Has anyone ever opted for home ed because they didn't get their choice of school?

[BigPantsRule]

I'm interested to hear if anyone has ever chosen to home educate a child, not because they are unhappy with the state system per se, but because they are not satisfied with their allocated school and have to go on a waiting list for their preferred school, and are priced out of the independent sector. I'm thinking particularly of secondary schools here, but I suppose it could also apply to primaries. Is it better to home-ed for a while rather than subject your child to the upheaval of having to move school, even if the school they are attending is not your preferred choice?

We were prepared to do this but fortunately didnt have to.

Sort of - we are HEing because we could not find a school which ticked all the boxes for us and DS, either state or independant. Nothing against any of the specific schools, but we wanted something quite particular and couldn't find a good enough match.

But for us, this is a decision we have made for this year and next, and we are not on any waiting lists etc. In 2 years time, we will consider what options are available, and DS could go back to school at that stage.

If you are considering HE just until a place comes up, you would probably want to be sure you were covering the same material which they would be doing in school, to minimise the disruption, rather than going for an autonomous style. You might want to look into organisations which could help with that sort of curriculum, and think about how you and the child would get on together with that sort of approach - it's quite different to what a lot of HErs do. There are curriculum packages and internet schools (which we use - I can give you links if you're interested) which are more like "school at home".

Thanks AMIS - it's not an issue for us at the moment but might be next year as we want our DD2 to go to the same school as DD1 - trouble is we are out of catchment and there is a strong chance she won't get in on distance grounds. However, due to the vagaries of the allocation system (too complicated to go into here) we are more likely to be offered a place during the school year than at the beginning of it, so I would be prepared to home-ed until such time as a place comes up and would keep the situation under review. I've always thought that I could home-ed - particularly with this particular child, as she really seems to enjoy working with me on her 11-plus prep. Whether she would put up with me for weeks on end is another matter, though!

Thanks for the offer of links - I'd love to follow them up!

The internet school I have experience of is Interhigh. There are also BritESchool and First College, though the last seems less mainstream, so perhaps less suitable for you. The schools have set subjects and timetables and cover the usual school academic subjects. They don't give you any of the other things, eg PE, RE, PHSE, DT, art, music..., but Interhigh at least only has classes in the morning so you have time for other things in the afternoons.

There is also Little Arthur school which provides curriculum info based on the NC which you then work through at your own pace. I expect there are others too if you look around...

Alternatively, if the school are being encouraging about the prospect of her joining during the year, they may be happy to let you know what her class will be covering, and you can just buy textbooks etc and work from there.

Obviously there are some costs in all these options, but I'm assuming "priced out of the independent sector" means your finances would stretch to these kinds of things for the short term at least.

Many thanks AMIS! I'll check out those links.

We don't want to go down the independent route as it's a major long-term commitment, however we are prepared, if necessary, to spend on educational resources in the short term as a means to an end!

If your preferred school are reasonably positive about a place becoming available during the year, then I think the short-term HE solution sounds very practical. Certainly better than starting at another school, state or independent, when you and dd know that it would only be temporary. That would just be disruptive all round!