talented athlete no support from school

[pc2239]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if we have any rights in relation to my son.He is the current under 12 WAKO kickboxing champion and the under 16 world silver medalist.(won Sony pictures search for the UK karate kid) He trains 5 days a week totaling 15 hrs yet his school will not give him any support.Even at this young age his ambition is to run a martial arts academy or get into films.The school will not allow him to drop some subjects in order that he can do his homework and further his training in school time.Any advice would be appreciated.I want my son to have a balanced education however he has shown immense ability and potential and deserves his schools support.We applied for a sports academy but was refused as we do not live in the correct catchment area

Only 15 hours a week?

That is not too much - my DS who is in Year 7 does 25 hours a week of training in his sport and doesn't get any time off school or miss any lessons.

He has had to learn to organise his time properly and he knows that his education comes first because what happens if he gets an injury? Or if he decides he wants to do something else in his life?

He does get authorised leave for competitions but the team/academy has a professional tutor who helps them keep up with their work.

This is a great opportunity for him to learn time management etc.

my son is a talented swimmer, and trains around 7 hours a week. This is because he is 10. As he gets older, he will need to train up to 18 hours a week. He also plays footie and rugby, so add another 4 hours of exercise into the mix.

However, the chances of him making it big in his sports is limited, and even hen, apart from footballers, when did you ever meet a millionaire who swam (Michael Phelps excluded).

My son needs to learn to be organised and manage is time. He needs a well balanced curriculum, he needs to explore all his options for future careers. Just because he want to bean olympian when he grows up doesnt make it so. He may be a budding thespian. He may discover electronics and be blown away.

By adjusting his curriculum, you are short changing him.

This is very typical of UK schools I think. In the US where my family lived, schools normally finish at 3PM for all kids (no long break during the day, why is it needed anyway?) and if a child is doing some sport seriously outside school he would not have PE and is free at 2PM. I always suspected that the fact that UK is not doing greatly in international competition is down to inflexible school system. Good luck to you and you talanted son!