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Find advice from other parents on our Homeschool forum. You may also find our round up of the best online learning resources useful.

Original poster

Flexi-schooling...

26 replies

ButterPieify · 21/01/2011 01:25

I'm considering flexi schooling my two...we love HE, but have found that part time nursery for them, part time work for me and full time work for DH is the best combination for us all.

(I find it too intense being with the kids all day every day, plus money is an issue, and DD1 likes the class environment in moderation)

Now DD1 is due to start school, every time I think about sending her there full time I am :s, and I am reassuring her about school but she always becomes unhappy if she does more hours at nursery, will she be like that at school? She likes to have what she calls "a quiet room" every now and again, especially if she has had a long day at nursery, I think she gets overwhelmed- she is only 3. She likes running and shouting etc, but her favourite things are things like board games and drawing, and doing puzzles.

She has already started talking about what girls don't do and saying she isn't smart, she is pretty. :(

My ideal, dream situation would be to find a school used to flexi schooling that would take her for two or three days a week and we could HE the rest of the time. That way we would have time to indulge her interests and let her have one to one time (or one to two, as she has a baby sister) but we would still have that time apart and time for me to work and rest. Plus she could mix with the class and so on at school, and the school's consent would mean I could keep people quiet who suggest that I couldn't educate her properly.

This is all a pipe dream, isn't it?

I'm under Sunderland lea, if that helps, but closer to Newcastle physically (and in spirit :) ) and the school she would go to is in a very deprived area. There isn't even a pta, so not sure what they would think of a parent wanting to get that involved. There are two other schools she could go to, one is catholic (we aren't religious) and the other has a special unit that is like a school within the school for Deaf kids, but doesn't have as good a reputation, if any of that is relevant. None of them are oversubscribed, all are state and in walking distance.

OP posts:
Yamba · 21/01/2011 16:20

This is kind of my daydream too! I think flexi schools do exist but are independantly run, so fee paying. Im afraid (apart from not being able to aford it) that Im against fee paying schools on principle.

My two go to playschool 2-3 morns a week and it suits us quite well. I am intending to HE next year though, although flexing is still a possibility for DD (I think DS just wont be ready for school full stop). She enjoys the routine that playschool gives her, but we still have loads of time together and for her to relax.

I love being with the kids and am prepared to HE, but like you, would also love to go back to my job someday.

Your school options dont sound very promising and are similar to my options, but do go and take a look at them and decide for yourself. Once you have a place for her, you can ask about flexing. Its worth trying. There are lots of ways to flex too, from doing certain days to going everyday but having a bank of x number of days per term that you can decide to keep her home, to have a rest day or go on an organised family outing or whatever. Some heads will agree to this but they dont have to.

Good luck!

Original poster
ButterPieify · 21/01/2011 16:26

I'm now looking into setting up a "free" school thvt is geared up for flexi - let's see how that goes!

OP posts:
Yamba · 21/01/2011 16:41

Whereabouts do you live ButterPieify?

I am seriously interested in setting up some kind of 'resource centre' that families could dip into. This would be my ideal.

Original poster
ButterPieify · 21/01/2011 16:47

I'm near Newcastle - where are you?

There is a fb page here www.facebook.com/pages/Newcastle-Free-School/135255906538862 although it was only set up this afternoon. I have spoken to the "new schools network", as recommended by the government, and they don't see why it couldn't work...

If a child is registered as a flexi school child, the school gets full time funding, meaning that we could offer more than a school that has to provide full time school for all it's pupils. We would probably have to offer full time school as well, to satisfy the inclusion criteria, but it could finally be a way for people who need to work a bit and don't have many resources to access HE a lot more easily.

I'm thinking we'll only have a small number of pupils, but that is good for something like this. We need 5 or more to count as a school.

OP posts:
Yamba · 21/01/2011 16:57

Currently living in Ireland but moving back to England soon, down south though.

Well done to you! I may have to follow your lead!

Wow, only 5 pupils needed? I shall be watching your facebook page with interest.

Good luck!

Original poster
ButterPieify · 21/01/2011 17:59

We're a bit blind leading blind atm - does anyone know of any good organisations to get in touch with?

OP posts:
Saracen · 21/01/2011 22:39

Do you know Human Scale Education, ButterPieify? www.hse.org.uk I don't really know anything about them, but it might interest you.

In the shorter term, were you aware that you can keep your dd at nursery and continue to claim the government-funded sessions there until she reaches compulsory school age in the term after her fifth birthday? That only gives you an extra term or two or three (depending on her birthday), but it's something.

Original poster
ButterPieify · 25/01/2011 16:52

Hmm, would it be worth my while ringing the local LEA and asking if any schools are good for flexi schooling? Or am I just asking for trouble there?

(she already has her name down for a school)

OP posts:
onetowatch · 27/01/2011 16:49

there are small schools (free schools?) in the UK which do flexi schooling. see the yatesbury small school for an example (can't do link sorry but google it) could your school be modelled on this?

Tinuviel · 27/01/2011 16:55

You are better off asking the school direct, Butterpieify. The LA are often the ones trying to discourage schools from offering flexi-schooling as they object to forking out all the funding for a child who isn't there all the time.

ThemisA · 27/01/2011 18:09

I am talking about 6 years ago so my experience may well be irrelevant. I too thought that flexi-schooling was a potentially brilliant solution for my son then aged 12. I approached a local comprehensive secondary school and the headmaster said that there was nothing to stop him doing it but that the only way they have of marking the days or hours my son would be at home was as absent. This would then appear as truanting on their records which would be bad for their Ofstead reports even though the child would not, of course have been truanting. It is an absoutely ridiculous situation. In theory Schools and LEAS should love flexi-schooling because they would get full funding with part-time responsibility. If this is still the situation and I'm not sure many schools would be as honest about their reasons for rejecting flex-schooling, I feel we ought to campaign about this because it really is an ideal solution for so many people who can't or don't wish to home educte full time but whose children find full time schooling difficult to cope with or benefit from. In the end government would win because many of the children who are home educated are finding school difficult so will require extra resources if they remain in school, which is extremely costly, whereas if they are at home some of the time they are more likely to cope when they are at school, particulalry if they attend lessons which they enjoy. As it all comes down to money intelligent LEAs would support us. I think they would find more parents willing to flexi-school who wouldn't be able to take on full-time home ed and rather than having to ask for special schooling or extra mainstream help these children might well cope for periods of time. Flexi-schooling makes sense all round, I think.

Original poster
ButterPieify · 27/01/2011 20:37

Apparently the child is marked down as "educated otherwise than at school" - ie authorised absence. The school doesn't need to check up on the HE and it has no insurance implications.

OP posts:
Tinuviel · 27/01/2011 21:22

DS1 flexi-schooled for 2 years. It was OK in reception but really not very good in year 1 as the teacher and new head were not very supportive (and it was a really bad school!)

BrokenBananaTantrum · 28/01/2011 17:09

My sister is wanting to take DN out of school for one day a week he is currently in reception. Can the school refuse to let her do this?

BrokenBananaTantrum · 28/01/2011 18:39

.

Tinuviel · 28/01/2011 19:20

It depends on how old he is, Banana. Education is compulsory from the term following a child's 5th birthday. So if he turned 5 before the start of this term, then they can refuse but if he turns 5 this term or next, then they can't refuse (although they may get stroppy about it!)

BrokenBananaTantrum · 28/01/2011 19:55

Thanks tinuviel. He has not turned five yet. if she can establish part time schooling now will the school have to continue with the arrangement after he is five?

sayjay · 28/01/2011 21:03

Very interested in this subject too. Marking my place for now :)

Tinuviel · 28/01/2011 22:54

As far as I am aware, no, Banana because once he starts in 'compulsory education' it has to be full-time and they have to agree to a flexi-schooling arrangement. They may well be happy with that but it is at the head's discretion. And an education of some sort must be happening on days when not in school. It doesn't have to be formal - there are no guidelines but I think many schools would quite possibly expect something formal to be taking place.

As a PP has said, time not at school is marked in the register as 'Educated off-site' and counts as attendance, so it won't affect their attendance rates.

MrsvWoolf · 28/01/2011 23:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BrokenBananaTantrum · 29/01/2011 08:18

Thanks again tinuviel. Sis will be taking DN to a stiener school on the other day but it looks like she may have a bit of a battle on her hands with the school to get them to agree Sad

GeorgiaSkye · 04/02/2011 11:20

I have just been told that schools can set up some kind of personal attendance plan but the school and the LEA have to agree to it and it is usually for children who are having problems with school attendance.
Flexi schools are usually private but if there is a problem I don't know if there is some kind of fund to help pay for it.
Link to flexi school set up in our local area:
www.heroesberkshire.co.uk/

chickorita · 20/02/2011 09:53

I think your idea for a free school is a fantastic one, and hope you'll keep us posted.

If there's anyone in the Barnet area of North London that knows of anyone or is themselves proposing to do the same, please get in touch with me.

FionaJNicholson · 22/02/2011 08:44

Hi

I'm new here and this is only my third post.

I'm in Sheffield and I home educate my son Theo who has never been to school. I've also been a long-term volunteer for the home education support charity Education Otherwise.

As has already been said on this thread, if you can get the school to agree to a flexi or part-time attendance arrangement, then the school is allowed to mark the register as Code B or "educated offsite".

There's more information about this here as well as an example of a small school which offers flexi arrangement and a newspaper article about flexischooling family (scroll down the page)
edyourself.org/articles/helaw.php

The arrangement is with the school, not with the local authority but some LAs know more than others about the legality of the situation and MAY be prepared to talk to the school.

Sunderland local authority has a very small number of home educated children on its books and the home education person at the council is someone called Elaine who is generally reckoned to be quite approachable and understanding.

To pick up another point on the thread, Heroes in Berkshire is a bit of a red herring in terms of part-time attendance at a regular school because it's essentially private provision for home educating families whereas if you only go to school part time obviously you don't pay for the state school bit.

Hope this helps!

Fiona

lyinginbed · 23/01/2012 22:28

This thread says that schools receive full funding for flexi-schooled children. My understanding is that this has changed and schools now receive part time funding. Does anyone know for sure? Or is it LEA to LEA?

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