Hi, DD is currently in year 8 at a fee paying school. DS is older and has always thrived there. Please, no judgment, it was the right decision for him at the time even though I had never considered private school before. DD wanted to go there as her brother loved it so much, but she has had an entirely different experience.
Her year is full of entitled individuals who seem to think they can say whatever they like. They throw around homophobic and racist slurs like it’s nothing, and are really horrible to each other on social media. She has been unhappy since she joined, and only has one or two friends. It’s affecting her mental heath and she is in counselling. Her counsellor thinks she should move schools, but there are no places available in our local state schools and I can’t afford the more expensive fee paying ones. So my next option to look at was home schooling.
I suppose I am looking for some reassurance that this is possible for our situation. I work full time and, while I did well at school myself and can always help with homework, I am not convinced I have the patience to actually teach her. She and I clash regularly and she is a strong character so I am not sure I can get her to put in the work required - she is highly intelligent so we (me and her) want her to still do the full complement of GCSEs. To this end, I have been researching online schools with live lessons etc.
I am also concerned about the lack of in-person social interaction with her peers - how does this work with home schooling? She is already inclined to be a loner and spends a lot of time in her room on her own, but her friendships have always been very important to her.
Thanks in advance for any encouragement or advice anyone can give me if you’ve made it this far!
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Home ed
Considering home ed for year 9 - advice please
charly2830 · 08/04/2024 14:43
titchy · 08/04/2024 15:55
Why not apply for the local schools? The LA will have to find you somewhere. If it's not a school you like, appeal.
Bollingerforbreakfast · 08/04/2024 16:02
Was chatting about this kind of problem recently with some teacher friends and we all agreed some year groups are just bad luck for some students. Often if they move they are fine in another school. If you can't move schools I'd take her out, but apply to the state school asap and wait for a place to come up. Have you talked to the school extensively about it and have they tried eg a change of form/ teaching groups? Has she tried making better friends via clubs that suit her interests? Definitely don't leave her in that situation though
Pashazade · 08/04/2024 15:41
Some friends have had success with the online schools and if your daughter is motivated this sounds like a good plan. Minerva Virtual Academy has worked really well for one. There is a very helpful home Ed exam wiki (Google will find it) and also a Facebook group for home Ed GCSE's and alternatives. It's all doable, you just need to figure out what you have local with regard to exam centers and tailor your choices to that. Again exam wiki is very helpful in this front. You have to pay for your GCSE's but then this will be a fraction of private fees so shouldn't feel too painful.
Does she have any external activities that she can keep up. There may well be teen meet ups locally within the home Ed community. Depending on area there can be lots to do, if you have to work then usual extra curricular may have to be your route unless she can use public transport to get to things. Hopefully the friendships she has will continue. Bear in mind if she decides to go to 6th form then friendships could all shift anyway so the situation for the next couple of years may not be permanent in any way.
Riri100 · 28/04/2024 21:08
Hi Charly! This post really grabbed my attention, as we too are considering HE for our DD in year 9. We had an epiphany that we couldn’t saddle and stress about fees anymore, we kind of fell into private after she was severely bullied in her primary four years ago (terrible), now we are in the transition to senior school and to see her travel two hours a day on the bus and us bleeding cash in the process. We have to come to reality we need to rethink options. We don’t have a great option of LA where we are sadly, she missed the boat with grammar and this pressure wouldn’t suit her anyway. So we are exploring KIH and MVA atm. I would love to know what conclusion you came to and like you, we are really concerned about loneliness and the social side.
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