Flexi schooling?

Hi there.

I'm after a little help and advice! Does anyone home or flexi school their children? I have 3 boys of school age 10yrs, 7yrs and 6yrs. My 7 and 6yr olds are really not happy at school and Hubby and myself are at the end of our teather with the school and the situation.

Last year, the head teacher left for pastures new. There was talk of a new head who is known to take on a headship for 3 years at a time, shake things up and make better then move onto the next troubled school. Whilst under the previous headteacher, there were no real problems and parents, children and staff ticked along quite happily. Everyone was happy. The school had an amazingly good reputation and was definatley not in need of a shake up.

Since the new headmistress has taken over, alot of children are not happy. More that alot of the parents are unhappy and stressed at not getting solutions to their children's problems. Nearly all of the staff have had enough of the way the school is now run. 2 teachers are leaving in July, 1 is cutting down her working hours to 2 days, 2 TA's are leaving and 1 member of office staff is off on long term sick leave! Coincedence/ Me thinks not!

My boys are being bullied and no matter how many times I go into see the teachers, or Hubby calls to speak to the head, nothing is getting sorted. My 7yr old son, is struggling very much with the work. I have been to see his teacher more times that I can count, but nothing is done. I have requestred dyslexia tests and remind his teacher on a weekly basis, but still nothing.

Every school morning, I physically drag one or both boys into the car, then in to school. My youngest even has his own sticker chart at school and recieves a sticker from his teacher when he goes in without crying!

This whole situation is distressing and depressing for our whole family.

I really would love to go down the home/flexi schooling route, but I was brought up not to make a fuss and to toe the line and conform. I don't want to make the wrong decission for my children, but I know they are far from happy at school.

If anyone has any advice, or been in a similar situation, I'd love to hear from you!

Sarah. xx

I've not been in a similar situation really, nor do we flexi-school, but we do home educate. What would you like to know?

There's a couple of mums here that Homeschool, so they'll be abel to help more, but I didn't want to read and run

whats flexi school?

Flexi schooling is when the child is part school educated/part home educated.

Oh how awful for you and your children.

My son struggled at his old school and his teachers didn't meet his needs, he'd end up getting sent home at least twice a week and in the end I took him out early because we were due to move area and it was getting really ridiculous.

He didn't have a space when we first arrived here in January so was home educated for a while whilst we appealed to get him a place.

We let Dan lead, whatever he became interested in we'd embrace and use it to cover move areas of learning. The Internet has a wealth of information...

Dan was out of school for almost all the term (nearly 12weeks) and I think it did him the world of good, had we not moved house and lived close to family I'd have continued to keep him home but I found he needed the social side and felt quite isolated (I put this down to not knowing the area and not a normal occurrence with HE children) and wanted to go back to school.

Luckily for us he was given a place in the local school where his sister goes and he was diagnosed with Aspergers shortly after moving here and his school have been beyond accommodating but I know what its like when a school won't offer support!

I would go in and speak to the head and TBH you're quite within your right to withdraw your children with the intention of HE. It takes a little while to get into the swing of things but really isn't so difficult, you're not there to teach them more ensure that they are provided with the resources so they can learn. No structure really needs to be followed and a couple of hours each day is all they need to be in line with what they'd learn in school.

Flexi schooling is when the child is part school educated/part home educated.

ooh !!! id love that for fin - didnt realise that was possible - lots of by the way. i cant imagine how terrible that must feel knowing your children arent happy at school and the school not doing anything to help

Home education is a legal right. It is up to each family to decide what, where, when and how their child receives a suitable education. There is no requirement to follow a curriculum or sit exams and there is no school day or term time. The chid is free to learn about what interests them in their own way and at their own pace.

Flexi-schooling is not a legal right, it has to be approved by the head teacher and for lots of reasons most schools will not agree to it. With flexi-schooling the child is still registered at school and has to follow the curriculum whilst in school and is still expected to do the same tests and exams in school. The head teacher can change their mind at any time and require full attendance. This makes the home side of the child's education very inflexible, because if they do not follow the same curriculum at the same pace the school can then insist on full attendance. I know a few parents who have asked for flexi-schooling and have been refused and a few families who have tried it, all of them have ended up HEing full-time though.

The great thing about HE is that you can always change your mind.

As a deputy head, yes, that kind of staff turnover is concerning and while it may just be conincidence, the fact the children are also unhappy speaks volumes!

Some advice in the meantime - ask the school in writing for copies of their anti bullying policy and their complaints procedure / policy. Also, start keeping a written record of any incidents involving your son and any contact you have regarding them whether formal or informal so you can quote specific incidents when meeting about the issue.
Is the bullying emotional or physical?

Once you have the compaints procedure, follow it - it will probably mean starting with a letter to the class teacher, but set time bound limits on how long you will wait for responses / actions (these may be laid out in the complaints policy) and if you don't get an appropriate response, escalate to the next step.

Regarding the dyslexia assessments, it can take a very very long time to get someone in to a school to assess a child and the majority of teachers aren't trained to adminster these sorts of specialised tests. The person to speak to is the SENCO (special needs co-ordinator) if the class teacher isn't moving on it.

What make you think he is dyslexic?

As PPs have said HE is your right so if you decide that it is for you then go for it.