College at 14

[Impressedmuch]

Hi, I'm new. DD is 13 years and has been HE'd since Yr 6. She did go to secondary for a year but this just turned out to be a disaster. She is very shy and doesn't really talk much even at HE groups.

I was looking into sending her to college at 14 as I can't keep up with her schooling needs and her motivation isn't the best. There are a few locally who do 14-16 provision but I'm worried that she won't settle in. I don't think she could take another knock to her confidence.

So has anyone had experience of college at 14 and did it go well/badly? Also, which children tend to go to college? Is it mainly HE kids.

A college local to us has put on a GCSE course specifically for home ed kids. It's 1 day a week for 2 years to do GCSE Maths, English and Double Award Science. There are around 10 of them and the staff think they are great! They all seem to be really enjoying it and DD has made some new friends, which is great. Hopefully there will be enough kids for it to run every year.

Other 14-16 provision is often for kids who are quite disaffected within school but I have no experience of that.

We used GCSE evening classes for DSs which they really enjoyed as they were for adults rather than kids and DS1 in particular relates better to adults. Would that be an option for some subjects? (Our sixth form offers GCSE English, Maths, Single Award Science and a couple of languages.)

The college which offered it near us was more focussed on FE. The kids who were in the 14-16 programme tended to be those who also attended a local comp but were not coping well academically, often with associated behaviour and social issues. They worked towards practical qualifications alongside English and Maths. If your dc is fairly able and self motivated I'm not sure it is the best environment for them to learn to their potential.

Hi

It partly depends on what your local colleges are offering, and also what exactly her issues are with "motivation."

A few colleges put on courses specifically for home ed (not always GCSEs; a lot of what is on offer is vocational) while others do what's called "infill" where home ed go into other 14-16 classes or 16+ classes. Also, the GCSE classes (especially the 1 year courses) might be resits where students are expected to be familiar with the material already.

My website is called edyourself and has a page with links and information about the various types of offer for 14-16 college. (England only, though students near the border in Wales can access funded 14-16 provision in England)

If she is shy because of anxiety, then what you experience as lack of motivation might be her avoiding stuff that frightens her, as either she'd not understand it or be able to do it or if it turned out that she COULD do it, then that would open the door to more scary things.