Eton Academy or Wollesley Oxford?

[LovelifeHa]

I am considering homeschooling DS (yr 8) and also work FT from home as a single parent so it needs to be relatively hands off for me. DS just isn't settling in mainstream ed, suffers with EBSA and has SEN. He hasn't really been in school for a year as he simply doesn't cope well with it despite working with reduced timetables etc. School also haven't been as supportive as they could have been but that's another story.

Anyway, I'm currently looking at Eton Academy online which really seems to fit the bill and is DofE accredited and offers flexibly learning and SEN support. Wolsey Hall Oxford also looks good and is Cambridge accredited although all work appears to be self led rather than live sessions (ideally a mix of the two would be great).

Of the two I'm leaning more toward Eton Academy but I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had any experience with either of these platforms?

TIA!

Try another school first

Full time working single parent… this sounds very isolating for your son and potentially very detrimental to his education

I am considering homeschooling DS (yr 8) and also work FT from home as a single parent so it needs to be relatively hands off for me. DS just isn't settling in mainstream ed, suffers with EBSA and has SEN.

Would you expect your son's teachers to try to work full time in another job during school hours? I cant imagine how you could make this work and not drive yourself crazy.

I understand what you are both saying but I'm simply out of options. He has worked on the school provided online portal since the new year and has taken to this really well and largely works independently. My work is pretty flexible so I can take time out to support him if and when necessary.

Since he has been out of school there has been a marked improvement in his demeanour - he sleeps much better, is far less anxious and much happier in himself. He does do extracurriular activities and hobbies and has a good friendship circle too so he's not totally isolated.

Unfortunately school have stopped using the online portal and are saying that he has to return full time face to face which just isn't an option. Sadly the only school in the area that has excellent SEN support is massively oversubscribed with a waiting list as long as your arm! And, yes, I really do wish I'd sent him there in the first place but we are where we are.

Hence exploring the homeschooling route which I am hoping will be a temporary solution until I can find a suitable alternative but at present there just isn't one!

Have a look at https://www.eleahigh.com

I can't comment on the two schools you are looking at but I can speak to full time HE a SEN teen whilst working a full time wfh job. My daughter struggled massivley for the first 2 weeks (we went Kings InterHigh) as we started part way through Yr9 term 1. I spent a lot of time helping her with the tech and calming her down because she got panicked by homework or by a class she couldn't get into. We started with 8 subjects and dropped the 2 that caused her most stress (art and creative) in favour of her spending the same amount of time doing her own art projects. Slowly she developed confidence and after about half a term was very much coping by herself. I am here and she regularly pops by my desk for a chat or I pop in to see her. She now also has the stamina to see her old school friends on the weekends and to chat with them in the evenings. She doesn't want to join HE groups - she is an autistic loner (just like me!)

She started year 10 this week and we've taken the kings 3 subject HE package for GCSE and a separate standalone Psychology GCSE and some other bits so she has to juggle multiple platforms and providers. She is coping really well. She's also started an art project to make a giant pumkin head mask and made cookies (her first solo cooking).

It's taken most of a year for real settling in but I've kept my job (although it helps that it's really flexible) and she is SO much happier and whilst it may take her longer to do 6 GCSEs (3 or 4 this year and possible adding on more next year or in Yr 12/13) that won't hurt her. Happy to answer any questions.

@TreeDudette thank you so much for your response and reassurance that it can work. I did look at Kings InterHigh but (although I see the benefits) I don't think DS would cope with the live sessions as he prefers to work independently under his own steam! I think we're pretty much settled on Wolsey Oxford and may start with their core package of three subjects and aim to build them up from there. Thanks again for your response :-)

@LovelifeHa I am also considering Wolsey Hall for my DS and would like to know if that's what you went with and how your experience has been so far. Also, if you can provide any additional helpful information, I would be so appreciative. Thank you!

I used Wolsey Hall for a few subjects for my home ed son but in 2019/20 so quite out of date. The marking they did was fine and the materials were good. I found it needed a lot of input from me though because they just provided printed materials ( not sure if this has changed)
With my younger children I chose providers (different ones for different subjects) which had video lessons and then online work and they were able to be more self sufficient. There are quite a lot of providers that do this with recorded lessons so you don’t have to. R in live classes if you don’t want to. They were also generally cheaper than Wolsey Hall.
Check out South West Science School; Humanatees (geography/history/RE); Learntec (computer science); Absolute Maths; Dreaming Spires (English).

We’re with Wolsey, it’s all great - except the tech side of things. Getting my child’s work to actually upload on their system is very difficult and after a while struggling sucks the joy out of learning :(

DS has literally just signed up so we haven't had chance to assess it so far. He's just signed up for Science for now so we'll see how he gets on with that before adding additional subjects (which he's currently doing via another platform)

Very good luck to him and I hope it works - sounds like a great choice for him.