Part time school?

[CuttedUpPear]

I have posted here before and faffed about thinking of taking DS (now 15 yo) out of school as he is very unhappy there and not really learning anything. I haven't yet taken him out but he is really unhappy about going back in September.

I wish however that I had done this years before (although I don't know how I would have as I'm a self employed lone parent). If I had done this I would now be considering putting him back in to sit GCSEs.

DS wants to go to college to learn blacksmithing. We have already applied for a place, although it's very early. He needs 5 GCSEs to get in.

I feel that could possibly tutor him through English and even Geography, but Maths wouldn't be easy for me.

DS is about to be assessed for ADHD or similar. He has difficulty with focus and concentration, also he is prone to making strange noises and having weeping tantrums.
He was having private Maths lessons but the tutor gave up after four months, as he felt DS didn't retain anything he was taught. No chance of another tutor as that one was doing it on a work exchange arrangement with me and I can't afford it otherwise.

My main concern is that if I deregister him then he will miss out on D&T, which he enjoys and is important to his future skill path. This is something I cannot possibly give him outside of school.

Any ideas? Do schools do part time or is that out of the question?

has he started doing GCSEs at school yet? what are his specific issues with school and do you think they are ADHD-related? does he get obsessions which you could use, or is it more flitting type inattention/distractibility?

is blacksmithing his thing? it's possible he could do foundation/access year at college at 16 and use the intervening time to get work experience or soft skills or volunteering opportunities or whatever. (plus maybe maths and english qualifications) then do his blacksmithing at 17 rather than 16.

also POSSIBLY depending on where you are, could do vocational skills with additional literacy and numeracy functional skills at college pre-16, maybe funded by your LA or by transferred school funding (full or part-time)

When my son (12) was unable to go to school because of his anxiety issues, the school and the LEA were willing for him to go part time. He wasn't able to go at all, so I'm now home educating, but it shows that it is possible. My contact at the LEA said she had children on all sorts of programmes to get them through their GCSEs: some were educated by the LEA at home; some went to a PRU; some went part-time to school or to do vocational courses and the rest of the time to the PRU.

I think you could try discussing it with the head of the school first, but make sure that they know just how serious a matter this is and that you are considering taking your son out of school to home educate. You could use the fact that he is about to be assessed as part of your argument for why he needs a more flexible approach to school (it shows that professionals are taking your concerns seriously). You might even have a diagnosis by September. It sounds as if you really need your son to have access to D&T at the very least.

Unfortunately, it does all rather depend on how sympathetic the head is. I hope you have a good one. If the head is not helpful and your son is unable to go to school because he finds it too difficult, then he will be referred to an Education Outreach Worker, who should be supportive and get you the help you need within the system. Unfortunately, that all takes time.

If you do decide to take him out of school, you might find people within your local home-education group who are tutoring children for GCSEs (or, more likely, IGCSEs which are exam based). In my experience, they don't charge as much as other tutors. That won't help with the D&T though, which is why I would hesitate to recommend your son leave the school system entirely.

Good luck.

Yes, it's possible - we do it :) (Although at primary school, not secondary). Have a Google of flexi-schooling...