rule or another that you can't start HE in year 12 and she's already missed year 11, so they would view her as 'an adult not in education or employment'. She's 16 in a few weeks.

[10brokengreenbottles]

It is possible to get tax credits and child benefit for 16-19 y/o's, but HE must begin prior to the young person's 16th birthday.

If you haven't already don't de-register your DD from school. It is much easier to get support while still on roll. Take DD to the GP to get evidence she is too unwell for school. Also apply for an EHCP.

[Mummyshark2018]

Don't off roll. Take her to gp and get them to write a letter saying she is unfit to attend school due to anxiety, and try and get a Camhs referral. School will have a responsibility to put something in place for medical needs students.

[10brokengreenbottles]

It is the LA who have ultimate responsibility for ensuring pupils not medically well enough to attend school receive an education. This is the statutory guidance.

[Frequency]

We have a CAMHS referral. Her appointment is the 17th of December. It was made a few weeks ago. That's an 'urgent' appointment for children at risk of immediate harm . That's after her 16th birthday.

The GP is unwilling (says she is unable) to sign her off school as medically unfit but tells us CAMHS can and will do this. She's on antidepressants but they're not working and the GP won't prescribe anything stronger due to her age but again tells us CAMHS can and will.

I've asked for an ECHP a few times and again have been told only CAMHS can do this.

This will be the third time she has been to CAMHS. What normally happens is she attends the first session, refuses to look at them much less talk to them so they say they are not able to offer the support she needs and they sign her off.

I'm not too bothered about home educating her. I feel, with online resources I could manage quite well (I'm well aware my grammar is shit. I do know good grammar but my keyboard has worn away and it's hard enough remember where the letters are much less punctuation). I'd rather not be wholly responsible for educating her but I am confident I could do it if I needed to. I'm more worried about the financial side of things and the complete lack of support we seem to have. I don't want her to fall through the cracks and be forgotten and I feel like that is what is happening.

[10brokengreenbottles]

You can make a parental request for an EHCNA. IPSEA is a charity that has lots of useful resources, including a model letter to request an assessment, have a look at their website and SOSSEN's website. If you get a refusal to assess then appeal.

The GP may be telling the truth. Some LA's insist on consultant evidence for long term medical absence. It doesn't matter that the CAMHS appt. will be after her 16th birthday, because then she will be signed off sick, not being home educated, even if the LA's provision for those medically unwell is home tutoring.

[Nat6999]

Speak to CAMHS, they may have a welfare worker who can help you get this sorted out. It sounds like school are trying to push her out because of her attendance reducing their attendance figures with Ofsted.

[LIZS]

It is unlikely she would get any government funding for an evening class (Ad Ed funding starts at 19+) so you may have to pay high fees for her. Was she already studying igcse syllabus or would that be new work? If she cannot be in school due to MH would LA provide any home tuition?

[itsstillgood]

Sorry for the questions just trying to get it straight -
Your daughter is currently 15 (16 in a few weeks)?
So that would mean she is currently yr11
Are you in England - rules are slightly different in Scotland and what you say about LEA sounds like it might be Scotland

Anyway if you start home education before age 16 you don't lose benefits they are talking rubbish so if you are going to do it soon would be good.
However the process of schools off-rolling is wrong. Do not deregister her unless you are certain. The LEA is responsible for her education.
Some GCSEs are difficult to sit for home educators as they have practical aspects that need to be signed off. We get around this by doing International GCSEs where appropriate. The issue for your daughter is that if she is having to change syllabus now that is a lot of new material to learn. Realistically the best thing would be either home educate but allow another year before sitting the exams or stay on school roll and push for EOTAS

[Frequency]

I'm in England. I've now looked at the gov.uk site and see that as long as home education starts before her 16th birthday I can receive tax credits for her until she is 20 providing she stays in full time home education. I don't know why my LA told me different. I'm hoping it's that they misunderstood the legislation and not that they're going to try to be difficult with me.

iGCSE would be a completely new syllabus but her attendance this year is 18% and it was around 60% last year so at this point any syllabus would be completely new. In that respect I'm not sure if it would be better to off-roll her before she turns 16 and allow her two years to sit her GCSEs, sitting one or two in July if she feels able and the rest later. She's studying towards seven in total plus an IT certification.

I've spoken to the local college. There is nothing they can offer her until she is 16, however she spent the whole time we there silently sobbing and physically shaking so the chances of her being ready for or succeeding at college at 16 are slim.

I've also spoken to OU who can offer her something when she turns 16 so I'm not sure if it would be a plan for her to sit two iGCSE this year in subjects she is confident in and then study a part time CertHE alongside her other five after that?

I'm in two minds on off-rolling her now. On the one hand, support from the school would sit well with me, otoh DD is not ready for her GCSEs and is unlikely to be ready by July for all of them and is definitely not ready for college or work in September.

We've been to the library and got a shed load of books. My family have offered to help me purchase study guides and any textbooks she might need as well as pay for tutors closer to her exams if we think she needs them (a history tutor might be good for her if I can get her to agree to it as she's struggling a lot).

I've also found a HE group she can attend but atm she is refusing to entertain the idea. She wants to study fully independently from the relative safety of her own home.

[SuperMoonIsKeepingMeUpToo]

Oh that all sounds so very difficult for your poor daughter and you. I hope that you get the help you need. Lots of great advice above - only thing I'd add is a recommendation for Seneca Learning which is an excellent free online resource. Good luck.

[itsstillgood]

Some LEAs are pretty awful unfortunately, not all I will add ours are excellent.

It sounds like you have made your mind up to home educate. It is wrong that you feel forced into it. At the end of the day your daughter's mental health comes first, it's unfortunate that you don't have time to seek more support from school but I think you are probably doing the best thing.

Join the group Home Education UK Exams and Alternatives on Facebook and your local groups - even if she won't attend, moral support for you is important and lots have second hand resources sales etc. You'll get a lot of advice and help.

[itsstillgood]

P.s. If she's struggling with history drop it and do something she enjoys more, or do less subjects. I tutor history and while I love it it is one of the hardest in terms of workload and exam skills.
Don't buy books until you know what exam boards she'll need to do - the exam centre will be able to tell you. If you ask on the exams Facebook group i mentioned people will make recommendations.

[itsgettingweird]

You are not "off rolling" her you would be de registering her.

De registering is a legal process parents can do to HE.

Off rolling is an illegal action schools do to remove pupils from their data.

I wouldn't de register. You are removing the la and schools responsibility to your dd.
She is on roll. Therefore they will be entering her for exams and she will be in their statistics. More reason they will at some point do something.

Look up the la responsibilities- section 19 of children's and education act.
Look at section 36 of the children's and families act.

Ring and email every day saying your dd MH too bad to attend and ask for work. Ask them for date they will implement medical tuition. (And don't let them convince you need camhs to sign off for this. She is on anti depressants and has diagnosis).

Every single day.

Dear HT,

DD MH is poor and as a result she is not well enough to attend school today.
This is the x number of days she's had off school.

The law states after x number of day (15 i think) you must provide medical tutition tutors for a child with medical needs unable to attend.

Dd has now been off I'll for x number of days.

Please tell me the date on which her tuition will start.

Please also attach the work for today for her to complete.

Yours xxxxx

Change it every day. Copy 8n chair of governors and la inclusion team. I always copy in director of children's services too!

Being 8n school is not the ideal learning situation for everyone but it's the governments responsibility to provide a suitable education. There's a massive increase in forced HE and that suits them. But a stand needs to be made.

[Frequency]

The exams will be sat at the local private school. They've already told me they use Pearson/Edexcel and are emailing me some syllabus' and more info tomorrow.

I think her issue with History is the work the school are giving her assumes she has a basic knowledge of the topic. It's revision rather than anything to teach her, iyswim? She doesn't have a basic knowledge. History is one of the subjects she avoided once her attendance dropped. She fell too far behind and the idea of having to catch up panicked her. The support she was given to catch up was non-existent so she opted to avoid the lesson altogether.

When I give her history work to do that assumes she has no prior knowledge and points her in the right direction to find the information she needs to complete the task I've set for her she manages fine.

[Frequency]

What's making me lean more towards home ed now is not necessarily school anymore or wanting extra support. It's what happens after school. After seeing how distressed she was in the college and library, while with me and not expected to speak to anyone, it is patently obvious to me she will not be ready to attend college or start work once she finishes year 11. I could fight the school for support, I would probably win but then when she's enrolled into college or onto an apprenticeship, this will happen again. She will refuse to go, her mental health will decline, authorities will become involved and make everything worse like they did with the attendance plan.

[Frequency]

If I want to keep my tax credits and not have her classed as unemployed adult with the all complications and outside interference that holds, I need to de-register her before she turns sixteen or I'd be more inclined to fight the school and then consider homes tudy for the next stage of her education.

[itsstillgood]

I think you have a sensible view. Good idea to take the extra time if you feel that she won't be ready. Plenty don't start college until 17, my eldest didn't. The extra year may make all the difference.
English Language and the sciences you will probably need to swap to International GCSE to avoid practicals. Maths can be either - so have a look at decide.
Other subjects become optional so don't feel like you have to stick to what she was doing at school, particularly if starting syllabi from scratch. Between them by the end mine are likely to have done psychology, business studies, economics, sociology, citizenship and development studies. There are some subjects that HE makes very difficult to do but it does make it easier to fit in more of the non standard ones.
Look at the subjects on here for advice and join the linked Facebook group //www.he-exams.wikia.org

[Saracen]

It's a really difficult decision: stay on roll to try to get the LA to provide support, or deregister before her 16th birthday to ensure continued eligibility for benefits while home educating. It's such a pity this critical date (16th birthday) is imminent. But, it sounds like you have considered all of this carefully and made your decision.

I'm delighted to hear that you have the support of relatives with finance. For younger kids the direct financial cost of home ed can be negligible but as you've seen from your initial exploration, sitting exams is a different matter and can be prohibitive for some families.

Many home ed kids do fewer exams than they would at school. Often five or six well chosen subjects are enough to get them into work or onto the next level of education. A popular approach is to do a few at a time so as to focus on those, then move on to other subjects the following year. That seems to work well. I don't know why schools don't do it the same way. Juggling a load of subjects is hard!

You could start with your daughter's stronger subjects to ease her into home education and get her confidence up. English is a subject which often benefits from additional maturity and life experience so it is often done later.

If college is on the cards, bear in mind that they will be able to offer English and maths catch-up GCSEs alongside whatever course she may be studying. This is a mixed blessing: it's free of charge and definitely available to all students who don't already have it; however, it is compulsory: students aged 16-19 are only eligible for government funding if they already have English and maths or are studying for them concurrently at college. The college may well offer only a lower level course to students who will have to study English and maths alongside, on the grounds that the higher level course might be too much work and besides they doubt the student has the capability for a higher-level course if they haven't yet achieved a good mark at English and maths.

[alwaysgettingitwrong]

Personally with so little time left I wouldn't deregister her, get her signed off by GP and the school then have to make alternative arrangements for her which could include online schooling or tutoring.

[LonginesPrime]

As a PP says upthread, the LEA has a statutory duty to provide an education if she's on roll at a school and unable to attend because of illness.

You can request an EHCP yourself, so don't be fobbed off by this nonsense about CAMHS having to request it - CAMHS will be asked to provide a report, given the circumstances, but you or the school needs to request an EHCP first. An EHCP can give her more time to complete her education if that's what's needed.

I appreciate the financial pressure you're under, OP, but I personally think it's madness to deregister your DD from school and absolve the LEA of the responsibility for providing a suitable education to your DD because you're scared of losing benefits. Keep her on roll and you won't lose any benefits as she'll still be in education- don't let people pressure you.

If it were me, I'd keep her on roll at the school, contact the LEA and ask for help as your DD is too ill to attend school, make a parental request for an EHCP assessment and read up on your LEA's policies around this (which should be on their website). The LEA has to follow the law, but staff often need to be pointed in the right direction as they don't always know their own policies, especially if the circumstances are a bit unusual and they haven't come across it before.

I would also see if there's a helpline in your area for parents of SEN children - we have one which is funded by the LEA but offers independent advice and they're always very helpful.