I want to flexi-school. What next?

[marjean]

I want to 'home school' my reception-aged daughter for one or two days a week. She started full-time school in January and, for various reasons, it's just not working.

I have approached the school with my request but, as they have never heard of the concept, they are seeking advice from the LEA.

Whilst I am trying not to get too frustrated waiting(!) I wanted to ask for your experiences and tips in negotiating with a school.

Also, what roles and responsibilities does each interested party have?

• Is it a good idea to put my request in writing?
• What informtion does the school need to feed back to the LEA?
• What influence does the LEA have over the school's decision?

Thanks in advance.

Hi

I've put some info about flexischooling on my website here. The info applies to England.

edyourself.org/articles/helaw.php

In a flexi-schooling arrangement children are registered as pupils at the school and attend part-time, but spend other parts of the week being educated off-site by their parents. This arrangement is a matter for the head teacher, rather than the local authority, to negotiate with parents. The child will be required to follow the National Curriculum whilst at school but not whilst he or she is being educated at home.

The school register can be marked Code B for approved educational activity which must be of an educational nature and must be supervised by a person authorised by the proprietor or head teacher. More information on flexischool can be found in the Government Guidance on Pupil Registration Regulations page 22 and in the Government's Home Education Guidelines.

Thanks for that.

Para 117 of the Registration Guidelines says "Off-site activities which take place during the school?s normal day (see paragraph 11) can be recorded as approved educational activity (see paragraph 69) but only if the activities meet the legislative requirements and the school has received confirmation that the activity took place during the session in question."

Does this mean I have to tell the school what I will be doing on the 'home-school' days and provide some evidence after the fact?

Hi Marjean

It depends on the school, really. I've known some families who've discussed with the school in advance which subjects will be covered at home and maybe said eg "we'll probably do PE on Wednesdays because that's when we go swimming" and then at the end of term gone in for a review meeting with the school and just given an update of what has been happening with the educational provision at home. So there hasn't been in a massive amount of detail at any point.

My understanding is that you have to be prepared to do so if that is what the school wants. In a flexischooling situation the school is delgating part of your child's education back to you, which I find a bizarre concept considering that it was you who delegated your children's education to the school by registering them in the first place! At any rate, they remain answerable for the child's entire education, including the bit which you do.

Whether your particular school will be aware of this point and bothered by it I don't know. Even if they do realise that they are responsible for the part of the education which you are providing, they may be happy enough for you to do whatever you want.