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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.

Homeschooling without effecting secondary school place.

19 replies

Lulas2k · 23/06/2019 22:43

Hi,
We have taken our son who has Aspergers and extreme anxiety out of primary school as his anxiety is really bad and they have never met his needs if I am quite honest. The relationship between us and the school has broken down and she will not authorise the 4 weeks left off.
My question is can we de register him from primary school without effecting his secondary school place? He has already started his transitions for this and the secondary school is under a different council.
Thank you

OP posts:
Saracen · 23/06/2019 23:41

Yes, of course you can do that. Current educational setting does not affect eligibility for secondary school, except that in some cases attending a named "feeder school" gives a child higher priority in admissions.

You might wish to write to the LA where he is due to attend school just to ensure they know that you still want to take up the school place which your son has been offered. They probably wouldn't find out that you're home educating him now, as it's a different LA, and if they did find out then they shouldn't assume that withdrawal from primary school implies that he isn't going to secondary. But it's easier to avoid doubt than to clear up the mess afterward if they did withdraw his place in error.

As you may know, you can withdraw your son from his primary school effective immediately, just by sending the school a letter. He never has to attend again.

I hope he will be feeling better soon, and that the secondary school will be a better experience.

Lulas2k · 24/06/2019 06:36

Thank you, I have emailed the council to explain what is happening. His head teacher sent a email after I said I am withdrawing him and it wasn’t a pleasant one so feel it’s best if we have complete closure from the school.

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Saracen · 24/06/2019 07:33

I'm sorry the headteacher couldn't have been more gracious about your son's departure! She may well take it personally because she knows it reflects badly on the school.

Have you sent the deregistration letter to the school? That is a legal requirement and the head can't actually remove your son's name from the register without it - but once you've sent it, she is required to remove his name promptly. If you don't send the letter, any absences may be marked unauthorised and there is a risk of being prosecuted for them.

Here are links to sample letters for England and Wales. (If you are in Scotland then the procedure is different, and you have to obtain the consent of the LA.) It is best to send the letter by recorded delivery so you have proof the school received it.

educationotherwise.org/index.php/deregistration
or
www.home-education.org.uk/legal-dereg.htm

Good luck!

Lulas2k · 24/06/2019 08:54

Thank you, no I haven’t I only wrote a letter saying I was removing him for the last 4 weeks due to them not meeting his needs. I have emailed the secondary school LA and will phone then once they are open to confirm his place will be ok.

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Saracen · 24/06/2019 10:11

Okay, then you will need to do a letter to the school stating specifically that you are withdrawing your son because he is now being home educated. Without that, they cannot remove his name from the register. By law there are only certain specific circumstances under which the school is allowed to take a child's name off the register, and home education is one of them.

Lulas2k · 24/06/2019 12:33

I have just done one of the templates and going to send it recorded delivery later.

Can I add a note at the letter saying my son will continue with his transitions and start his secondary school in September 2019 as planned?

Thank you

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CarrieErbag · 24/06/2019 12:39

Do his transition days have the involvement of the primary school?
If not you don't really have to let them know what your future plans are if you don't wish to.

CarrieErbag · 24/06/2019 12:42

Just make sure the new school is aware he will still be attending.
Best of luck.

RageAgainstTheVendingMachine · 24/06/2019 12:59

I would imagine the ht is taking a dim view because to her it feels like an extended summer holiday/taking kid out during term time when there's only four weeks to go and a lot of that will be end of term stuff.
But I agree with what you have done and am sorry your son's needs were not met - will the new school make reasonable adjustments or are you hoping for a fresh start/new senco? Does your son have an EHCP/diagnosis and did the primary help you obtain those or was it just a long slog where you had to do everything privately?
Shamrock to your son for September.

Lulas2k · 24/06/2019 13:23

Hi, no the school have had nothing to do with the transitions. They were supposed to organise extra ones but didn’t so I have done all of it. He’s not coming from a feeder school so got a place by distance.
Yes he does have a diagnosis of Aspergers and with this his anxiety is really bad. No the Primary didn’t help with any of it, we sat on a long waiting list and three years later we got a diagnosis and now we are on another waiting list for possible medication. Thank you everyone

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RageAgainstTheVendingMachine · 24/06/2019 13:50

I hope things improve for you love. Flowers
Up to you whether you include the note or not - I possibly wouldn't given how unsupportive they have been and with it being a different LA, I would not give them details of my plans as I would not want a vindictive head picking up the phone to badmouth me to the new one.
That said, at some point the person in charge of primary links at the secondary will have requested notes from the primary school even if it isn't a feeder but this is usually done by now including a visit to your son at his present school.
Bottom line, the school cannot stop you off rolling/home educating for the last month and if you have sent the letter they cannot do a CME referral so I doubt whether EWO would be involved. As for the LA checking the quality of your home ed provision for the remaining four weeks...do they even have the staff/provision given the lack of support for SEN full-stop?

RageAgainstTheVendingMachine · 24/06/2019 13:53

Oh and a pat on the back, well done and Star for you OP for organising the transitions/advocacy. You know your son best and what is best for him - anxiety and ASD often go hand in hand and it is exhausting so from one mum to another, I salute you.

Lulas2k · 24/06/2019 14:21

Its been exhausting. We removed his sister from the primary school in April and she now attend another local school that is far better. Things has become worse since this and it feels quite personal now. Her email to me regarding keeping him off is quite rude so feel like we have been left no choice as another meeting with empty promises isn't going to change my sons life in the last four week.
His secondary school have requested notes but have received nothing so my son went to his first transition Friday and it was a disaster. Having said that because SENCO was worried about him we had a meeting there and then and sorted things out for September. I'm going to email across the re registration letter and post a copy to be sure.

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RageAgainstTheVendingMachine · 24/06/2019 18:19

Will keep my fingers crossed for you. The fact that his secondary school have received nothing is a poor show. I used to do primary links which involved visiting feeder primaries and chatting with the class teacher as well as collating SATs, raw scores, reading ages etc Even if a school was not a feeder primary, we would chase for the info and the primaries liaised with us effectively. Sometimes some info was relayed on the phone but the conversation was still had. If they haven't done this by now it's not surprising they seemed hapless at making reasonable adjustments.
Hope all goes well for you x

Lulas2k · 25/06/2019 11:43

Hello,

Well I received an email from the head last night that simply reads. Our son was removed from the register as from today. Its over and I can enjoy the last few weeks with my son and hopefully regain some enjoyment for life for him.
Thank you everyone for your help.

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Saracen · 25/06/2019 13:36

Result! Enjoy your summer.

The LA is likely to get in touch at some point to ask about your provision. Many LAs like to imply that you must accept a home visit and allow them to meet your child. This is not a legal requirement and home educators generally advise declining this "offer". I would hazard a guess that it would be particularly risky in the case of a child who has just left school due to anxiety. LA staff can be unpredictable and might say something which would worry your son, such as criticising his education, or mentioning that he could be forced to return to school if your education is inadequate (technically true, but inappropriate to mention at this stage, and possibly upsetting to the child).

If they come back to you asking for information about his education, you might promise them a report in a few months' time. Earlier than that is pointless as he won't have done much yet, and you aren't required to have advance plans. By the time that date rolls around he will be back in school anyway. Or if you've changed your mind and kept him out of school after all, you will be in a good position to write up a brief report on his home education.

You don't have to do any formal work with him and there are no required subjects. Since it isn't long until his secondary start, you could just let him learn about whatever interests him while he recovers from his difficult time at primary. It would be useful to observe him and see how he learns best: does he like to discuss things or think about them quietly, does he like to concentrate on one subect at a time or switch between several, what interests him most, does he grasp fractions, how fluently can he read. All of this will become apparent to you over time without making him sit any tests, just by noticing how he approaches daily life. If he goes to secondary then you can provide this information to them, or if not then you can use it in deciding how to educate him at home.

Have fun!

RageAgainstTheVendingMachine · 25/06/2019 18:48

Many talk about the need for decompressing after school stress - I honestly would not stress it - the number of videos kids end up watching in the last month along with sports days, trips, residentials etc mean that whatever you end up doing you can justify imo.
If you really want to cover yourself I'd buy a cheap scrapbook - do WHSmith still do them? and do a 4 week project with him on a topic of his choice.
Australia is a nice one - you can do geography (map/flag) history (aborigines/british convicts) art (dot painting) science (animal profiles: wallaby/crocodile/platypus) and music (youtube didgeridoo).
Or Space - you can make a home-made rocket, craft constellations on black card with sticker stars and white chalk, make up your own planet, look at what you need for plants to thrive etc, build a space mobile or draw one on paper and research an astronaut.
If you need any help with resources give me a shout - I usually use freebies on enchanted learning, my first school, pinterest, teachers for teachers, tes etc
Or give him a good old fashioned book report to do Smile - book of his choice, synopsis in english, design own book cover for it, present 5 mins on why he likes it, brainstorm ideas for a prequel or sequel if they don't exist already.
Baking/swimming/gardening/trips to museums etc also all valid.
Just in case you do get someone sticky beaking - a shame they weren't concerned about his education earlier, eh? Flowers x

Lulas2k · 25/06/2019 19:44

In two days, we have got a maths and English book for his age.
Went on a bike ride, he cut the lawn for me and made pizzas. He was asleep by 10pm which is a first in years.
He is interested in ww2 so we got a book for him to focus on that.

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RageAgainstTheVendingMachine · 25/06/2019 19:51

He was asleep by 10pm which is a first in years.
Fantastic. Must be a weight off.

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