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Home ed

Find advice from other parents on our Homeschool forum. You may also find our round up of the best online learning resources useful.

Needing home Ed advice - where to start?

5 replies

Mama2009 · 20/01/2019 07:45

Our DD is 9yrs old and for the last two years has been bullied by one child. She is a lovely, clever, bubbly child but when she is at school so is so deeply unhappy. We have tears almost everyday. The school don’t really provide much help in regards to billing other telling them they must get along or they will loose house points. Things have got gradually worse, she is now is Yr 5 with a teacher who comes across very pleasant but he is never in the classroom and they are always be taught by a TA. She is at a reading and writing age level of about 6yrs old, progressingly falling behind even though the school insist she will catch up.
The school have proven to be extremely unprofessional, we have now had two incidents involving teachers speaking inappropriately. One TA told my daughter after she pointed out a spelling mistake of a friend “your in no postition to judge, you can’t spell”. The most recent incident is that I sent a long email to her teaching raising all my concerns, the teacher was caught in a corridor complaining about the email I had sent, I was just moaning yet again! My DD over heard the conversation and providing me with details of the email she knew nothing about.
The headteacher has dismissed my request for a meeting with her and ive told me i could meet with other staff as she is busy.

This brings me to home Ed, this is something both my DH and I have been talking about for a while. We had planned to waiting until may half term to make our final decision. We feel that nothing is going to be resolved by the school, I will try and meet with the headteacher but I’ve seen no progress in the situation of bullying or education and with yr 6 fast approaching, our DD is never going to cope with the pressures of SAT exams.
My biggest question is where do we start with home Ed? Also I’ve read so many negitive things about the LEA and how to prove you providing an sufficient education.
I would really appreciate anyone’s advice, thank you.

OP posts:
ommmward · 20/01/2019 10:12

Where do you start? Deregister, and take a good long break from formal academic work. It's called deschooling, and it's a chance for you all to reconnect and get your mojo back. Just be company for each other, go on nice little trips (park, zoo, supermarket, whatever), slow life right down. You'll gradually find she's got her joy in life back - be ready for it to be a gentle process through to the summer. When she feels ready, start connecting with other home educators locally (and worth finding their Facebook groups online right now). And when you all feel ready, maybe put in some gentle academic work, but you don't need to follow national curriculum. The main thing is to make sure she's confident enough to learn, and not feeling pressure, then she'll be learning as effectively and efficiently as possible

Saracen · 20/01/2019 10:28

What ommmward said!

Is your daughter Y5 now? You sound sure that she will find the pressure of Y6 unbearable, so it isn't a question of whether to take her out of school but only when. She is being bullied, is deeply unhappy, and isn't even getting a good education. The school has had two years to resolve the bullying and has made no progress, so it seems inprobably they will dramatically improve.

Why wait any longer? Does your child get any benefit at all from school right now, and if so, do the benefits outweigh the negatives you have outlined here?

Saracen · 20/01/2019 10:37

Don't worry about the LA. Some LAs don't stick to government guidelines regarding home education, but the law is on your side. Nearly always, an HE parent who has access to other well-informed home educators here or on a similar forum will be able to fend off any unreasonable demands. It's a matter of sending a few assertive letters and perhaps sending in a report describing your educational provision.

The reason people bang on so much about the LA overstepping their remit is because if you weren't forewarned and you believed everything the LA told you, the resulting experience could be distressing and harmful to your child's education. But now you know, you'll be fine.

Mama2009 · 20/01/2019 21:12

Thank you so much for all your advice, we have decided that we will be deregistering our DD from her school this week. The points raised are completely right, what would we be graining by waiting any longer. I feel quite sad that it’s under these circumstance but we believe this is going to be the right choice for her. Thank you all again

OP posts:
ommmward · 21/01/2019 09:27

Well done! Be ready for a roller coaster of self doubt and confidence. That's normal too. The main thing is to have a happy child!

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