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.

During an EHCNA the LA must seek advice and information from:
a) the child’s parent or the young person;
b) educational advice (usually from the head teacher or principal);
c) medical advice and information from a health care professional;
d) psychological advice and information from an educational psychologist;
e) advice and information in relation to social care;
f) advice and information from any other person the local authority thinks appropriate;
g) where the child or young person is in or beyond year 9, advice and information in relation to provision to assist the child or young person in preparation for adulthood and independent living; and
h) advice and information from any person the child’s parent or young person reasonably requests that the local authority seek advice from.

H can include things like OT, physio, SALT, etc. so be sure to request those. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

SALT has a wider scope than many realise. It covers more than the physical ability to speak and interact. It can also be an important part in managing fatigue, perfectionism and anxiety, and feeds into preparation of adulthood (PfA) provision too.

Having said that, I think SALT is also important because unless DD has had full comprehensive assessments for ASD and ADHD rather than screenings, I still wouldn’t be ruling them out. But even if she doesn’t meet the diagnostic thresholds but only has some traits, then EHCPs are based on needs and DD still needs provision to meet those needs, and that will involve SALT input.

I'd recommend Quizlet for revising/learning things that can be drilled, like the French vocab perhaps.

I think Anki is better for memorization as it has a superior spacing algorithm and is completely free. (Except for the iOS app)

Thanks I looked at this but she only scored 4%, interpreted as consistent with the general non ASC population.

I think Study Skills session would be good. I doubt school do this. I’ll see what is about.

We now have Visibility and it looks to be very helpful! Thanks so much to pp who suggested. We can actually see which activities are costing her.

Planning to try again with sec 19 (it seems even harder to get than an ehcna and even more shrouded in mystery) in the meantime we need to preserve her health as the priority. I’m just afraid if too much content is lost she will become very defeated by the situation and the loss of moral would be damaging.

I am looking at SOSSEN and perhaps finding someone with capacity. It’s just difficult for me also to wisely divide my energy between all these matters; helping with health, education gaps and fighting the system. Thanks for all of the support on this thread

Is she still school registered? They may support with marking so she has an idea of where she’s at.

seneca is good and has some high level content for English. If she’s really good and ambitious I’d suggest she reads though the ‘ready to teach’ series on the texts she’s going to write about in the exam, as theyre superb - aimed at teachers but very clear; a g8/9 student should grasp a lot of it. she’d need some essay technique too - mr salles is ok online. Does her school have any online learning platform? If she’s is registered she could access resources and homework that way

@LottieMary thanks, yes she is. Sounds good, she’s not a fan of Seneca but perhaps she is missing something…Is the ready to teach on Seneca too?

Ready to teach is a book series

So sorry she is not getting what she is entitled to from the school or the LA. I don't have any advice on that as it sounds like you are doing exactly the right things.

One more set of home education type resources that may be useful is here
https://llplearningspace.co.uk/studying-at-gcse-functional-skills-level-with-llp/
Some of the GCSEs are covered in a year, starting in April/may for the following June, so the timing may work if your DD can get on with that style of learning.

There's also Oak Academy. The lessons I've seen have all been quite tedious and unsuitable for a very bright child, but you can download the slide packs and worksheets and cover the syllabuses that way.

Thanks loncake and Lottie, the ready to teach books (bit pricey but a super shortcut idea) and oak academy resources suggestion are super. I’ll try the latter today.

If anyone is still there, we are still struggling here. Going to try for another sec 19 but wondering - would WISC-V be helpful given our situation. EHCNA won’t resource full cognitive testing and it has been advised by one of the clinicians.
Do we pay for it privately? Is it worth it? For a possibly G&T child prone to burnout with background of physical health issues too impacting stamina.

How is she other than at school? My daughter also went through burnout, had 6 months basically at home scarcely engaging with the world. We did eventually get her back into school, but it was after a lot of help from a psychiatrist, including medication for anxiety, and a diagnosis of ASD. I'm just wondering as I know it's tempting to focus on school as an immediate problem, but in our case school was never going to work while her mental health was so poor and we needed to help her with that first.

It's incredibly difficult and you have my immense sympathy.

I don't know some of the acronyms you use - if you have money to go private then a psychiatrist who can look at the whole picture might help.

I don't know anything about WISC-V or how it would feed into the ECHNA but if a clinician has recommended it and you can afford it, then I think the only question is whether your DD could manage it, in terms of her energy levels.

Has your GP investigated Chronic Fatigue/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis?

@Loncake@Zhu thanks for you comments. We are coming at things from all angles. There’s definitely more than one thing going on we have/have had lots of professionals involved.

I just wondered on this board the if cognitive testing would help the G&T SEN side of things.

re school she wishes to continue. There’s no EBSA

I'm not aware of any provision or entitlement available for DC who are g&t. Thinking about EHCPs, for example, they are about whether a child needs additional support to make expected progress - ie whether they have SEN that are holding them back (and not support to help them reach their full potential in the light of SEN that may increase that potential).
( Edited to reflect that this actually is the g&t board 😂)

I’m just trying to decide if I should pay for full cognitive testing due to the depletion and burnout that happens to see if this theory around the vulnerabilities of a G&T profile (sometimes!) is correct in her case. The ed psych will not do full testing. I will see how the apt goes and if I feel it was lacking.

As for potential it’s made more difficult by the fact that she didn’t sit sats and they entered an average score. Do you think I should ask for the CAT scores to be considered instead? As for provision or adaptations she can’t manage school more than half days at the moment. But the reasons are unclear due to the clinical picture. If we can get the educational clarified as far as possible and suitable recommendations at least it would reduce one area of stress, load and pressure.

Difficult!

EHCPs are about more than academic ability. Academically able DC can still have EHCPs, including requiring some provision around academics. However, case law shows exceptional ability alone is not a special educational need.

Go back to the LA and EP if you have evidence WISC in particular is required.
A comprehensive assessment with full cognitive testing is helpful. Unless you fall on a cancellation, you are unlikely to find a good independent EP with capacity in time for the EHCNA though. And I would be tempted to wait to see if you need to appeal to see where to spend your money.

I am asking for a paediatrician now she is under one but no one is replying. I’ve arranged for OT and Physio assessments as they are due. I asked for EHCNA actionable ones but again no one replies.

Are you able to advise on how to nudge them on this?

The LA is ultimately responsible for the EHCNA as a whole. That includes ensuring all the necessary advice and information is sought. Go back to them. If they are ignoring you, email the Director of Children’s Services. You may not get a reply, but it sometimes prompts action, and if it doesn’t, it helps you build a paper trail as evidence. If the LA approaches the NHS for advice and information from the NHS during the EHCNA, the NHS should reply within 6 weeks. It is also worth contacting your local DCO/DMO in relation to physio and OT. If the LA genuinely can’t get the required advice and information in-house/via the NHS within the timescales, the LA should commission independent assessments.

Reform have pledged to cut back drastically on SEN adaptations and funding if (or more likely when) they get in.

Just so long as everyone who votes for them realises that will a) negatively affect all children and staff in schools, not just those with SEN, and b) cost more in the long run.