Need more inputs on flexi-schooling for year 7

[meconscious]

Hi everyone,
We recently came across "flexi-schooling" term. My DC is currently in year 7. She is bright and want to focus on bunch of things (mathematics, programming...). Going daily to school is/will affect her deep learning in her desired areas. We thought of home-education - in which "socialization" is the area for which we don't have any answer yet(being new to country - just here from past 5 months).
Kindly share your views/experiences.

Thank you in advance!

Hey OP, home education is very possible as long as you have the skills and expertise to support your child - and the availability (so for example, you wfh). It's often supported by tutors IME at secondary level, so that the DC can have the necessary support in specific areas such as science or MFL. There are strong HE communities in the UK and DC can still have an active social life.

There is no such thing AFAIK as flexi-schooling where a chid attends school part time - unless for some over-arching medical reason (such as a long-term illness requiring a lot of hospital time, or perhaps issues around ND and anxiety meaning a part-time timetable is agreed with the school).

A secondary school will not want you and your DD to pick and choose which lessons she attends - if that is what you mean.

If you don't want to HE, have you considered external cubs in the evenings and at weekends to support your DD in the areas she wants to work harder at? There are loads of online courses and in-person activities and events relating to maths and computing.

Flexischooling is becoming increasingly popular in primary school, but less so in Secondary. If you're on Facebook the page called Flexischooling families - there is a lot of information on there.

I approached school in year 9 when my DD was struggling with her mental health. At first they didn't like the sound of it at all but we did manage to find a compromise. So before you do anything, you need to speak to the head to see if it's even possible. My daughter had to attend Maths, English and Science, so it was a lot of hard work dropping her off and picking her up around the timetable. She didn't go at all one day a week. It did work really well and she's now back at school full time, but it's a commitment from all parties.

Going daily to school is/will affect her deep learning in her desired areas
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I don’t agree with this statement. If she is bright and motivated, she will be able to go to school AND explore her favourite subjects in more depth in her own time. The school day isn’t that long.
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That's a good example of the sort of thing I meant - I also know of DC who have set up a part-time timetable bc of issues around mental health, ND, anxiety - it's great that you were able to work with the school and work something out.

I think what the OP is suggesting is for different reasons tho so school may not be so on board?

I very much doubt that schools will be open to flexi schooling simply so that a child can v focus on the subjects that she likes best. The school's job is to private a broad and balanced education.

If the child is bright and wants to focus more on particular subjects, can't she just go to school and do stuff to pursue her interests in her free time? There are plenty of hours in the week!

What country and system have you moved from and where are you living? In England they study English language and literature, Maths and Science at gcse at 16 as a minimum, with English and Maths passes mandatory for progression and employability. The other subjects are determined by timetables, facilities and staffing so your dc still has the chance to focus on their interests within the framework. The school-day is not so long that online courses are not an option. Flexi schooling in Secondary is unusual as it combines school attendance and HE, is that what you mean?

Thank you, all your valuable inputs!
I missed mentioning that we want her to go deep in her favourite subjects, at the same time, we don't want to overburden her. Currently, she has all-rounded personality(good in music, interested in various sports - good in some). We want to carve out time during school hours(so she doesn't have to study all day) to pursue her interests in sports, maths, programming, music.
From above messages, it is clear that we have to talk to head teacher directly or else home schooling is the best option for us.😊

But she is what 11/12? Perhaps allow her to be well-rounded for now and specialise later. Lots of schools offer sport, music, computing during the school day or as cocurricular activities. Is it state or private?

It sound like home schooling will be the most accessible way of doing what you want to do.

We'll have to agree to differ on whether the approach that you're suggesting is likely to be beneficial for your dc. From my perspective, it sounds like a terrible idea but I guess we all do what we think is best.

Sounds like home education could really suit but you will need support to get familiar with UK exams system etc. Lots of groups on Facebook and charities that can help.

@clary my daughter wouldn't have been able to pick and choose her subjects no, and I think this is what the OP wants. It was either pull her out completely and then risk not getting back in, or do the core subjects and miss the rest. The head had one ask - to get back to school full time for year 11 as those with poor attendance can't go to prom. In the heads words "if anyone deserved to go to prom, it was my daughter". Luckily she was back in full time towards the end of year 9.

I think we're lucky to have an understanding school, but they didn't want me to say anything about it publicly or on social media.

For the OP, homeschooling might be your best option and one I would have chosen had I not worked full time. Plus, I'm not educated enough. She will miss out terribly on the social interaction, which is something I worried about. Perhaps you could get her a tutor for the subjects you really want her to focus on?

She is 12 in state school. Though not fully, from the school system, one thing is clear - they want to make every child same. Whosoever is able to attain uniqueness is because of extra effort by parents/child or by coming out of system. I think I need to work on homeschooling groups. Anyone having leads, kindly share. I will check FB!

@itsallabitofamystery This is helpful. I am also concerned about social interaction part.

Look on face book lots of local home ed groups, one of the biggest nationally is HEFA uk - home education for all uk - they provides lots of advice.

I agree with others @meconscious that HE may be the best way to do what you want.

I also agree with @LIZS that she is vey young to be deciding this sort of focus. Maths, music, computing, sport - all good. But English, science, MFL, history, geography, tech, drama, art, RS - all also useful and interesting.

If you do HE I would highly recommend tutors for subjects where you do not yourselves have specialist knowledge. That might be science or MFL or Eng lit or maths or other subjects; obviously there will be a cost here.

I cannot agree btw that schools want to make everyone the same. Where did you get this idea? Yes, all schools want to ensure as many students as possible can attain a certain level in key subjects; but all the secondary schools I have known are happy to celebrate success in a range of different subjects, whether that be via an art exhibition, a music concert, sporting fixtures, drama productions, maths and science projects, or specialism and excellence in eng lit or history or geography. I'd give it a bit more of a chance if I were you tbh.

My son is diagnosed AuDHD and finds school overwhelming. He is very bright and we asked his school if he could flexischool and they agreed. He spends 1.5 days a week at home, doing his own thing, and the rest at school. He attends pretty much all core lessons, the ones he struggles with are things like RS, art and performing arts. All things he will drop when he reaches GCSE options, so we’re not bothered about him missing them. He doesn’t need a ‘well-rounded’ education - he needs a tailored curriculum that plays to his strengths not highlighting his weaknesses which damages his mental health. Flexischooling is a great way to help children who can’t cope with the stifled way secondary state schools are currently being run. Happy to PM you with more of my experiences if it would help @meconscious

How good is her English? (is it her first language?). I think it would be a big mistake to focus purely on music, maths, computing and sports at aged 11/12.

Very supportive of home/flexi school, but I would say I think it's important that children do things they are bad at/ not naturally inclined to. The worry with a super personalised curriculum is that the world of work isn't super personalised. In any degree/ job there are aspects that you're good at & enjoy and aspects you're not.
Just something to bear in mind x

I have a very high ability 14 year old dd who competes at the top end of national at her chosen sport.

She is very settled in a state school.

I actually really like the fact that she gets the “normal teenage life” from school. She has a nice group of friends, she worries about her science test, she thinks the history teacher is a bit mad and…. there is a boy that she goes purple whenever his name is mentioned (not sure she has ever got as far as speaking to him but there is something there…..)

Her sport is getting very serious and very exciting / scary very fast. And if she carries on at her current level it will only get more so.

She also gets a lot educationally from school that we could never give her ourselves. She is currently doing a music module. 2 hours a week of music for about 3 months. Dh and I are not musical and she doesn’t play a musical instrument (too busy doing more sports than Katerina Johnson-Thompson!) so it seemed a total waste of time. But it turns out that she is a little bit musical. They are doing composition and she is able to hear the music in her head (or something - I don’t get it!) It is not something that she can explore now (no time!) but one day, maybe, it is something that she now knows that she likes and can come back to. She’s also really enjoyed Product Design - a GCSE I barely knew existed and would have hated.

The one thing that makes me a bit sad is that she hasn’t really been able to engage with the gifted programme. (Our city runs a big city wide thing for the top few ability wise including lectures, workshops, summer schools and extra GCSEs.) But nearly all of them clash with one training session or other. But you can’t have everything. And she has a lot.

If you take your dd out of school to focus on STEM, music and sport then she will miss out on discovering that she has a natural French accent or that she is intrigued by WW2. And that seems a real shame.