Does anyone's child do online school -how do they find it?

[Eastereggmadness]

My year 6 son (11) is literally absolutely hating/scared of school. And despite working with the school/mental health people we are reaching a point where I can hardly get him in. He frequently misses a day a week but I think soon he will refuse to go in all together.

I am seriously considering taking him out and enrolling him on an online school (I really can't homeschool myself for lots of reasons). I would love feedback from others whose kids have tried it - either due to anxiety or being autistic and struggling with the school environment. Do they like it, are they lonely/isolated (my biggest fear) do they actually do the work without you having to nag them all the time (my second biggest fear)? Was it a good/bad decision to go for it?

Our DD did online school all the way through to A levels from year 8 due to various health issues including neurodivergence

in her case it was an overwhelming success, she was much happier and attained excellent grades and is now in her final year of her degree

You will hear all sorts of stories but most of her online school friends were just like her and she still sees some in real life as they formed strong supportive friendships

only you know your child, we were fortunate to get her place funded by our local authority as she had an EHCP, for us it was the best setting for our square peg

This sounds positive - which online school did you use?

My relative was a teacher at an online school. Children thrived, could actually focus on classes and had their own friendships and vibe. It really works for some, that school was growing rapidly, lots of international students too. Only downside was it was expensive.

My daughter does online learning, she's much happier than she was. Yes it does require a bit of nagging to get homework etc done but I expect no more than it would if she was still in state secondary. She's kept all her old school friends and made online ones. It costs which has had an impact but rather that than seeing her in tears because of rife bullying at her old school. We don't regret taking her out of school and into online. Teachers are great and easy to approach. Timetables are good. She's been able to drop subjects she didn't like earlier than she would have been able to before, and pick up new ones that weren't available at her old school. Also don't have to buy bloody school uniform!

We're home schooling but I sit with DS and do the work with him.

We use Wolsey College, Pembrokeshire College online and OxfordLearningOnline, but they are all correspondance courses.

If you want videos then you want Red Balloon or King's Interhigh, or Minerva. They're all good, so I've heard.

They're all booming at the moment because so many kids are out of school with anxiety.

I think it seems like a brilliant idea for a number of reasons. Some young people do much better learning in this way. I think if a child is desperately unhappy, then they shouldn't be in school.

If you are going to come out of school it would be a good idea to ask the school to start the EHCP procedure and stay on roll until that is completed. If you deregister then you are solely reponsible for education. If you stay on roll until the EHCP process completes then the school retains responsibility.

The CQC and Ofsted are doing a survey at the moment to find out why so many SEND kids are unhappy in school and dropping out. It would be a good idea for you to respond to that survey.

This is the link. You can respond if you live in one of the areas covered.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-area-send-inspections-information-for-families

ASD daughter online schooling since May last year (ASD + health issues). Couldn't be happier. She just gets on with it. She does some things outside of school (team sport) so she meets up with kids her age twice a week, and still has friends from in person school (and sibs at home). BUT I have met other parents from the same school and its a mixed bag -- some really thrive some just go to bed and do less and less. Depends on your child.

Dd did online school from year 9 to year 11. She was so miserable at school. She made a few online friends but she did find it quite lonely not meeting up with people every day.
I think it saved her really as she was so low at school. Not an easy answer though and also cost quite a bit.

Thanks for the replies. I wondered which online schools they used. And did they manage to make friends at all?

DD is at Minerva. Yes, she has made friends through online school, although they are dispersed throughout the country. Have met once IRL so far.

My daughter did online schooling (not in uk) and her lessons were live on zoom. It worked well and took a huge bucket of stress off the family. I didn’t have to run around organizing lunches and uniforms and my daughter got to focus directly on the lessons without being anxious and distracted. It did take a lot of nagging on our part though for her to do assignments, but the improvements in her mental health were worth it.

Hi, just reviving this as I'm looking at online schools for my DD, year 10, very anxious and ASD. @Eastereggmadness how is your daughter getting on?