mot really home ed more felxi schooling,

[morethanyoubargainfor]

my ds 6 has been saying about how he is finding school more and more unsettling, he doesn't 'do' change and the the number in his class has doubled since he started to 28. We originally choose that school because of small numbers.

Any how I have always been open with him about other options and he DOES NOT want to be fully HE,(much to my annoyance!) fine its hos choice, but today we were talking about flexi schooling and he seems really keen to find out more. I now have to convince DH that it would work. Please help me, does anybody do this? How does it work etc, we were thinking he could have maybe 3 days per week at school, then 2 at home.

Any links to more info would be fab too.

[piscesmoon]

I think that yours is a sensible way of doing it, procrastinatingparent, because you understand how the school works and have just the regular day off and are flexible enough to send him for something special.Most importantly he is mature and socialises well. He has an established place in the school and his time out doesn't change it-the other DCs just accept it.
In our area a DC like yours often goes out once a week to the secondary school for specialised lessons (usually maths)and it works well.
I think it causes problems if a DC isn't coping well with school, has problems making friendships, is absent for too much of the week, whose parents don't understand enough about it to be flexible. I think in that case that flexi schooling adds to the problems and they would be better opting for school or HE.

[procrastinatingparent]

We have done flexi-schooling with our eldest (DS, now 11) for the past two years. We were concerned that he wasn't being stimulated enough in the classroom (they had sent him up to Yr 5 Maths when he was in Yr3 but the Yr 4 teacher refused to allow that to continue) but didn't want to HE full-time.

We wrote to the head, who was immediately positive and consulted brief with the Chair of the Governors who said yes. He has been educated at home every Friday since then (although he does go in for some Fridays for things like SATS or end-of-term fun stuff).

I think they agreed because:

1. they realised they weren't able to cater for him sufficiently in the classroom
   
2. he is very mature for his age and can cope with an unusual timetable
   
3. he socialises well with his peers so a day a week being absent wasn't going to cause a problem (and it hasn't, all the kids just accept that Fridays are when DS isn't there)
   
4. DH and I have both taught in schools and I am a trained teacher and we were able to show how we could use the time well.
   
5. We have a good relationship with the school and especially the head anyway
   
   It has been very successful and DS has now got a scholarship to an academic secondary school which we think will suit him well. (I think he would have found it hard to prepare for the exams if we hadn't had the Fridays to work with him.) He has also been able to do lots of music lessons without it affecting the rest of the family too much because he has those lessons on a Friday.
   
   But all this is in the gift of the head - and we were fortunate.

[mummyrex]

As already stated, it is the head's choice. If they do agree they normally insist that the child attends the morning sessions when maths and literacy lessons usually happen. You are very unlikely to be allowed to have whole days 'off'.

Piscesmoon is right to say that it can very often be the worst of both. Your child gets the most 'boring' part of the day plus you are still tied to the school's schedule.

It sometimes works with children who don't cope well with the sort of activities that happen in the afternoon.

[piscesmoon]

I actually think that flexi schooling gives the worst of both worlds because you don't fit in one or the other. School isn't just about the work and they miss out on the friendship side if they aren't there a lot of the time. Another problems are that schools are quite fluid and if you decide he is going to be there for maths on a wednesday something else entirely might be happening.I would think this is why schools aren't keen-it tries to make it rigid for the rest.(if everyone is full time moving maths to the afternoon one week isn't an issue).
I would think you should stick with the school or go fully into HE, but do a lot of things with groups.Why not use the long summer holiday to do things with HE groups-he might like it?

[musicposy]

We tried to get this arrangement and got nowhere, I'm afraid. The head wouldn't even consider it. I kept it all very friendly, took in articles about it, showed her it was legal and viable etc. Finally she said she'd contacted the LA solicitor (is there such a thing?) who advised no and as far as she was concerned, that was the end of it.
I'd really wanted to flexischool, not HE. But we deregistered DD at the end of that week. It was very obviously not the reaction the head was expecting, she was utterly shocked and very upset! It was also the best thing we ever did.

I know one family who have managed to set up flexischooling. However, her DD has long term health problems and that's why they got the school to agree. Recently the little girl has been much better and the school are now threatening full time or leave.

So, best of luck to you, but I think you have an uphill struggle ahead. Which is a shame as I think it would be a great option for many families. Let us know if you have more luck than we did (not that I would change it now)!

[morethanyoubargainfor]

I have thought about that, but he really doesn't want to do it. I am waiting for the day he says he does!

Headteacher may be really tricky! he had to have a whole term off last year to recover frrom surgery and i ahd a battle with that! she said that i was breaking law, blardy blardy blah! I just said tough i am his parent and that is how long he will be off for, she came around to my way of thinking in the end not so sure about this one though!

[julienoshoes]

yes that's it, get the HeadTeacher onside and you can do it.

[julienoshoes]

Another thought though.......have you considered taking him along to a local home ed meeting, so he can chat to others and see what it is like for them and so he can find out about the friendships and opportunities available?

[morethanyoubargainfor]

thank you very much, so basically i have to get ds headteacher on side, hmm could be tricky!

[julienoshoes]

Education Otherwise's page on Flexischooling

HE-UK's page on Flexi schooling

Basically it is an arrangement between you and the Head Teacher, who has the final say whether it will be allowed or not.

Some Head Teachers have been known to say the LA will not allow it, but it is the Head Teachers decision

You can find what the Government has to say about this in their Elective Home Education: Guidelines for LAs section 5.6

hth