Flexi schooling

[hibbledobble]

Has anyone done it? What do you do on the Flexi school day (s)? Was it easy to get it approved?

I'm seriously considering this, as dc is academically way ahead and school don't seem to be catering well for her, and I think she would benefit from non-classroom based learning.

Wellthen. There are some brilliant teachers out there who think like you do. Unfortunately there are also some who don't, and sadly we've met some of them, including the one who told us outright at the first parents evening that he wasn't planning to teach DD any maths all year because there was no point.

But what I'm also trying to say is that the system doesn't work for the most able. If you have a child in Yr1 with a reading age of 12 or so, it's really not a good idea for the school to record that properly, because they can't show x levels of progress after that because to do so would require utterly individualised teaching. And I do appreciate that budgets, and time are really squeezed in schools right now so often it simply is not possible. The mastery curriculum also really mitigates against this.

Sirfredfredgeorge absolutely on the repetition, but what if a child can do this and grasps it quickly? Then what? Another whole year of repetition?

OP, I think you have to think carefully about transitions both into and out of the arrangement that you are requesting, and about exactly how you want it organised.

(FWIW, we had a somewhat similar situation with DS, who actively suffered in his first primary due to being an outlier in ability. For us, the solution was temporary home schooling followed by a school - and house - move. Don't underestimate the difference between apparently similar schools - both DS's primary schools were Ofsted rated Good state primaries. One was so bad for him he ended up with physical symptoms from anxiety, the other he absolutely flew in)

IME both as a parent and a teacher, school weeks have a particular 'rhythm' - sometimes one of timetabling, sometimes because the teacher plans in week-long blocks. This is more apparent in higher years, but is still there in lower years. So for example, always missing a Friday might mean that you always miss the 'final piece of writing' on a particular topic, or tend to miss problem solving in maths, or when most 1;1 reading is done, or maybe miss science or games, or the celebration assembly in which awards are given out and achievements recognised.

So even though your child may be 'way ahead', always missing a particular day may mean that they miss a particular part of the planned learning - and the school's communal life - on a consistent basis.

Also think about when you might want to go back to full time schooling - is this an arrangement that you want for e.g. the remainder of this academic year? For the remainder of KS1? For the whole of primary school?

I think what might be most likely to be approved - and might avoid some of the main disadvantages - might be one or two afternoons a week, rather than one or more whole days. If this was to attend a particular 'other educational experience', the school may also be able to use 'non absence' register codes (e.g. educated off-site, or educational visit / trip) which may make the inevitable impact of 80% attendance on the school's absence statistics more palatable.

Do think carefully about the school's point of view - you want your DD to have a positive experience when she is in school, so understanding their viewpoint and working towards a compromise that works well for you all will be important. If you can't find a positive way forward, then consider the 'whole hog' alternatives - home schooling; moving schools - while also thinking about how e.g. playdates, activities such as dance or Rainbows can maintain her existing social links.

I do think a first step might be investigating whether the school knows what your DD can do, and also whether she can do at school the things that she can do when 1:1 at home.

For DS, Reception was fine, because the play-based curriculum didn't put any formal ceilings on his work - if he wanted to practice multi-digit subtraction while 'playing' on the blackboard in the school role play area, his teacher could document that. However, in Y1 there was more whole-class teaching, 'closed' worksheets etc, and it was harder to show the 'extra' he was capable of doing. It was then that the main issues arose, though the SENCo did her best by assessing e.g. reading ability, maths ability through assessments meant for much higher years - it was just the delivery of suitable work in the classroom didn't then happen.

However, what also became apparent was that DS's anxiety in school meant he didn't do things there that I knew he COULD do perfectly well at home, and it is always worth bearing in mind the effect of the school environment on a child's 'demonstrated achievement' there.

I don't think the arrangement you are thinking about is really suited to this sort of child, fleck schooling works best for kids with behaviour/anxiety problems and need time to adjust to full time school .
I think if you are not happy with the school and you have spoken to them numerous times with suggestions of things they can be doing for your DD and they aren't doing anything then you need to find another school that is better suited
DS1 school is brilliant, they do forest school sessions, they have lovely grounds with a woodland walk and log circles etc, they split children into ability groups for maths and literacy so will be with older children if ability dictates, DS1 teacher in year 1 created a special spelling challenge game for him as the normal spellings were so far below his level was a waste of time doing them, he's in year 5 now and in a special maths group for a couple of them that are especially bright. He goes to a special social skills club and his teacher encouraged and helped him set up a maps club at lunchtime.
I don't think a school is going to let you miss school to go and climb trees etc, they would probably agree to an arrangement if she was going to a music programme or some other special educational setting that was formally arranged. When I was in primary school I went to a music programme at the secondary school for 1 afternoon a week. They took a couple of kids from each primary school that had musical talent.

When selecting a different school for DS, I used available school data [unfortunately the type of data i used is no longer published in such a sortable form] to identify schools with a significant number of high achievers who made good progress, because what he most needed was a peer group - and if there are several children of like ability, rather than a single outlier, the school will tend to make more regular provision for them. You may alsio need a reasonably large school - 2 form entry as a minimum - because again, simply speaking statistically, children at the ends of ability curves are rarer, so a larger cohort is needed to have a consistent presence of such children.

If you use this www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/ to look at and compare your school and the others available top you, you may find 'performance by prior attainment' an informative section to use. It will tell you the number of children who attained well at KS1 (that's the number of high attaining pupils given); the progress of this group through KS2 and the % of this group who achieve at the higher level in reading, writing and maths. The current data for writing is regarded as unreliable by statisticians, so if that is anomalous, ignore it.

Although of course data is not the whole story, it can be useful in looking at how schools that could 'appear' similar in fact are very different for specific groups of children.

OP, I currently flexi-school my summer born 5 yr old and it works brilliantly. It is all about finding the correct school, which enthusiastically supports flexi-schooling. My DC attends school 2 days per week and we home educate the other days. It is a fabulous way to approach education and we find it relaxing and hugely beneficial.

Home education can be super efficient - we can cover for instance literacy and numeracy rather quickly as it is one-to-one or we can spend extended periods of time on a project that my DC is really enjoying. My DC does not miss out on those days away from school, in fact he is fully accepted by peers and teachers and returns to school each week happy and confident as though he has never been away. Should there be a special event at school - such as a school trip or performance - my DC can attend if he wants to. Our DC has blossomed through flexi-schooling!

We started flexi-schooling last week. My DD is in year 5 and has dyslexia. She goes to school 3 days a week and we home ed 2 days a week. Going well so far- but early days.