Day release college courses for 14 - 16 year olds

[Yorkiekaz4]

Please can someone help!, my son is due to decide his options by the end of February. He is not very academic and has dyslexia. At a local college they do a day release course in agriculture & gardening which my son would like to do when he leaves school, I have applied for a place for him. I informed the school about the course and asked them if this would be OK. They have just got back to me and said that they won't support it as it will interfere with his other studies. According to his predicted grades he will probably leave school without a relevant qualification, but this course would potentially give him an NVQ. What are my rights as a parent? Can I take him out of school for 1 day a week to attend, or do I need to find him another school. He hasn't been offered a place at college yet (maybe he won't be) if he is offered a place what do I do?...

Are you prepared to fund the course, they usually are quite expensive and this may well be why the school is saying no.
If you tell them it will not cost them anything then they may be more accomodating. It will impact on all his other grades though due to the routinely missed lessons.

Thanks for that. I have spoke to the college today and they say the school have to authorise it as they have my sons funding for his education and they can't take payment from us!,so we're back to square one. Waiting to hear from the headteacher to arrange a meeting so he can explain their reasons!,

Do you feel your son is benefiting from his other courses at school, despite the fact he is not on track to get any qualification through school?

If not, you could home educate and let him go on the agriculture course. Colleges can now claim costs for 14-16 year old home educated kids directly from the government in just the same way they do with older learners. You might be able to include similar relevant opportunities which are targeted to his strengths and interests. For example, he could stuck into some voluntary work which appeals to him and gives him work experience. That could set him up better for the future.

The school I work at does facilitate pupils doing courses at the local Further Education college. I suspect we are phasing it out though as it is now seen as more important that they get some academic qualifications in the core subjects. So many more doors are open to them if they can pass English & Maths GCSEs.

But in terms of the current arrangement, yes the school gets charged & school budgets are incredibly tight now. Plus it involves juggling the timetable or the pupils miss out on other lessons. Plus there is the issue of getting the pupils there and back. So I can see why a school wouldn't be keen on allowing this tbh if they don't already have arrangements in place as it would be a pita.

However, I do know that some schools allow extended work experience placements in some cases so perhaps you could ask about that? If you could find a local company. Though it will depend on how old your son is as there are restrictions on working hours for under 16s. The other option is to ask the college if any local schools send their pupils on the course & see if you can transfer your son to one of those schools.

The school have to fund it as a day release, but you can attend FE colleges full time from age 14.

You could - but think seriously and talk to all relevant parties, withdraw your son from school and send him to college full time.

Alternatively is your son a pupil premium pupil? If so you can ask for the funding to be paid to you (or the college) rather than the school - not many parents are aware of this.

Thankyou everyone for your messages. I have been in further talks with the school again and there is a slight glimmer of hope, when I mentioned that I was more than willing to sort the transport out. But I won't get my hopes up just yet. The college is too far to travel on a daily basis, and I work and don't feel I am the person to home teach my son!