Flexi -Schooling? Anyone done it?

[NotnOtter]

It's not a term I had heard until googling to see where we stood tonight

We are having some issues with our primary school and although OK for younger children - we are starting to worry about our one of our older ones who does not seem to be progressing. This is not a snap decision as the child has spent two years or more in a difficult and often disruptive classroom.

We've done all the 'usual' talking to teachers - head - academy head- governors but the issues remain

Without putting too much detail out there - we think we need to 'help' our child to catch up academically and hours after school at night for another year feels unfair both on the child and siblings

We are thinking about home educating but only for two days a week to allow the child independence - to see friends etc and importantly not to lose the school place.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has done similar - this is not a choice we WANT to make we feel compelled

thanks

[Duckstar]

I speak as a former Chair of Governors I would be very surprised if the school would allow this. They are likely going to say that your child will fall even further behind if they do this. In addition, in order for your child to cover all he curriculum they would need to do additional work to provide you with information to ensure you covered what was being taught on those 2 days at school and also then check you had actually done this. I have known fleck-schooling to be allowed, but this was where the child was going to another educational setting (so for example I knew of a child with dyslexia and he went to a “dyslexia school” 2 afternoons a week).

Personally if the school aren’t taking your concerns seriously about your child’s attainment then I would move school.

[NotnOtter]

thanks so much for the input Duckstar

I agree that they may not 'let' me but they will just have to put us down as unauthorised?

I am certainly not about failing my child so am happy to answer their concerns re the curriculum

Re the 'move schools' thing I agree this is plausible but we are surrounded by a large academy and our school is in it- iyswim- same shit different school building scenario - to a degree

[Duckstar]

You’ll have to find out your LEAs policy on unauthorised absence and also fines. My concern would be if the school’s not with you on this then they aren’t going to support you in providing information on what they are covering. So for example “this week we are doing fractions and we learn them this way”. Potentially could cause problem for your child if he goes back into school in the middle of a topic which you haven’t covered (and if the school aren’t on board with the flexi-schooling I doubt they are going to assist with catch up).

You talk about not wanting to lose school place? Is this a case you just think your child needs to get up to speed and would be ok once there? In that case although I understand your concerns about tutoring in evening/weekend, but if it’s only for short period is it not worth it? As I said if school aren’t behind you on this I can see your child in fact falling further behind on their school work if you do flexi-schooling.

[NotnOtter]

thanks again i do see what you are saying

to be clear we have spent twelve months working with this child most nights after school/weekends and a tutor for maths

She now see,ms so far behind in english that we feel compelled to do the same for English

Her teacher seems to not be teaching very much at all whilst focusing on children who disrupt the classroom

Reading her schoolbooks one would think she was doing great though closer inspection reveals little or no grasp of any english at all nor grammar - the school seems slightly panicky but have done nothing but placate parents for a couple of years now

It's a very difficult situation
home schooling is NOT what we want

[waitingforlifetostart]

Seems moving schools would be more sensible option uf you are unhappy with your complaints being listened to. You can't do unauthorised absence 2 days per week. You'll be fined, have EWO visits and could potentially land yourself in heaps of bother as attendance falls to 60% or below if illness too. I think you either need to move schools or homeschool.

[LadyLapsang]

How old is the child and do you have a secondary school in mind?

[2014newme]

Change schools surely

[Temporaryanonymity]

My son was in a disruptive class. There were 29 of them and one point. There are now 19; as you can see 10 families voted with their feet and left. As far as I know the school still hasn't done much to address the issues.

My son is thriving at his new school. He is a different child altogether. It was tough for my younger one as his class was fine but in all honesty it made me realise how poor the school was.

Our new school is excellent and I am very pleased we made the decision.

[NotnOtter]

All very kind and helpful responses thank you

[NotnOtter]

We have today ring LA and school to let them know what we are planning and why

LA were fine and helpful seemed to say it wasn’t really their problem it was all about us and the school

School hummed and haaad and said they’d get back to us

[Charmatt]

The issue for the school is that in this situation, they are still responsible for the child's education during the days they don't attend and they need to be satisfied that their educational needs are being met in a way that will continue to work when they are in school. Ultimately they are also responsible for the attainment of your child at the end of the year.

I'd be surprised if they agree to it and would second the advice to look at moving schools instead.

[Tomorrowillbeachicken]

Could you home school full time but look for a local home schooling group instead?

[LucasNorthsTwiglets]

We flexi-schooled and it was brilliant! The HT was totally on board and it worked really well. But we did it for very different reasons - in our case, DD really needed to be away from the school environment. In your case, I'd probably change schools. definitely dont do it without the HT's permission though - at best it will cost you a fortune and at worst, a court case.

[Venusflytwat]

Search Facebook, there’s a flexischooling group.