Home schooling due to mental health challenges

[SpidieMum]

I wonder if anyone can help shed light on a question I am currently pondering. My DD has developed anxiety and to our devastation started self harming. Due to this I am considering taking her out of school, which I think (but she can't tell me or her counsellor) could be causing some of the issue, to home school her.
Before I have a conversation with her I wondered if anyone else had been in this situation and what they did?
I'm not a qualified teacher and definitely would struggle at GCSE level support, shes going into year 9 in September.
Socially would she be OK?
Mentally would we be OK?
I need to work for finanical reasons so am worried about that. Can I claim any benefits?
Any thoughts or experiences?
Thanks in advance

I am a lone working parent, my youngest son has been homeschooled since age 13 due to similar issues.
I researched into homeschooling for many months previous as well as deschooling.
You can still claim child benefit and working tax credits.
There is so much free information, tutorials, past exam papers all online. Alongside with the revision books from Amazon my son sat his exams at a local independant college as a private candidate, and he passed with highest grades possible.
There is no need for you to teach him, or bring in tutors or pay for online schooling, it is all there online, you just have to search for it. The only things we paid for were the revision books and the exam fees.
He is now starting his A levels and working part time, his mental health is miles better, much happier in himself, and he is very motivated and self disciplined.

Personally, unless you actually want to EHE I wouldn’t deregister. Parents often find it easier to get support if DC remain on a school’s roll even if DC can’t attend. Crudely, you are someone’s ‘problem’, whereas if you EHE it is easier for others to sweep DC’s needs under the carpet and the LA will say you are making suitable alternative arrangements and they are relieved of their duties.

If DD can’t attend school full time due to her MH the LA have a statutory duty to provide alternative arrangements under s.19 of the Education Act 1996.

Also, consider applying for an EHCNA.

You won’t get any benefits just because you EHE. DD may be eligible for DLA depending on her needs, but that isn’t dependent on whether she is EHE or not.

This is definitely possible. I home educate my 9 year old and we belong to a group with HE teenagers who are studying GCSEs outside of school. One thing to be aware of is the Schools Bill, which MPs are currently trying to push through parliament which could make it much more difficult. Google it, there's loads of information and it's something all parents need to know as it erodes our right to make decisions exactly like the one you're considering now. Hope your daughter feels better soon, my daughter is so much happier outside of school, she has more friends without the playground politics. And is more confident academically, and is firmly her own person without the peer pressure of school.

Thank you so much everyone I'll keep doing my research.

If you have to work and are not qualified enough to teach her, why would this be even a possibility? I think the best thing you can do is to get your dd some mental health support. Yes, she might need some time out of school but deregistering her and taking responsibility for her education is quite a risk. Most teenagers, contrary to what Moonface's ds did, are not capable to doing it all themselves using some online resources and revision books.

If you're going to try home education, now would be the right time to do it. This is because if your daughter has some time out of school and then the two of you decide it's best for her to return, she can return in time to do GCSEs there. By contrast, if you were to take her out, say, for part of Y10 then it's very very hard to rejoin school once she's missed a chunk of the GCSE syllabus.

Starting school - or even changing schools - during the "GCSE years" shows up the rigidity of the school system at its worst. It's notoriously difficult for schools to accommodate new joiners who arrive much after the start of Y10.

It will be a challenge to look after your daughter's social and emotional needs if you are working full-time out of the home. Depending what is causing her anxiety, it may still be better for her than going to school, but it's far from ideal. I would say that that challenge is greater than the academic challenge. There are lots of ways to do academics, ranging from local tutor-led study groups and online schools to self-directed study or part-time 14-16 classes at a local college. You do not need to be a teacher to enable this.

You might like to come over to the home ed board for more advice from people who have done what you're considering. Sadly, mental health issues are driving many young people out of the school system. There are many parents who have been through this.

Be aware some schools start GCSEs in Y9.