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..

I would be inclined to send him back to school in September as there will have been a reset in the class anyway and maybe some of the other children will be more mature and realise they can be nicer to your son. If the year 6 teacher is better all round she should be able to help your son academically as well as making sure any bullying is dealt with.
Then if things are not satisfactory, pull him out after half a term or a term knowing you have given it a go, and knowing homeschooling will also be fine to go back to. And missing the SATs revision heavy term and the post-SATs dossing about term.
I think that would be better than missing the term when they all settle back in, and coming back later, then possibly leaving again.
Good luck whatever you decide and hope that your son has a better experience of school in year 6 and beyond.

Sorry I didn’t realise that I hadn’t read the whole thread. If you suspect the year 6 teacher is rubbish too and you have another option of primary school then definitely try that from September.

Keep him home. Build him up. Yes cover year 6 stuff but dabble with bits from year 7 if you get time to peak his interest and boost his confidence for secondary.

Pretty low tolerance for any racism in the secondary schools I’ve worked at both from staff and students of colour. Disappointing that his current school didn’t have a strong response and clear policy.

TW2013
I didn't think you were getting at me, don't worry. I just wanted to emphasise that the allocation of resources is more a funding and resourcing problem rather than teachers putting children into boxes or pigeonholing them by sats scores.
You're spot on on the top set situation. So many hours of time gets wasted with phone calls that are based on:
Parent: but my DC was top in primary school, their teacher said they are gifted
School: nobody is disputing your DC is able, but your child has gone from top table in a class of 30 to being in the top 60 in a year group of 250 and top set doesn't have 60 spaces

Jigglypuff2 It doesn't sound like they've done anywhere near enough. As you say, you expect teething problems but not genuinely poor provision. If the year 6 teacher isn't strong then they're unlikely to undo the damage from year 5 in my opinion.

I think you're right and your best options are to home school for the year or move schools for year 6. Doing home school and then returning seems to get you the worst of both worlds.

In a way I feel that the school are brushing the treatment and bullying under the carpet because they probably realise they should have had some kind of proper response.

But for me, it is the lack of school engagement and work during lock down which has really shown me issues. In addition I felt my son was at the start of the year picking up a bit of the language and mocking tone that some of the kids in his class use. Even at this age some of them seem to glamorise drug racking and gangs.

Re Lockdown - if the school had said - look we are behind, look we are not ready why don't you look at bbc Bitesize that would be fine.

However what I get from them, when I finally got hold of them was no apology. In fact what I got was a standard message that teachers are being deployed elsewhere so you can't expect communication with your normal year teacher and don't forget to keep working at home.

I do not get my son to do lots and lots of work but we have whizzed through Maths and he has started to do some year 7 type topics off his own back.

In terms of science he is very interested in experiments. His writing is actually very good and he has been working on that.

He says to me that he does lots more at home.

He says that is he did go back he thinks only him and another girl in the class will have done work and they will probably be teased for doing it from the bullies.
He does say he wish he could see his friends more - so they good eggs in his class he will and does miss / but I really think that is about it.

And thanks to everyone on this thread.

When I actually think about all the little incidents I think my husband and I in the vein of trying to make sure our son is rounded and just gets on with things, have in a way minimised things too.

Honeybadger thank you, it does seem right to keep him at home and build him up.

When I now think of all the little incidents here and there I can't actually believe it took lockdown for me to really see the school for what it is. My son is lovely, so lovely most of the time. He deserves better.

Absolutely keep him at home for year 6 - after Christmas in year 6 is just SATS practice ad infinitum. If your ds is surging ahead now, he’ll find that boring.

We home educated from June year 4 to end of primary with ds, mainly because of a badly organised school and bullying. He took the 11 plus and a private school entrance exam and we were able to really focus on those for a few weeks. After they were done he had a pretty relaxed and fun year 6 to be honest. He went to grammar school in year 7, wasn’t behind at all and settled fine.

I would either send him for year 6 or home educate him for the year. I don’t think a mismatched approach is a good idea.

I know people are saying about building resilience which to an extent I agree with, but surely if you were working and there was a sustained history over a number of years of bullying at work and despite raising it with management it was just brushed under the carpet, would you not leave and find a different job? Our children don't have that agency so sometimes we have to make those decisions in the hope that they then have the confidence as adults to recognise when is the time to find a new role.

You do realise that the 11 plus exams happen on 10-12th September don't you?

If the y6 teacher is so Competent why wouldn't you give your child the opportunity of benefitting from this for the whole year?

You have 7.5 weeks to focus on building up his emotional resilience.

You do realise that the 11 plus exams happen on 10-12th September don't you?

Depends where and many are now being delayed, or delays are being considered.

Confused as to why OP is preparing son for 11+, when she has said she is outside grammar school area and that private secondary may not be an option financially. I know year 6 is crap for state school primary kids, endless frontal adverbials... but I think the social impact would be counter productive ahead of secondary school. Also, what about the impact on the sibling? Will they resent other child having so much attention?

On the contrary, we found the social impact of home ed to be positive in preparation for secondary. I remember ds saying he wasn’t nervous about going to secondary knowing no one as he was used to going to home ed days out, at museums and the like, knowing no one and having to work with others. So he wasn’t afraid to strike up conversations with new children.

He also went to a regular home ed group where he had friends.

If you decide to homeschool you need to be prepared to continue all year. Does attendance at this, or any other primary, give priority for a particular secondary - you may lose this by homeschooling.

If you were querying sats for private schools it is clear you have much homework to do if this is a route you want to pursue. Generally the answer is they are not relevant, most preps do not use them. You say you are doing 11+ prep but private school entrance tests differ widely, it is not one size fits all and there are interviews. Often the assessment is spread over a day including social activities, with callbacks for scholarships for music, sport, drama etc. Do you need financial assistance to make it work, would you meet bursary criteria and be prepared for ongoing scrutiny? You may need to register soon and already be too late to do so for some selectives, state or private. Alternatively is a prep school with year 7/8 provision an option although this might limit options for secondary entry or a feeder prep for year 6 with a secondary to progress to.

solomummy yes so the state grammar exams may take place in September or they may be delayed.

The 11 plus for private schools are more likely to take place in early jan 21.

The post from TW2013 on Saturday at around 11 am really resonated.

I feel this is a decision we have to make.

Taking time out from normal state school would allow me to try plug any gaps In learning. It would allow me to help build confidence.

There will applications for state grammar (September or when the revised exams will be held) and likely January 11 plus exams for private schools in Jan 2021. Around where I am the private school exams are called 11 plus .. as are the state grammar school exams .. although I understand the content may vary greatly.

But even if state 11+ exams are delayed , registration deadlines to sit them and the secondary application deadline in October may not be. Also for private the application deadline may be early Autumn term for assessment in Jan 2021 and to submit any bursary application

Doesn't registration for state grammar need to be done now, or has even passed? And OP, are you in a grammar school area? I got the impression that you were not?

We are thinking of home schooling for 6 months to a year (depending on if a space is free come next spring). Covid related as vulnerable parent healthwise but ours has really thrived at home. He will be Y6 next year and is well behind peers. I love the school but on balance it feels like a better option for us all. I think home school can offer a space to some children to develop and flourish if school is less than ideal for various reasons. Thought about carefully you can fulfill all their needs. As @IndiaPlace said, I think a fair few families will choose this option where practical - after a positive lockdown learning time.

DH doesn't agree though. Not sure how we move on from stalemate at our house.

Of course, even before COVID there is the little known option of flexi schooling. Some schools do have a policy for this, working with parents to agree an offer to meet the child's needs.
This can be a great compromise, it can also be tricky for some pupils as 'being in and out' is more difficult than the constant of either in full time or not at all.

Really depends on the child.

I am not in a grammar area but I have registered for the grammars.

The private schools I am looking at do not have a deadline yet but it will be in a month or so.

I mean I have registered for the state grammar tests.

Flexi schooling might be an option. I would be worried about the bullies. When I looked into flexi schooling I could not find support for it. This is because I believe the child would be marked as absent.

Anyhow when I looked at it with the DFE I could not find broad support anywhere? Perhaps there has been a chance to accommodate flexi schooling ?

Our school has suggested flexi but I am concerned he would still be in bar 1 day when at home.

In class of 30.

Not very Covid Secure however you look at it, despite school's best efforts.

Hi why did your school suggest flexi?

Yes I did wonder about it being covid secure?