Homeschool in September for 1 term?

[Jigglypuff2]

Hello,

I have a year 5 child who will be in year 6 in September.

During the lockdown the current year 5 teacher has provided hardly any work or contact. Work consisted of a 2 page maths sheet and one page on grammar.

When I enquired about extra resources I was then provided with an app for online learning.

The teacher called me once and got my child mixed up with another child. In short, I honestly feel the teacher does not seem to cope.

My younger child at the same school was provided with a great deal more work and contact from his teacher.

For what it is worth .. my son gets on with some children in the class, he gets on very well with kids in the neigbourhood and in his external activities. However there are a few kids In the class who have really severe behaviour issues, violence and swearing seems to happen regularly. One tried to destroy a table. There have been a couple of racism incidents towards my son .. that I don't think the school have dealt with, but it may be really the year 5 teacher was not coping anyway. So my son has some confidence issues and is a bit scared of some children .

So my idea is:

Homeschool my son for the first term of year 6. Enter 11 plus and see how he goes at getting into a good school.

See about him returning to school in the second term of year 6.

If you off-roll your child can you then return to state education?

How much notice would I need to tell his current school that he is not returning to September?

Can I speak to school about my child returning to school after a term or homeschool?

The reason I might do this is that the year 6 teacher is excellent so I would have a term trying to boost my son's confidence, improve his results and then hopefully return with some resilience under his belt and be ready to face the world and leave primary when he leaves for secondary school. The year 5 teacher is leaving the school. So maybe the school have realised that there has been real issues.

And if it counts the school is not full. Locally, it does not have a great reputation so I think a spot would still be open for my child.

I know it is upheaval for my child but we have been homeschooling anyway so what is another term?

Also I know I can arrange social interaction during homeschooling..

For the social side, there are lots of homeschool groups and you could also push other things like scouts/judo etc which would make him friends outside the school environment. I do think that if you have the time and patience it is a great thing to do!

Thanks Umbrella it is a big ask.

I did want to get a job!

But I feel it will be better for him.

This is it too - outside of school he does make friends.

Inside school he seems to be the odd one out - maybe partly due to his race and partly because he is a keen learner.. and that doesn't fit with the culture of the school.

From the secondary point of view lower SATs are better because makes them look better on value added at GCSE.

Although depending on the school they might have less incentive to make him work hard as he doesn't contribute towards the progress 8 scores. I know it shouldn't matter but I suspect it does sometimes.

I think keeping him out for a term sends a really strange message and would cause more problems than it solves.

1. He will be out of synch with his peers in terms of the curriculum.
2. He will perhaps find it difficult to pick up his friendships or will certainly be on the back foot here.
3. He will probably be bored and will miss the interaction with his peers.
4. The teacher that he is going to is according to you a good teacher so why would you not give him this opportunity?
5. He will come across people who are unkind in all walks of life. Don't be fooled into thinking that there isn't any bullying in private schools! You need to teach him the resilience he needs rather than keeping him at home to protect him from any hurt feelings and upset.

Cansu - I think he is out of sync with his peers already.

I think for too long my husband and I have just let him be resilient and deal with things .

Yes he has his whole life ahead of him for people to be mean and cruel but if I can provide a more positive environment for him then shouldn't at least try?

Yes if it all goes wrong he can go back to the school environment.

He is 9 not 16.

And I totally know there will be bullying in all types of schools.

It is not the bullying but how the school deals with it.

If this was any other year of primary I would just move him to another primary school.

Seems like it would be best to homeschool for a year or try school in September - the term only idea sounds confusing to me but up to you of course!

Private schools won't worry about sats but you'll need to register him ASAP for their entrance exams which will be in the autumn term.

Yes.. although I feel let's say I homeschool ..
If it all goes well we continue to homeschool.

If it does not go well, then he goes back to school a term late or goes to an entirely different school.

There will be other children that will have interrupted terms due to covid - 19.
I guess I have to back myself but also be realistic.

Although the new teacher is well rated I don't have first hand knowledge. Teachers do seem to drop like flies at the school too.

And thank you everyone for all your comments.

I greatly appreciate it.

Have a lovely weekend.

I wouldn't worry about the SATs / they are only for school rankings, matter not a hot in secondary, although the school will try to scare you by saying that secondaries depend on them for setting. From the secondary point of view lower SATs are better because makes them look better on value added at GCSE.
Many secondary schools do use them for setting and then also do their own internal assessments as well. That's not scare-mongering. It's reality.

Equally, secondary schools are judged on progress 8 so a child with lower sats can attain less to make expected progress by y11. Whilst some schools are in a position to capitalise on the lower entry to get higher P8 scores, most will be throwing most of their effort and attention to those students who are likely to bring the whole cohort's P8 score down. An able student with a lower sats score is unlikely to be a priority for a school (on a cohort level, not individual teacher btw) if they're on track to score 0 on P8, which is expected progress. There's enough students who are coached for SATS, score 110+ and have targets of 8s for GCSE for schools to have intervention lists as long as their arms.

As a classroom teacher I give my gsce students my all, regardless of their target grades, but the reality is I've had countless conversations where I've put forward students I think would be perfect for intervention or more able sessions and been told no because their target is 5, they're already on a 6+ and there's no space.

I think you should

Home school him for the whole year (and get his name down for selective tests for secondary asap)
Return him to his current school in September, relying on the good reputation of the Yr 6 teacher.
Move him to a new school in September

in that order.

I don't think homeschooling for one term is a good plan because he will just return for the most stressful/miserable term of secondary school, whilst trying to settle back in socially etc.

Of primary school, obviously, is what I meant.

As a classroom teacher I give my gsce students my all, regardless of their target grades, but the reality is I've had countless conversations where I've put forward students I think would be perfect for intervention or more able sessions and been told no because their target is 5, they're already on a 6+ and there's no space.

That is such a shame but I am not surprised. Essentially pigeon holed at 11 as much as an 11 plus but without an exam and without parents even being aware.

That is such a shame but I am not surprised. Essentially pigeon holed at 11 as much as an 11 plus but without an exam and without parents even being aware
They're not pigeon holed by individual class teachers and I don't honestly believe school leaders want this situation, but the way schools are held accountable means that with a limited pot of money (and an increasing number of things schools have had to do in house that were external services), the harsh reality is that the school has to spend their money in the way that best fits the accountability regime.

In the end I plugged the gap myself for those students and gave them the extra, but that's not sustainable long term and it shouldn't be the norm. Unfortunately it is. There's classroom teachers working additional hours every week because they care about their students and want their students to do well. Then we come on mumsnet and see the zillions of goady threads from the loud minority about how we are lazy, work 9-3 and don't care about our students. 🤷‍♀️

No reason at all why you can't ( I'm a HT). You would need to notify school of intention to HE. The LA will check annually the quality of this, but this is a very basic check.
If I were you I would explain to the HT that you are doing this for a trial period of a term and if successful you will carry on.
You will need to reapply for a school place though if you want him to return to a school.

I think more parents are going to be doing this, there are some much less stressed, happier and 'self motivated to learn' children who won't return to school.

@LolaSmiles not getting at you at all. I know there are many really dedicated teachers, and the SMT are just doing their job. It is just a shame that that is the way the system works. Parents like it though as it gives one figure to decide which school is most highly regarded so they don't need to think too deeply, until their dc is not in top set.

Thanks again and lolasmiles yes I think it is important that there are teachers who go the extra mile. I bet it is not sustainable.

I feel incredibly let down by the school. I think the behaviour issues are not dealt with. And I think the covid situation has really showed them up. If they couldn't put anything of benefit over this entire time then it is pretty pathetic. They have sent a letter saying reports will be based on previous work, so they are not taking into account of any home schooling .. so I imagine that is because they have not provided resources to parents to carry out homeschooling .. we parents in year 5 and 6 have just been left on our own.

I have just realised that the year 6 teacher has some overview of key stage 2 so now I am not even sure about him, as honestly the school and their homeschooling provision was appalling for year 6 and year 5. I spoke to a year 6 parent this evening who also has not been impressed.

I do think now it is a case of choosing between a and b:

A. Change schools for year 6 then
Go to secondary.

B. Home education for year 6 then
Go to secondary.

I totally made the mistake and thinking primary would be ok and that I could just let me children go to the nearest primary school.

dangling so I return him to school and move to another school as soon as a place is available?

I suppose that is an option ..

And to be fair - apparently the children who returned as part of year 6 have been taught but there was no provision for the year 6 children who did not return.

They did however all get invited to some mixture of online and at school leavers service.

The school just is not up to it. Strangely key stage 1 was ok and even good.

I am best cutting my losses and getting out - homeschool or a new school is the decision.

And sorry the think I don't get it why a school can get away without provision (or in my son's case very very little)...

I fully expected teething problems and was not asking for the world but I just expected something better that a few sheets of paper and zero engagement..

At first I thought well maybe they are heckling in with vulnerable kids but no the very vulnerable kid in my son's class has had a total of 2 safeguarding type calls.

Remove "I think" in the first line

And checking not heckling..

I would absolutely home school him. If you have time to do it then there are loads of resources online and a home ed section on MN.

I think this would show him that you have his back, that he doesn't deserve to be treated appallingly by other students and get away with it.

Punishments in secondary are much harsher than missing a bit of your play time so if anything happens then he needs to know he can report it and there should be a bullying policy both on the school website and in his planner.

But for now, keep him home and build him up, work on his 11+.

I think those are 2 very valid, and probably better, choices.

Could you ask the LEA what schools currently have space for Y6 in Sept, and see what you think of those schools. You may find availability of places makes the decision for you.