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Education

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Original poster

I don't want DD to go back to school on Monday...

25 replies

MadHousewife2 · 11/06/2016 15:36

...can I just tell the school she is not coming in anymore and keep her home and teach her myself til the end of term?

Does anyone know what the position is re the law?

She's Y2 (7ys)

Thanks for any advice.

OP posts:

LIZS · 11/06/2016 15:41

You can opt to home educate but will forfeit the place. Has something provoked your decision?

MariaSklodowska · 11/06/2016 15:42

well yes you could do that but would have to officially give up her school place.
You say 'til the end of term' - what are your plans for the new term?

PolaroidsFromTheBeyond · 11/06/2016 15:46

Yes you can. Home schooling is a perfectly acceptable and legal alternative.

However, if you did this then her school place would be withdrawn and you wouldn't be able to go back in September unless you went through the application process and were granted a place that way.

Original poster

MadHousewife2 · 11/06/2016 15:50

She is starting at a new school in September.

She is very unhappy there. She has been bullied for a long time now and the school have not dealt with it. Also, I don't think the standard of teaching is up to much. It's an independent school, we've paid the term's fees, given due notice etc for next term, so we were going to just wait it out but I don;t see the point of staying as all they seem to be doing is having cake sales and watching movies and it doesn't seem that any teaching is actually going on. DD is bored stupid. And very unhappy because of the way she is treated. One of the bullies is particularly nasty and has a very clever manipulative way of pushing DD to react (kicking\ pinching etc ) and then running to the teacher and complaining that she has been horrible. DD too scared to defend herself.

OP posts:

Original poster

MadHousewife2 · 11/06/2016 15:51

Do I have to inform the LA or anyone or can I just tell the school she's not coming in anymore?

OP posts:

MariaSklodowska · 11/06/2016 15:53

you should inform the LA as well.

NickiFury · 11/06/2016 15:53

Send a de register letter to the school. You an google the official lay out and that's it

Then go and post in the Home Ed forum on MN to get lots of information on what happens next.

Sounds to me like this would be the right choice for your dd.

NickiFury · 11/06/2016 15:54

You do not have to inform the LA, the school will do that. But you can if you want to.

Original poster

MadHousewife2 · 11/06/2016 15:58

Thank you - I feel relieved already - and if I feel like that I can't imagine what DD will feel like when I tell her !

OP posts:

NickiFury · 11/06/2016 16:01

www.home-education.org.uk/legal-dereg.htm

This is helpful.

CarrieLouise25 · 11/06/2016 16:02

There's a home ed section here I think.

I home educate my DD, and I haven't informed anyone. But, once you're in the system, you do have to let the school know. Then the school let the LA know.

'It is important that you send the deregistration letter by recorded delivery so that you have evidence of having sent the letter to the school as it is a criminal offence to keep a child from a school to which the child is a registered attendee. It is advisable that you obtain written confirmation from the school that the child has been deregistered.'

Found lots of info on here: www.home-education.org.uk

Good luck, what a relief for you and your DD

NickiFury · 11/06/2016 16:02

Right at the bottom there are layouts.

InTheSandPit · 11/06/2016 16:09

I know nothing about this, but if you decide register, be careful you don't loose the Y3 place already lined up.

Lunar1 · 11/06/2016 16:12

I bet you done even have many weeks left, our independent is only 4 weeks. I'd keep her home.

mangocoveredlamb · 11/06/2016 16:12

Please be aware that if you opt to home school and officially deregulated they may withdraw your place at the new school for September. If it is an LA school.
Tbh if it's undependant I would just not send her in and tell them she'll be off for the next 4 weeks (or whatever until the end of term) as I imagine you break up earlier than the LA schools so it can't be that long.

NewLife4Me · 11/06/2016 16:19

She doesn't have to step foot in the place again, just inform them she isn't coming back.
It is up to the school to inform the LA, it isn't your responsibility at all.
You can keep her at home until she starts her new school, but she will have to be deregistered until she starts new school.
have you accepted the place at the new school? If so and the LA get in touch do tell them that she is taking her place come september.
They can't take the new place away from you, but might try unless you tell them you definitely want the place.

mangocoveredlamb · 11/06/2016 16:29

Why does she have to deregister? Presumably it could just go down as unauthorised absence. I'm not sure undependant schools get education welfare involved anyway.

nottodaydarling · 11/06/2016 16:31

If you only have a few weeks left I would just keep her at home - let the school know she is too anxious to come in. If she is starting a new school in September she is not going to gain anything by going in for the last few weeks and I'm sure they're not really doing anything. Hope she has good summer and can start afresh in September.

Wolfiefan · 11/06/2016 16:35

I don't know the legalities but you need to tell DD NOT to kick or punch. She needs to tell someone what is happening or she will get in a lot of trouble in the new school. (And yes I know how unfair it seems when she's being bullied.)
Poor kid.

Original poster

MadHousewife2 · 11/06/2016 18:06

Thank you everyone - I hadn't thought about the possibility that de-registering might impact her place at a new school

Wolfiefan - it is not DD who is doing the kicking/pinching/punching - it is the other girl and then DD is provoked into shouting at her (to stop it /go away / leave her alone) upon which the other girls starts putting on a crying act and telling the teacher that DD has been mean and hurt her feelings !!!

OP posts:

PettsWoodParadise · 12/06/2016 13:55

DD left her Indie this Easter and we wrote to the local authority but apparently they never received our letter as we got a rather (at the time it seemed) terrifying letter from the LA saying they had received notification from DD's ex-school that our daughter had left school and would pay us a home visit as we were home-educating for one term. In the end it was nothing to be fearful about, just our LAs process. We did make it very clear at every stage we would be taking up the place at secondary in September and our home-education status was only temporary and they put in writing for me that this was all noted.

No point in staying on at a school if your DD is unhappy. It sounds like it could be more damaging for her to stay. Also there are only a few weeks to go to most indie school ends of term anyway. Good luck and hope your DD settles well into her new school.

PoshPenny · 12/06/2016 13:58

Surely as it's a private school you just write and tell the school she won't be attending for the rest of the term, you have made other arrangements for her education? I don't see why the LOcal authority need to be advised of anything, they are currently not involved in your daughters education.

Lindt70Percent · 12/06/2016 14:10

I've done this. When my son was in Y5 I realised over the Xmas break that I was dreading him going back to school in January. He was so happy in the school holidays and awful during term time. He'd been bullied since Reception and they'd persuaded us to stay at the start of Y5 by moving him to a new class and saying we didn't have to give a term's notice if it didn't work out.

I phoned the school the day before the term started and told them he wouldn't be coming back and that I wouldn't be paying the term's fees either. They didn't say much except that we shouldn't run away at the first sign of trouble (it had been 5.5 years of trouble - I feel negligent that he stayed so long!) and that he'd have these problems wherever he went (a nasty thing to say and not true).

He had 6 weeks off school (we called it his detox period) while we looked for somewhere else for him to go. He started at the new school a week before half term and fitted in fine.

I didn't contact the LEA because both schools were independent schools.

Good luck!

PettsWoodParadise · 12/06/2016 14:21

Every LA is different. If you are home educating then they may provide resources and their processes kick in. Yes we left an indie school and had no legal requirement to notify the LA but they got in touch with us anyway. I think this is a good thing, it was shocking to hear from the visitor how some families took kids out of school to help with the family business or to take them off to be married below age in another country and they had no way of knowing what we were doing without the direct contact. OP I suspect for the sake of a few weeks you won't need to worry about this but I mentioned it more as a case of if you do get contacted not to worry.

Original poster

MadHousewife2 · 13/06/2016 23:13

Thank you so much all of you - I don't know why but I was expecting a flaming for wanting to take her out!

We kept her home today and informed the school that we would be keeping her home for the rest of the term. We haven't heard anything back yet but will contact the LA too to advise them about what is happening.

DD very happy today - and now that she feels safe she has told us of a few more events and I feel so terrible that she has been going through this. Children can be so mean!

Such a relief not to go into that place again - for DD and for me!

Thank you all again.

OP posts:

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