Probably gifted, yr 10-11 missing lots of school self study GCSE help please?

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We’re looking for practical ideas and resources to support a highly able student who is missing significant school time but still aiming for strong GCSE outcomes (she is ambitious) without excessive cost.

Our daughter has been academically advanced from early on she grasps concepts very quickly, is strong across subjects, and is confident and articulate. However, full-time school attendance is extremely depleting for reasons we are still trying to fully understand. When she self-studies, she finds much better balance, though she still needs careful pacing due to physiological fatigue issues and possibly some cognitive load factors.

A recent psychology report pretty much discounted ND (although some traits are there, just not enough) and suggested very fast cognitive processing alongside perfectionism, consistent with a gifted profile and recommendation for EHCNA. Anxiety and mental exhaustion appear linked to this and require ongoing management.

We are currently awaiting Educational Psychologist involvement and an EHC needs assessment, but delays mean we need to build workable strategies now as we are in the thick of year ten already.

She currently attends around 50% of the time yet remains in top sets, so the academic ability is clearly there. The challenge is maintaining progress while avoiding burnout.

She has an excellent memory and works well independently. We already use exam-board revision guides and printed materials, but school online provision is limited. She has some physical health stuff feeding into this so sometimes we need to watch or listen to material whilst resting.

We would really value suggestions for:
-effective self-study structures for high-ability students with limited attendance
-low-cost online resources or platforms that work well for GCSE level
-ways to prioritise content efficiently when lessons are missed

-techniques that support deep learning without perfectionism leading to exhaustion

Any ideas, systems, or resources that have worked in similar situations would be hugely appreciated.

When you say Psychology report discounted ND. Was this a proper diagnostic assessment for autism or just based on observation/ cognitive testing?
Have a look at this

https://novopsych.com/assessments/diagnosis/autism-spectrum-quotient-adolescent/

Might provide extra evidence if you want to be referred to the diagnostic pathway.

Has she had study skills training? Our daughters’ school provided this.
Our youngest (autistic,very high achiever) made her own colour coded study aids. She used coloured index cards to make notes, smaller colour coded single word definitions/ scientific processes etc. Mind maps/ themes timetable etc. School staff said they were so good she could have sold them.
A timetable for study would help, building in breaks and time outdoors etc.
Our daughter also used to pace when revising which helped her to embed knowledge. Not sure whether this would work for your DD.

Does she have any sensory needs? Look at chewellery and spiral bracelets. A chill out area away from study would be good with a bean bag/ comfy chair, Slanket or throw something to cuddle soft lighting etc.

I’m sure that you know about BBC Bitesize
You could also look at Twinkl and TES resources
Would she be allowed a log in to any school based resources or platforms?
I know how hard it is when only the best will do and they are aiming for perfection. Good luck.

Thanks so much. I’ll take a look at the link later on.

Great ideas around study skills.

No sensory issues. We’ve had three clinicians look at the ASC question. One assesses girls and went through the initial criteria, school submitted the forms and most said ‘refer to parent’ (I drew a blank on most questions) she’s just not meeting the threshold to nudge it forward.

However I do wonder sometimes on bad days because of this burnout presentation but it’s still unclear.

Very helpful on resources as I forgot about Twinkl. I have had to HE for long stretches and we used to use that.

We need things to watch and listen to for very depleted days. She can’t manage ‘homework’ as in extra work outside of school hours. Too tired.

It’s easy to burn out at GCSE

Are any particular subjects a problem? Is there a pattern to the fatigue eg certain days/subjects?

does she have an opportunity to exercise and see friends every day and break away from work?

No problem with any subject. Can’t mix or exercise or do anything if she tries to do school full time. Manages a bit of gym and friendship stuff on 50%. It’s a bit of a journey finding what’s manageable. Some of the fatigue is physical, but something else is going on we don’t understand.

Psyc suggested she may have a condition that is yet to be discovered but G&T with high cognitive processing causing fatigue along with some ND and physical traits cited.

Discovered isn’t quite right, I can’t recall how she put it, she suggested there is not a label that fits now, but in the future this could change as our understanding grows of ND

ADHD. Perfectionism, focus, burnout, fatigue.

My dd is the same. Your Dd is almost certainly nd.

All the fatigue, both brain fatigue and physical fatigue is coming from ND burnout. ADHD can cause brain fatigue due to the speed and amount going on in the brain.

She needs to pace and ‘chunk’

25 mins activity. 5 mins break doing anything. More breaks in the morning prevent fatigue later in the day.

Your clinicians sound crap. As do school. Didn’t anyone think to assess for ADHd?

She has never presented with any of the typical ADHD traits (I do!) so no it’s not been suggested or explored at any point.

Hoping the EHCNA and Ed psych will help.

Regardless of a diagnosis we need to figure out how to get through the GCSEs.

Pacing suggestion is helpful thanks.

Neither did mine.

Clever, hard working, just a bit quiet in class. Girls don’t ‘present’ with symptoms. They conceal them. Mine was anxious quite a lot and wanted her work to be perfect.

Exhaustion, anxiety, perfectionism, the ability to hyper focus all suggest it. They struggle more as they go higher up.

Ours was diagnosed by a pysch who noticed her picking her fingers. This woman happened to be lead adhd assessor in our nhs area. That was the only external indication. Medication made a huge huge difference.

She wasn’t diagnosed until she was 17. That’s how obvious it was. And just one tiny symptom noticed by an expert. If she’s have been picked up earlier she probably wouldn’t have dropped out of A levels with burnout.

I work with ND children. Everything you’ve mentioned links back to ADHD, including the giftedness and hyperfocus. Sensory issues aren’t just disliking loud noises/the feeling of certain textures - busy environments can feel like standing in the middle of the M25 for children like your DD.

Medication is life-changing.

There are lots of teachers on YouTube going over GCSE exam questions which might help? I believe that many are now cult celebrities
eg “freesciencelessons” on YT.

Have you requested alternative provision from the LA?

What subjects are you looking for? There are some companies who offer recorded online lessons DC can watch when they want but to make suggestions we would need to know what subjects you are looking at (and if DD is attending school part-time and you are looking to complement the school’s teaching, what boards the school is doing).

I would want full assessments for ASD and ADHD, not just screenings. What you describe can absolutely be how some girls present.

What week of the EHCP process are you on? Is the LA sticking to the timescales?

Maths - Corbett maths 5 a day at the appropriate level.
dr frost maths is I think free for home educators.

languages - EWA is a good reading app you can also watch films etc in target language on Netflix. There are lots of short story books for European languages.

science my school used tassomai, it’s pays but good. Won’t help with longer answers though.

Thanks so much.

She misses a lot of science and French and a fair amount of English.

Yes we are waiting to hear on alt provision.

I’ll try to look again at assessments.

In the meantime it’s the concern around missed content and how to revise passively but effectively when energy is low.

Probably about 13 weeks into the wait.

The other conundrum is Computing. Normally she prioritises these but due to some treatment she is missing a third of these classes.

My dd like this finds pictorial or viseoa least fatiguing.

You need to also think about the plans ahead.

does she have any idea what she wants to do for a level or even is it likely to be stem/creative/languages/humanties. Then mair sure she’s ok on maths and English and then prioritise the GCSEs which will feed into her A levels.

This sounds like my dd, who is 17 and managed to get a string of GCSEs on 30% attendance last year. It seemed like the less school she attended, the less overload she felt. She had also burnt out with EBSA in year 10. Very perfectionist and high IQ. One strategy that helped her was Seneca Learning, which is a repetition app. Most GCSE subjects are on there, and it wasn't too expensive.

Now in year 12, and having waited over a year since ECHNA LA agreed to assess, we have decided to go private for an adhd assessment. Otherwise we're heading for burnout again....

Has anyone looked at assistive tech and how that can help DD conserve energy and pace?

For GCSE science look at Free Science Lessons and Tassomai. A lot of EHE resources for science will be IGCSE because most private candidates sit IGCSE Sciences. If IGCSE is something you are interested in, look at South West Science (don’t be put off if you aren’t in the SW, it is online) and Theatre of Science.

Similarly, for English, especially Language, a lot of EHE resources will be for IGCSE. There are some pre-recorded GCSE resources on £2 tuition hub. Arts Discovery also offer GCSE English Lit. Offering online lessons but they are recorded and DC can watch them whenever if they can’t attend. I don’t know what texts they are doing though.

For GCSE computer science, TeachallaboutIT run GCSE revision courses. They also run IGCSE CS courses either live or self paced distance learning, but that won’t be helpful if DD has covered some at school.

If you are at week 13, DD should have already had an EP assessment. Has that happened? I would have also request OT, physio and SALT. Did you request any assessments?

I think Glean software picks out important facts.

We are impressed with MyEdSpace - live online lessons for maths, English and science (cover triple content) 2 hours a week for each subject and all available recorded afterwards. Small amount of homework and end of unit tests. My DS is using it in Y11 to improve his grades. He has ADHD and likes to watch the lessons starting a bit late but speeding them up.

There’s lots of different assistive tech and software that can help. What is helpful varies person to person, which is where a proper assessment helps.

Could you look for tutors to come to the house? My son has missed a lot of school so far in year 10 due to a health condition and we are using tutors to help fill the gaps. You can get through a lot in an hour 1:1

His English tutor is excellent and he does those sessions on line but she teaches to the local school',s exam syllabus

I have had a rare condition (Myasthenia ) causing fatigue since my teens and was only diagnosed in my 40s. It's not psychological it's a neuromuscular junction disorder but so many times people assumed it was stress /ND /laziness etc. I hope you can get to the bottom of it

Forgot to add, I asked locally and found tutors that also teach at his school so they can access his test results /know what he is covering in lessons
Like your daughter he is very able and doing well even with missing a lot but we felt getting in tutors would help him feel supported (and they stretch him with "off curriculum" stuff for fun too )