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..

There’s going to be a lot of ground to cover, especially in Year 6. Its not just the academic side but the social side. It’s a big leap from being at home, doing things at your pace to then go to year 6 then start secondary.
If he feels scared of other children then what’s going to change after Christmas? He’ll have got out of the habit of being in a large group.

I am not sure he will get out of the habit of being in a large group. He has friends outside school.

He does sports that involve large groups (obviously curtailed at the moment due to covid but this will pick up again).

He does not have lots of friends outside school but the friends he have are solid and will still play with him.

He will not struggle with year 6 maths in the state sector.

He will need to do more on English work.

The more I think about it his schooling has been poor.

I should add that as a school that does not have full capacity it is not like his class is large .. all the more reason to realise that even with small class sizes the school can not seem to displace children effectively.

I should add my child is someone who loves school or the idea of it.

He will not be late.

He will contribute.

But I think the school has wore him down. He knows the racism is unfair.

kisstheteapot another factor in my decision is that is the school does shut down again I have no confidence in the school providing real home learning.

I do think others such as those shielding will continue to homeschool.

We are in unprecedented times.

@Jigglypuff2

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.

In Bucks the cut off date has already passed for out of county entrants to register for the 11+ even though the exam will be in November.

You might want to check your registration dates pretty sharpish.

Thanks tork I registered for the state grammars in good time.

But will you want to commit spaces on the caf for grammars for which you will not yet know he will pass and live close enough to qualify for a place? Potentially at the expense of good non selective local schools. Are you expecting to move?

Yes we expect to move.

The secondary schools where we are are not great.

Before October application deadline? Or any late address change deadline assuming LA allows it.

Well we hope to move eventually anyway as our house is very small and I would like a garden.

Would not move especially for grammar.

I just would like my son to be able to have a go at the 11 plus.

I do feel we need to move eventually for secondary school.

There must be some areas with good secondary schools that are state.

We do also have some secondary private options that I think would suit if we could manage financially.

There are not good non selective schools where we are.

I had very much hoped it would improve.

When our children were younger we just assumed we would send out children to be local school. Now because of some serious failings I don't think we can do that.