Home schooling with Council help

I just wanted to let others know my experiences getting educational help for my youngest son. He began high school 2  years ago after a very happy Primary experience. Hos older brother had already been diagnosed with Aspergers but we had missed it in our younger son, mostly, were told, because our whole family set up was arranged to suit our older son's needs, so it suited our younger son automatically! After one term at high school our younger son began to fall apart emotionally and eventually refused to go to school at all. We tried moving schools to one next to his old Primary, where some of his friends were, but he never made it past the support base. We treid applying for a placement in a language unit but were refused on the grounds he wouldn't go. We were disapponted but agreed with the decision. We tried getting work sent home and marked by the school but this was eratic and badly and unwillingly done and made my son even more anxious and frustrated. We had a fabulous inclusion officer at the council who worked really hard on our behalf and spent a term sending Thomas work herself (she was an ex science teacher) and this worked well enough to encourage me to look online for a solution. I found an old correspondence school offering Key stage 3 and IGSE courses, which has been offering such things for over 100 years for children who live overseas, are home sschooled etc. They are called Wolsey Hall. The council agreed to fund 5 subjects for my son, as it worked out cheaper that a tutot, which he had refused. It is working very well, with just 3 subjects for now. Staff are willing to adapt anything to suit his needs and work is well stryctured and marked quickly. Eventually we hope he will be able to sit IGCSEs. It is time consumimg for me, as my son needs a lot of support with his work as he is still very anxious, but he is ahppy to be working hard and achieving. I hope this may be helpful for others who are seeking solutions.

  • Hi there,

    my son is 2 years behind, having missed so much school why we were trying to find a solution, but the school he works with is designed to be completely flexible. He works at his own pace and when he has completed the coursework for IGCSEs he can sit them at a special exam centre for IGCSEs. They have them all over the country. We are in Scotland and there are exam centres in the major cities. All this seems far away in the future for us at the moment, but we have to work at my son's pace or his anxiety spirals. It is very difficult to teach your own child. I am a teacher but have had to adapt everything for my son, and also when I help my elder son with schoolwork, it is a different story all over again, as he leans very differently. It takes endless patience and if your chil will accept a tutor, this is probably preferable. If he outgrows this school, we also have the option of the Open University when he is 16.  They have very flexible entrance requirements to suit all kinds of backgrounds. My son is just not able to mix with even small groups of children as he experiences acute anxiety. Luckily he has 2 old friends from primary who he sees often and their families to mix with. I don't know if that helps. Good luck with your daughter.

  • Your story is very similar to mine and my daughters in schooling terms and she also had a late diagnosis.  We're still at the point of working with the LA but she's responded very well to the tutor from the learning centre.  

    I admire your ability to home ed your son.  I struggle with my daughter.  Its not that she is an unwilling pupil for me but I am on my own with her and work part time as well as trying to do an OU degree.  She also talks incessantly which I really struggle with.

    When does your son sit his exams?  Does he have to go into school to sit them?  I've still a few years to go but unless there is a dramatic change in my daughter, I think gcse's can wait until she's at college.  College seems to be the one thing this county does do well for children with special needs so we're looking forward to those options.