What made you decide to home educate/remove child from school?

[Branleuse]

my dd is quite happy at online school now. I removed her from her primary in year 5 as i couldnt cope with the school refusing and the constant crap from school and social difficulties with other children, but mainly because of the school refusal and the sheer hideousness of forcing her through the door while she cried and screamed and protested. It became too much.

With ds1, I home educated for 8 months when it became clear his mainstream werent meeting his needs, and I was fighting for a SEN placement the whole time.

Now ds2, I dont know how longer i can go on. Hes at mainstream secondary. I removed him from his last school at end of year 7 and moved him to another mainstream. He has an EHCP so I can do this fairly easily, but its been a few weeks and hes still unsettled and saying he hates it, wants to throw himself down the stairs. Sits looking tearful in the mornings. Says everyone hates him. Hes been in trouble already for inappropriate comments and giggling etc. Hes struggling with new social codes. The teachers seem nice, but honestly, im so stressed and defensive now. He hates it, I hate it. I just want to do whats best for him. I dont know what level of unhappiness is normal for school

ds is ASD and has ehcp for years since year 1. he is now year 8. from year 5 + its been horrible. SATS , teachers not getting him.....no friends. Year 7 was the worst and even with the school trying to accomadate him, it just wasn`t working. ds was miserable which was making dh and me stressed!

he is now at online school. the difference........ wish we`d looked into it sooner tbh.

@norfolkskies did you get the online school named on the EHCP or are you self funding?

I would love my ds to go to MOS with my dd, but I cant afford to self fund. If I could get it named on the EHCP that would be brilliant, but I suspect that even though it would be cheaper for them to do this, than to fund the school to support him, its a bit unconventional and they said that they likely wouldnt do it.

we re self funding. norfolk doesnt "do" online education! but we are moving to staffordshire......I can see on the county council website online education as part of alternative provision. But its academy 21 , which doesnt look as good as my online schooling where we are now (and its very good!). we`ll ask for funding....I mean the worst they do is say no.

My agument will be £230 a month is hell of a lot cheaper than an 1 to 1 TA. Academy 21 doesn`t offer all the subjects ds does, plus the support sessions etc if he wants.

at the last ehcp update meeting it is on there that hes goingto do online school (this was in july). and all the reasons etc. so well see what the council says when we get moved. even if they gave us a bit of funding we`d be grateful tbh.

if we wernt moving wed have fought for something funding wise here.

ds is making so much more progresss academically. at mainstream i think he spent more time with the TA in the sen/ quiet room than in a classroom!! we are on week 4 and he is soooo much better. calmer, less irritable and prone to meltdowns....
dh still thinks he should try mainstream again. personally i think its a waste of time. why go backwards? the only perfect mainstream would be one with utter silence in the classroom or corridor, no more than 10in a class, no one to laugh/ pick on him......

well thats not going to change is it? MOS is perfect.

I love MOS too. My dd is also in yr8!
It took her a bit of time to settle in properly after a very good honeymoon period, but she is back on track again, and its done wonders for her, although, I do think she is even more introverted now than before. Thats still better than what ds is going through though.

I was crying every day and my son's MH was heading off a cliff so I pulled him in July. Best thing I ever did and my son if back and I've stopped crying.
I can cater to my son's complex needs better than a school can.