Interhigh parents, come this way. . .

[WhyHasAllTheRumGone]

Following on from a thread in chat, it was suggested we might like to get together over here.

I've one DS currently in year 10 at IH. We are based in Staffordshire. I guess I'd just like to chat with other parents in a similar situation.

[Fenlandmum]

I like the sound of a 9.00am exercise class, but I'm wondering how this works in practice? DD doesn't like sport very much although she has said she'll go to the gym regularly if she's HE.

Thanks for all the info Schroedinger - it sounds as though it's been an amazing experience for your dd. Do you think she will stay there for A levels?

Lee - the social side is our main worry too. However, I'm hoping that dd would be able to stay in touch with the couple of close friends she has at school. I'm also concerned that she would spend far too long in the house without going out as she''s not really into clubs or hobbies. I've joined various local HE groups but they mainly seem to cater for parents with younger children who are HE out of choice (which isn't us!) This is something we still need to think about. Our dd is in Yr 9.

[LeePycroft]

Fenlandmum,

Thanks for the message. I an ruth you regarding the concern about too much time in the house. My daughter has some local friends at other secondary schools too so at least she could see them. I’m thinking that if we went this route she would have to commit to a couple of clubs/ hobbies as I feel
It’s important for her to keep developing her social skills and learning how to approach and deal with different personalities. Mind you she doesn’t like clubs much! I’m thinking that this may work for the remaining years of secondary then go for a state 6th form. What area are you from?

[Schroedingerscatagain]

Fenland

Dd really doesn’t do exercise but in reality they do all sorts in the class from wiggling arms and legs to stretches, it’s not compulsory and is only 10 mins on Monday morning

Dd goes to a youth group once a week and her two Interhigh best friends do keep up with old school friends plus do local activities

In reality dd socialises far more than she ever did in a bricks and mortar school and is online Skyping her friends even to do homework whenever she’s not in school

Most of dd’s friends joined during year 7, it seems a common theme for new classes to be added as they progress through the years and more join

Part of the reason I discuss dd and her story is because when she was falling apart there seemed so little information out there for parents trying desperately to help their kids

Many kids with high functioning asd, anxiety etc have no obvious choice when mainstream education fails.

To the person asking did I look around, yes I did and felt this offered enough structure while allowing dd to be in control instead of helpless

[Fenlandmum]

Hi Lee, my daughter sounds very like yours. She doesn't do any clubs outside school and I'm struggling to work out how we would get her out of the house if she was home educated!

I'm also concerned that she suffers from moderate depression and has previously said that she feels better when she's at school with her friends rather than being stuck at home on her own. She does have a couple of lovely friends at school, although there are other aspects of school which she greatly struggles with. We're really really agonising about taking her out of school permanently particularly as her school are being really supportive in trying to help us get her back into school (with absolutely no success though)

Like you, we're also thinking of local 6th form college in 2 to 3 years time, and dd is very keen on this plan, although it's hard to think that far ahead at the moment. Best of luck with your decision. We're in East Anglia btw.

Schroedinger - you've been so helpful in filling us in on Interhigh, I hope it's okay if I ask you one more question! What do you think of the Science teaching and does your dd do separate sciences? My dd really wants to do Science A levels, so she'll need to do 3 separate sciences for GCSE. I'm wondering how this would work out at Interhigh particularly - the courses are taught over 2 years whereas at dd's current school they've started doing them over 3 years as there's so much more content in the new GCSE courses.

[Schroedingerscatagain]

Hi Fenland

Good question and very relevant as I’ve just been to my year 9 ds’s school options presentation tonight

After reading far and wide dd opted for double science as she won’t pursue science to alevels, her friend is taking triple award though and is timetabled differently because of this

Ds’s school are doing triple science over 2 years but will commence core science areas in year 9 that are common to triple and double awards

As I remember, inter did start gcse syllabus in year 9 for one subject due to the new system but it was English in the summer term

[ihatethecold]

Hi everyone. 👋🏼To Fenland Mum.
I’m seriously considering taking my ds out of school. We have a meeting on Monday with my Dd’s HOY to discuss options for her attending. Her anxiety is so bad that it’s making her very low.
I’d like her to go part time or to be allowed to be out of school for a month or so.
She has an assessment with a psychologist on Monday to look at treatment for her anxiety.
My questions are.
Would she be able to join during the year? She is currently year 9.
What time does the day start and finish?
Does it matter that she probably won’t join in much at first?
She really wants to do an art GCSE. Will it still be possible?
Thanks.

[Rosie70]

Also considering Interhigh for my year 10 DS who has chronic health problems and has been off school for seven weeks and counting. I spoke to only in Admissions and it seems as though you can start at any time, unless you're in year 11 (because of GCSes.) She suggested starting after half term for my son.

[Rosie70]

That was Bonny in Admissions, not only

[Rosie70]

And thanks so much for the helpful info on this thread!

[ihatethecold]

How do holidays work.
Do you just not do the lessons for a week?

[Schroedingerscatagain]

Hi Ihatetgecold

Yes you can start part way through the year, dd is a very anxious aspie under camhs and loves the place

If your dd is very anxious at first you can request a microphone exemption so she only needs to communicate by text until she is feeling a bit better

Natalie in admissions is also wonderful help and the kids love her, we’ve met her a few times in real life now and she’s just lovely with them

Lessons start from 9.30 usually but tutor group and exercise class are at 9.00, often days are not full days so down time to do homework/socialise/etc

Holidays are just like a bricks and mortar school, summer hols is about 8-9weeks more I line with private schools

Oh and April half term is the annual pgl weekend

[ihatethecold]

Thank you.

[LeeP52]

Thank you all for the continuation of this thread. I’m finding making a decision quite a challenge. Daughter says she’s scared at school although seems ok at times. Sometimes stoical
but lacklustre. I’m thinking if I do the Interhigh trial of 6 weeks and it doesn’t work how easily can I get her back into another mainstream school and would she be worse off then she is now having to start over again🙈 Anybody have a 12 going on 13 year old at Interhigh? Do you leave them alone to study when working? I’m a single mum so she’s with me 24/7 & I work freelance so my routine varies.

[canada24]

We had one DS at InterHigh for a year before his iGCSEs and it worked much better for him than mainstream school. He got A to C in 7 of his 8 subjects (we draw a veil over History, but I don't think that was the school's fault!). His younger brother was much less interested in studying, so we chose Net School for him, where there's less of a set curriculum and you can do as many or as few subjects as you like and pay accordingly. It's much smaller than InterHigh (at least at the moment), so there's more personal attention. The teaching is first-class there too. They have a primary school and are now introducing A levels, so cover most school years. DS2 did 4 iGCSEs with them and got all an A and 3 Bs, which is much better than we expected.

[ihatethecold]

Hi @canada24
How much was the Net school if you don’t Mind me asking?

Thanks.

[canada24]

Net School (www.net-school.co.uk/) charge per hour of teaching at GCSE and there are usually two hours a week per subject. Maths is three hours. That works out at about £250 per term for most things. There's a discount if you sign up for a certain number of hours, which helps. We found it much easier financially than InterHigh, which doesn't have much flexibility that way. The classes are smaller too, so there's more individual attention. Our DS was very anti-school when he started there, but found he was interested despite himself. Both schools were really good, though, and the staff very responsive. For both of them you have to factor in the cost of exams and accommodation for several weeks if you don't live near an exam centre. We used up pretty much all our savings, but it was worth it. Good luck with your decision-making, ihatethecold, and everyone else who's struggling to find an alternative to mainstream school.

[GrockleBocs]

I'm another with a HF ASC dd wondering if this may be the route we go down. She's in Y6 and I think she may struggle even at the school she wants to go to (and which we will have to fight to get her into) and there are no other options she'll consider.
I haven't told her there is this option and I won't unless/until we have problems. So I'm placemarking and reading to try and understand whether this is my fallback option. She's very clever and already worried about not doing well at school and not being able to work in her area of obsession!

[ihatethecold]

Thanks Canada.
That’s interesting. It’s very useful to find out about other options.

[LorwC]

Please advise, how do they take mock exams?

[LouMcc12]

Hi,
I am currently in the process of enrolling my Yr10 son into InterHigh and after nearly 2 weeks of looking for a thread with other IH parents am delighted to have found this. I would welcome the chance to speak to/meet with other Yr10 parents to fire questions about how they find it. We live in the West Midlands. Look forward to hearing from you X

[Schroedingerscatagain]

Hi Lou

I am an Interhigh parent, dd is in year 10 feel free to dm me or ask questions here

[Branleuse]

can i just recommend myonlineschooling.com

I was recommended it on another thread, and my daughter has just started and absolutely loving it. Its very small and new, so only one other kid in my dds class, which means she gets tonnes of personal attention, which is more important to her right now than socialising.

What are the class sizes like for interhigh?

[Schroedingerscatagain]

Class sizes are good at Interhigh, on average 15-20 in igcse classes

With only 2 in a class I would be highly concerned about it’s business model and financial viability

Also what if the 2 are at different ends of potential achievement spectrum?

[Branleuse]

its small because it only just started up. There are only 15 in the entire school. Im hoping it works out. Ive just enrolled my older teenager for an IGCSE class too where there will be about 3 in the class. To me this is a bonus to get in there while its still small.
All of them have to start somewhere, and I think the online schooling business model is really going to take off, and there isnt a great deal of choice at the moment, so I dont see why it would fail. Im paying monthly anyway, so not too much risk

[Branleuse]

As far as two being in different ends of the spectrum, im sure that would be easier to manage in a smaller class, than in a class of 20.

I do like the sound of interhigh, and my cousins kids are doing it. That is a bigger class than I thought youd say though.