Pulling teens out of school

[Inapicklejar]

I have 2 teens who have been having issues in their current secondary school for some time. Bullying related mostly (by staff not students) and generally having a hard time. I’ve been to countless meetings with the principal and tried to make it more bearable for my teens but unfortunately It got worse and neither of them want to go to the school anymore. I applied for all local secondaries for them but as of yet they are all full. (Many students are having issues with the particular staff members so it isn’t personal to my teens but it’s impacting their confidence a lot, ofsted rating is also very low)
Issue I’m now having is that I had to give up driving for health reasons and their school isn’t in walking distance or has any public transportation nearby. My car was heavily relied upon for taking them to school and now it’s impossible. I don’t know anyone who goes in that direction for a car share as their school friends live near the school and walk. I can’t afford taxis each day.
Im now in a predicament where I either pull them out of the school and homeschool while waiting for a new placement in another school or I put myself in significant debt using taxis to get them to school. Keeping them there doesn’t seem the right choice. I have no idea what to do. I don’t want their education to be affected especially as my eldest is going into y11 so it’s an important year. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice for making the right choice?

So you used to take them to school and now you can’t any more? When you applied for places, was this your nearest school?

If there are no places at nearer schools and you can’t drive them there, I should think your only alternative is to home school until places become available, unless you’re prepared to pay for taxis every day. It’s more difficult with one child going into year 11, because she’s more than halfway through the GCSE course and there may not be the same ones available elsewhere.

You have school places, even though you aren’t happy with them, so the LA isn’t under any obligation to find you anywhere else.

Sorry there doesn’t seem to be a solution that’s straightforward.

When you deregister you are taking personal responsibility for all their learning, any exams, taking them to groups etc, and the full financial burden of all this.
Some areas have big home ed communities, some not. Check out Facebook to see what your area is like.
Some kids are self motivated, manage their own learning, and do fantastically. Others need a lot more input / encouraging / organising.
I pulled out one teen (semi reluctantly) after years of issues, after finally accepting that things would never improve and I was damaging his welfare (and my sanity) by keeping him there.
Do research. List pros and cons. Think hard. See if there are other workarounds (eg contacting education welfare office, governors etc)? There is no support once you pull them out. It is a tough decision to make.
Good luck either way.

Op have you explored all the legal pathways / procedures/ that there are?

It seems unfair that that you will have to go go through this upheaval.
Did you complaine to the actual council? I think internal investigation can he weak but once you get external things involved it can help a huge deal.

How far away is the school? Could they cycle there?