Saturday school

[howdydude]

Hi. I am considering a secondary school for my son which has a lot of boarders. My son would be a day student. However for personal reasons I do not want him to attend Saturday school. Do you think this is possible? Thanks.

No. If the school includes Saturday school that is not optional

No, you won't be able to opt out of Saturday School

I know of one local prep school where they tell you that Saturdays are optional.

Most schools that have boarders and Saturday school teach a full set of lessons on Saturday mornings…so, no, not usually possible.

Not in my experience
I was a day pupil at a boarding school and had 4 x40 minute lessons with a break on Saturday mornings.
Sport was almost obligatory on Saturday afternoons too so ended up being a full day
DD had full morning of lessons Saturday too (Boarding)

@howdydude , no it won't be possible, your ds would be marked as absent if he didn't attend a school session on a Saturday. But it's worth counting up how many Saturdays he will need to be there, the school year may be 30 weeks and if you take away the half term and exeat Saturdays when there is no school the amount is less than you imagine.

No, not unless it's purely a co-curricular Saturday program (which is uncommon at secondary level).

Schools with Saturday academic lessons have them in place of lessons on one or more afternoons during the week. They're not extra, they're part of the core timetable. If Saturday school is a deal-breaker for your family then that's not the school for your child.

I’d be surprised if it was optional and even more surprised if anyone calls it a 'secondary’ school. Senior, independent or occasionally grammar or high but never secondary

They may allow it if your son is doing something significant on a Saturday, like playing football for the county, or singing at a conservatoire, that sort of thing. Ask them.

I’d be surprised if it was optional and even more surprised if anyone calls it a 'secondary’ school. Senior, independent or occasionally grammar or high but never secondary

These are all types of secondary school, and specifying that this will be secondary level not pre-prep or primary is relevant to OP's question. Where are you from that the collective term "secondary school" to indicate that age level is surprising?

Mine are at a part boarding school with Saturdays, and we call it secondary school....

Anyway, no, it won't be optional. It's also imo absolutely fine - they got to used to being there on Saturdays in about a week - and there are plenty of Saturdays off. But obviously could be an issue for you if it clashes with something else.

If it is full lessons not eg, sport or supervised prep it won’t be optional. It’s a huge commitment imo even with the Saturdays off and I would be wary.

I don’t understand the point of asking here.
There could be 100 schools with a Saturday timetable and 99 will allow you to miss it. But you could be asking about the 1 that doesn’t.

The answer is almost certainly not but, surely you ask the school?

Not optional especially if its state boarding as they have longer holidays and have to notch up minimum state hours.

Thank you everyone. Really helpful. I'm struggling to get through to the school as it's the summer holidays and my son is due to start next week.

Which school is it?

Gosh, that’s a drip feed! Starting next week.

What do they do at Saturday school?
My friend's DD had to attend hers, she ended up flexi boarding quite quickly as it was not so easy for her to get to school on a Saturday (buses, etc)

If he is already starting next week surely you should have sorted this before accepting a place. Why did you apply to the school in the first place if this is a problem for you?

Long story and difficult personal circumstances. My husband has just left me 3 days ago. Completely out of the blue. I have 2 other children and I'm trying to figure out logistics but Saturday school will make things very tricky for us

I am so sorry does the school offer flexi boarding or are there decent transport links so he can take public transport on Saturday?

It does offer flexibility boarding but I can't afford that. I'll look into public transport but unlikely that will work. I'm really hoping the school allows him to opt out of Saturday school as it will make things so much easier (I can take all 3 kids to my mums - I'm a doctor and work every other Saturday) but I don't think they will as they do academic learning in the morning followed by sport.

No, it’s part of the deal

Is there a day school option?

I am sorry but its pretty unlikely, especially if there are normal lessons.
I was a Day pupil at Boarding school years ago and we had ordinary lessons until 12.30 on Saturdays

They won’t

However - you might be able to do a deal where they throw in Friday night boarding - so I’d explain your problem, as if you can opt out - they’ll say no - and then I’d ask if they can help by doing this.

You never know

School transport?
I know this is not your question but your DH has left you and not the children. Can he not help out on the Saturdays you need?