Flexi schooling - know anyone who does it?

[bee74]

I am really excited by discovering this

http://edyourself.org/articles/flexischooling.php

It sounds a balance middle way between home schooling for which I know I would not have enough patience and enthusiasm and school, which makes me uncomfortable as I have to hand over my kids for 6 hours a day 5 days a week.

It is apparently really hard to do now that schools have to mark the child as absent as it affects their rating.

Do you do it or know anyone who does it?

Thank you

[TE44]

Sorry don't know anyone who does it but I agree the change to being marked absent makes it very confusing in law,

If an agreement by the headteacher is reached, I wonderif that protects the parents from fines or prosecution,

Its not clear at all. Maybe get in touch with local schools to see what there policy is, or if its something

they would consider. Good luck.

[SE22mum]

have you contacted home school groups? My cousin does it and is part of a local network, and between them they organise classes and even contract teachers. In other words, she does not teach them herself for 6 hours a day! There is a big home ed network in south london - which I'm not a part of unfortunately as I have to work - so perhaps get in touch. I agree I think it would be pretty difficult to get schools in the area to agree to this, given all the ofsted pressure on attendance.

[bee74]

I would not want to home school and I am not in Camberwell anymore, but in Devon. My son school is on the beach and they have beach school and forest status, plus he enjoys the social aspect of it, so I wouldn't want him to be home completely and I would honestly go mental. I would be happy to have him home maybe a day a week, so that there is more balance than 5:2...

His headteacher is not keen on it at all as it will compromise the absence ratings.

[Mariamadeit]

There is a letter that can be used on registers for "educated off site" which is what is used when students attend eg a college course, however I think another reason that schools don't like it is that it can be very disruptive for the child in that at primary school, children can be working on a project over the course of a week/term and if they are constantly missing one part of the week they will either always be playing catch up or not seeing a project through to the end. As a teacher, it can be very disruptive trying to get a student up to speed when they have missed time due to illness etc so constantly missing time could have quite a negative effect. I can see that you are trying to get the best of both worlds here but be careful that you don't end up with the worst of both worlds.

Also, reading your original post, the focus seems to be about you, rather than your child. We considered home schooling ourselves so I am certainly not against it but if it is going to work, it needs to be primarily about the child.

[bee74]

Mariamadeit T

thank you for your post.

A couple of questions: how many days a week would you say it became disruptive? I was thinking about keeping him only one day, maybe in the middle so he could have two days at school, two days at home.

About me? Partially. I would be very happy for the kids to be away all day if I knew they enjoyed it. My son went to nursery 9-3 every day from age 3 1/2 and I had no problems about it. He was happy, had fun, did a lot of creative stuff... Of course, at school they have things to learn, but it feels too much too soon and he is not as keen to go as he was at nursery. So, no I would not keep me at home just for my own benefit. But to balance the rigour of school with a more relaxed playful and outdoor experience and for him to spend time with his sister as well.

[Mariamadeit]

Bee yes I understand that, just asking the question :) my son also starts primary school next week and it is an emotional rollercoster for me, he is very much looking forward to it. In terms of keeping the disruption to a minimum, I can't really say as it would depend on the school or even the class teacher and what their routines are for example if they do PE or another specific activity on Wednesdays, would you be happy for him to miss out on that all year? Also, how will you explain to him about the other children in his class going every day and why he isn't? I would suggest that you work closely with the class teacher and be a bit flexible on it.

Is he due to start this term or is he younger? Many schools now have a forest school element and have a focus around play, it seems you are worried about him enjoying it and being able to do activities as a group still, rather than that he won't manage a day at school? Remember you still have the weekends and quite a lot of holidays.

Please don't think I am trying to tell you what to do, we all have to do what we think is right for our children, I just personally think that this option gives the child more issues than it helps and may also be one reason why schools aren't so keen.

[edanna]

I don't have any experience of flexi or home schooling. But reception is mainly play anyway - less structured than what my kids were used to at nursery. Have you visited local primary schools and talked about what the children's days involve? It's certainly very different from when I was 5.

[bee74]

my son is going into year one and has already done a year at reception, so I already know the school and he already has experience of it.

it is not about the school itself. it is great, on the beach with both beach school and forest school status, but it doesn't mean that they go out and spend time outdoors every day.

i just think children are too young at 5/6 to enter formal learning.

in italy we wait till 6/7 and in scandinavia they do the same, yet they are the best performing academically.