Is it possible to home school through year 10 & 11

[tigwig76]

Dd currently in year 10. Really struggling with mental health. Begs, sobs, shouts etc for me to home school her. No bullying or anything going on she just hates it. Always has. Had 1 move already and things have since got worse. I spoke to education welfare and they said it's not possible to do gcse work herself. She's in all top sets so is clever. I don't want her to through away her chance of getting gcses but pretty soon she is either going to harm herself or worse. I can't afford online school. 2 Cahms referrals previously over the years haven't changed anything. Help!

Mental wellness is paramount. If she's miserable then sure, you might get her through GCSEs, and then how long do you think you'll all spend picking up the pieces? Is that worth it? Maybe her path is a different one.

Some colleges do 14-16 provision. Otherwise, yes you can do GCSEs from home. You have to pay to get the teen in to an exam centre as a private candidate, and you need to be careful about syllabus and exam board to find something where you don't need coursework (because I don't think parents are allowed to say "this is all her own work"). Definitely worth talking about what her planned next step is. No point aiming at 9 GCSEs if her ambition is an apprenticeship that needs 5, yk?

Thanks. The local college do have 14 - 16 courses but they started last Sep so she can't go now. She could do an early college transfer for year 11 but also says she doesn't want to do that either! All she wants is to do work at home and I'm not sure what it would achieve. I'm not bothered about her getting loads of gcses but I want her to be able to get enough that it ensures she can go onto better things. Just feel deflated as education welfare said it's not possible without other intervention.

Is it possible to find out exactly what it is that she hates so much at school? It might help you to help her find better ways of dealing with it. Does she have any ideas about her future job/career which could help her to focus on what she needs to get there? What do teachers say about her in school?

Could you do some sort of flexi schooling?

Work sent home to be completed but marked by teachers and she attends school for the exams?

For the school she still counts in their league tables and as 'educated off site' also counts as attending.

I've got a meeting next week at school. Hoping they will agree to some kind of flexischool as probably best option but not sure if they will.
She has social anxiety and hates being with others in class.

Mental health is the most important thing. Our local home education group is growing at a staggering rate with yr 10/11 age girls a considerable contributor to that.

Find your local home education group and see what support there is locally, some places will be better equipped than others for supporting teens.

I can't link from here but there was a recent post about A'level science that included a link to the HE exams wiki. That will give you more information about the GCSE picture and home education. There is a Facebook group linked to the wiki which is good place to ask questions.

When you home educate though there is no requirement to do 10 GCSEs in year 11. Focus on her well-being above anything else.

On the finance issue I know many home educated children who have successfully studied GCSEs with just textbook, internet and supportive parents (bare in mind you don't have to know the content yourself just study with them and help). You do need to pay to sit the exams though, but you don't need to do 10 or all at once.

Discussed the situation with my mum and sister earlier. They think the idea is madness and that she's completely playing me to get her own way. She is a drama queen I know but I'm torn. I know what they mean but I also think she breaks down with me because I'm the one she trusts the most. Her dad is also undecided as he also thinks she is worse for me.

This isn't a toddler playing up not wanting to go to bed. This is a young woman who is telling you she is not happy and stressed in the setting. I think you need to ignore your mum and your sister. It be different if it was feigning a headache so she could get a lie in, but this is entirely different. As adults if we were in a job that caused us to feel like that we'd look for another.

I am not saying home education is definitely right for your daughter that is something only you, her and her dad can decide but I think you need to acknowledge her feelings and not see this as 'playing up'.

My advice would be to sit down with her (and her dad if it will help) and see if you can discuss what causes the most stress and if there are things you could do at home and the school could do to help lessen the stress.
Arrange a meeting with the head of year/pastoral to see if they will be supportive.
As a family have a think about the practicalities, how much time would you and her dad be about (assuming you work) so how independent would you need her to be. Would you be able to budget for the exams?
What does she want to do after GCSEs? Look in to what she needs to do to get there and consider how doable it is. Some subjects are harder than others to do at home.
Have a read of the exams wiki www.he-exams.wikia.com and ask any questions on the Facebook group linked.
Find local home educators (search home education and your town or county on Facebook) for you to chat to do you can see what support might be available locally.

At the end of the day though GCSEs don't matter anywhere near as much as mental health, you mention concerns about her hurting herself, if you are really worried that might happen take her to the GP and see if they will sign her off sick.

Risky. Her mental health might deteriorate given less structure (like for most of us if we are unemployed for example). And if you can’t get her to school, how are you going to get her up and studying. Honestly, I’m not a fan of secondary schools but I would think twice before taking her off roll (if her attendance is poor or she needs extra help, school will be pleased to wash their hands, sadly, even if there is good will there, because overloaded).

I am sorry you can not compare home education to unemployment.
If anything assuming it is the choice of the child it is more like giving up a job at a company you weren't happy at to be self employed.

As for structure mine get up at the same time each morning (unless we need to be elsewhere early) and go through same routine most days.

It is the place and the people at school that seem to be causing the stress rather than doing the work. Away from those stresses it may be that the OPs daughter happily gets on with work. No guarantee of course and it is something the OP needs to think about.

Sorry OP I am a home educator and have been for many years, my experiences personally and from supporting others makes me positive about home education as an option. I have been trying to reign that back as Home Education isn't easy, it isn't right for everyone and starting in the GCSE years must be hugely scary so you need to think hard and get your information but at the same time trust your gut.

Tigwig, there's lots of info about taking exams from home ed on the HE Exams wiki at Www.he-exams.wikia.com. There's a very supportive community in email and Facebook - links from the wiki there. However, it's worth exploring all possibilities with the school and the LA as they may be prepared to keep her registered at the school but studying from home via an online school like Red Balloon Of The Air or Nisea. This is called EOTAS provision - 'Education Otherwise Than At School'. Crucially, the LA / school would still be responsible for the cost & exam arrangements.
Good luck.

Might be worth reading "The teenage liberation handbook: how to quit school and get a life". Might be freely available online these days

I home schooled one of my dc from year 9-11 for a similar reason. It made such a difference. They then chose (in what would have been Y12) to go to college. In a year passed five GCSEs A, 3Bs and a C. Started AS levels in Y13.

Thank you. A lot to think about. I appreciate all the info.

Please do look into Red Balloon of the Air. My DS is about to start online schooling with them (yr8) and they are specifically set up for children suffering from anxiety and the effects of bullying. Even if you’re not sure it’s the right thing, it might be worth getting in touch with them as they have been so supportive of us when we were getting no help from anywhere else.

One thing they told us was very important was not to take your child off the school role until you’ve exhausted all other options as it then makes it much more difficult to get their ‘pot’ of funding allocated to a different school/ college/ other provider.

Good luck, it’s a very difficult situation to deal with.

Hi Tigwig76 I am sorry to reopen this thread after a few months of how you had been getting on with your DD? Did you end up going for a homeschool option? I had been lurking as my DD2 15 is struggling with her MH & secondary education and I am seriously thinking about homeschooling next year although I have no idea how or where to start.
There are some really good ideas on the thread , I need to look into, so I wondered how you are getting on?

Oops sorry for typos