Terrible school

[starfiyah]

This is the last straw. My brother has endured year 7 in this school and I’m pulling him out to homeschool him. Today was sports day and they decided to be extra and make people sign up for what activities they had to do on the Friday, of the week before. My brother was among the unlucky ones to be absent on Friday and so, come sports day on Thursday, they did nothing to make sure every child was aware of having to sign up to be able to participate on Sports day. They didn’t tell us parents in the email about it nor was it mentioned to the children on any day after Friday. My brother was forced to endure sitting in the sun the whole day and being denied any participation. He was so hurt and upset. This school for the past year has, hands down the worst communication to parents and students of all schools and organisations I have witnessed. The management is poor and aloof to the needs and issues of students and is an all-in-all a horrible school. I can provide more info for anyone wondering. I do not recommend this school one bit. I’d rather my brother go to a school further away than this place.

Which country are you in? Seems odd to involve headteacher when changing school.0

By the way this post is about Richmond Park Academy. I thought I was responding to a thread on it already. Apparently not so, there’s the name.

You shouldn’t be naming the school, particularly as you’ve referenced the Head

Thanks for getting it 🙏

I’ve never homeschooled before but I’m good at tutoring. What’s the prep that needs to be done way in advance? I’m just thinking order the CGP books for each subject and make lessons out of them?

I’m really confused - he’s your brother or your son?

She's said brother several times so I think we can assume that is correct.

I’m guessing you have custody of your brother to be able to make the decision to home ed? If your brother is unhappy and this is the tip of the iceberg then I understand your wanting to home school. My concern would be your ability to teach your brother in all subjects up to GCSE level. I am a teacher (primary) and would not feel comfortable home schooling my children because my subject knowledge is not up to GCSE level in all subjects he might want to study- eg French, Music, Physics. You may have to pay for extra tuition to ensure he is taught the full curriculum if you’re not able to- can you afford this? How will you support him socially? How will you navigate home schooling around work? I think look into it really thoroughly before making a decision to unenroll your brother

If Home Ed is possibly permanent then you also need to pay to sit GCSE’s

You don’t need a meeting with the current headteacher for an in-year admission.

How are you on a position to home school your brother, do you not work? Is this feasible until the end of his school years?

Thanks for your concern and prompting questions. But the plan is just to homeschool him for year 8 and find him a new school for year 9 and onwards.

besides, I think he will be much better off socially than in his current school. My plan is to enrol him into clubs or plan play dates with friends. He has an extracurricular online club that he’s doing since the beginning of year 7 already, so I’m thinking to get in touch with their mums(who I have met already and are very sweet).

I work one day a week atm and once September starts will only earn £38 weekly. I’ll rely on our parents for the financial support.

I do unfortunately

just for year 8

No, you don’t.

If you home Ed then you are opting out of the schooling system and there is no need for the local authority to let you back in. You would be much better trying to get a managed move.

What do your parents think ?

Why don't your parents get a say?

Why do you need a meeting?

Why wasn't he in school? They wouldn't only mention the sign up once. Time your brother grew up.

Parents/carers can decide not to continue EHE and make an in-year application. The LA/schools can’t refuse to allow a child back into the system/refuse a place just because a child has been EHE.

If you are not happy with the school then an in year move would be much easier than homeschooling. I don’t think you need the headmasters permission to change schools, just contact the school you think would suit him better and contact them and ass if they have spaces. But be aware all secondary schools expect a lot more independence and you might find the same regarding communication.

Buying some CGT books doesn’t sound like a good plan, that would get very boring very quickly. The dynamic could easily end up you nagging and him resenting you.

It's very normal for pupils to sign up to certain sports day activities, across a tutor group. Not all will go out of their way to participate. They're all involved and go out to support.

Does he want to be home schooled? Can you provide him with a good enough education that he could pass GCSEs, especially maths and English? Are you willing to pay for each of his exams?

Communication at secondary school is very different to communication at primary. You tend to know as much as your child tells you TBH.

Myself, DS & DD have all been to the same high school & had very different experiences. Sports Day was compulsory when I was there & we got allocated an event the week before. When DS was there it was more of an elite thing - only the top performers in each event were allowed to take part. DD is Year 10 now & everybody can take part if they want to but they do have to sign up a couple of weeks beforehand.

DS is, in general, terrible at passing on information so we spent the entire 7 years he was at the school not having a clue what was happening when. DD is the opposite & we are kept very well informed. It’s down to the child at Secondary level.

Why are you making decisions? Do you have PR? It’s your parents that need to withdraw and apply elsewhere not you.

And no your parents don’t need to see the head. They just apply to the Borough for an in year place. If there’s a vacancy he moves. If there isn’t they appeal.

A secondary aged kid that wanted to join in a running race though - hilarious!

A whole year of home school then back into main stream to avoid one headteacher meeting?

Really?

You're talking about him as though he were 8 and not (presumably) 12.

Unless he has SEN, parents (or sisters) don't enrol their Year 8 children in clubs or organise "play dates" for them.

If you want to find a new school, you would be best to apply now and take up a place as soon as an acceptable one becomes available.