Has anyone's child left y6 early?

[UnityO]

Eldest DC finish their GSCEs and A levels May/ June next year, younger DC will be in year 6.

I have an opportunity to take 6 weeks leave from work in June and July (can't get the time off in school summer hols sadly!) so am looking into taking them travelling to Asia for 6 weeks.

This would mean DC finishing yr 6 in June - has anyone done this and what are the options? I guess permission for so long off won't be granted by the school (even though the trip will be educational!) so would I need to deregister him and homeschool (abroad!)?

No. It’s in case there is an a national issue, say the exam paper is released on the internet the night before.

If one person misses a GCSE then they just miss it.

I’ve never know a high school do school holiday transition other than for SEN kids.

You absolutely CANNOT go in June.

Which gives you what 3-4 weeks in July? Your oldest two would miss end of exam celebrations/prom etc, so if they don't mind missing those for a ?3 week holiday go for it! Am jealous!

I think I need to wait till nearer the time and see what the dates are for the exam emergency day and any fun stuff the DC want to do (incase they change their minds!) then see what we can fit in around that.

Although a dc and adult could fly back or we could change travel dates if they need to sit an exam at end June (I imagine it's v unlikely they'll need to do this!) but we do have funds to do that in an emergency (trip being funded by unexpected small inheritance).

Having had 3 dc leave primary school, I’d definitely go travelling for 6 weeks instead. I think that will give far better memories and it is definitely home education- I know several home educators who have never done a work sheet with their dc.

different cultures and their religions and history, trying and preparing different foods, languages, money, logistics of travel and interacting with different people. There is so much opportunity to learn across all areas of the national curriculum. Education does not only happen in a classroom!

I am not sure why you think it is unlikely it is quite possible they will make the dates similar to this year

Anyway if you know the exam boards provisional dates are released October/November so you should have plenty of time to prepare

I like the idea but in reality Dts would be gutted to miss residential, y6 production, disco (I refuse to cal it a prom), and all the other shit that goes on. Mine are going in their own to a different school so they would hate to miss it.

Yeah, mine would have been gutted to miss all of the end of year stuff as well, but they're all different - some kids genuinely aren't bothered about that stuff!

Whilst it sounds amazing, I imagine your child would be gutted to miss all the leavers things they do at the end of primary. They seem to really go for it with celebrating the end of primary and it's obviously a time your child could never get back

Having had a Year 6 who left in 2020 they can and do cope perfectly fine without all that stuff!

I believe you can deregister from primary school in y6 and then take up their place in y7. I think it is a wonderful opportunity, yes they might miss out on a few end of term parties, our transition is in summer holidays so likely lots of parents will have already booked holidays and will therefore miss this anyway but think of the experiences they will gain. Life is far too short to sit in a building, have learnt that this year. Enjoy

The traditional end of year 6 stuff you have covered if the residential is in autumn and the secondary transition days are in summer.
Nothing else is going to matter that much and certainly wouldn't outweigh such a fantastic opportunity.

Hopefully you can get the first 2 weeks of summer hold off as annual leave and do 6 weeks end of June to mid august.

just do it. Cross the extra GCSE day if and when you come to it

Sounds like an awesome life experience to me, very jealous 😊

I would encourage you to check with your local authority if de-registering your DC would have an impact on his Year7 place. In my LA, deregistering removes all entitlement to allocated high school places and parents/carers have to go through the whole re-enrolment process to rejoin a school. If the school is full, as the place for the DC will have been offered to a child on the waiting list, you may find yourself without the school of your choice in September.
Just worth checking before you decide to de-register.

I wouldn't do it until the eldest had completed all exams.

By not doing so it could cause issues for the following year.

I agree, I wouldn't call it 'homeschooling' as that implies a school structure. I'd call it home education.

Go for it op! It's a wonderful opportunity for you and your children to explore an exciting part of the world. Your child will gain so much more value and education than from the time at the end of year 6 when when the teachers just try to fill time.

Don't de-register though, as that is absolving your Local Authority of their responsibility to provide an education for your child and you will lose the secondary school place. (This may not be a worry if the school is undersubscribed and will have places when you re-register.) Our primary school has been quite amenable to allowing families time off at the end of year 6.

Call it whatever you like it’s a brilliant opportunity most parents would jump at giving their children

People are focusing on the DC in year 6 as that is in the title.

I would be more concerned about the DC doing their GCSE and missing exams

Go for it!

We took DD out for entire last term. I did have two visits from the LA to talk about what our plans were, check we weren’t using her as child labour in a family business and had rather horrific conversations about not taking her to be cut. I appreciate they need to do these check ups and can’t always just do by cultural background, but it was all a bit ‘odd’.

We did projects on city defences and visited Hadrian’s Wall etc. As we worked - slightly more structured learning moved to weekends but was only a few hours as it was tailored to her and impactful. we also did a project on volcanos and went to see volcanos (Canary Islands) and learn how they had impacted communities past and more recent. She read loads and loads that she wanted to and most importantly was happy away from the bullies at her old school. She had clubs to still meet up with other young people.

can anyone point me to their LA policy that says de registering a child from primary school after accepting a secondary school place means losing the secondary place?

I would take my year6 child and just inform the school I will be doing so. I wouldn't bother with deregistering as they won't be going back there.

Possibly not? Elective home education is a legitimate option for parents to choose, but is not an irreversible decision.

Turning down the allocated secondary school place would mean that the LEA would be under no obligation to find you another place, other than one becoming available at a school whose waiting list your DC's name was on. But that's not what the OP has said they intend to do.

Yeah, I asked because 2 posters have said their LA would withdraw the secondary place in this situation which doesn’t seem right to me. So interested to see the policies.

I wouldn't bother with deregistering as they won't be going back there.
The point of deregistering is to avoid a fine, I would think?

I can't see why the secondary school place would be withdrawn?

It has already been confirmed plus in our case the offer was not dependent on DC attending his primary school - the criteria he was given the high school place was the fact he has a sibling there.

Will check with council admissions team though.