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[Amber]

Um, as your child is only 4, he is not of statutory school age anyway. You could keep him at home the whole time and would still be within the law and therefore your rights. I wonder if your school will be quite so relaxed once he hits 5 years and 1 month.

[mystery]

Yes I was wondering if they had given you permission long term or just while he was not of compulsory school age (which starts in the term following his fifth birthday). There is no legal reason why a school should say no to flexi-schooling however, they still get full-funding for the child, and it doesn't affect their absence stats. But as I understand it few schools give permission. So good luck Um. Hope you have permission for as long as you wish to do it for.

[um]

Thank you - the school have agreed the arrangement long term. I think he will need this even more in Year 1. He is almost 5 in any case.

[mystery]

Brilliant. I wonder if the general attitude to flexi-schooling is changing or if you are lucky with your school.

[um]

I think it may be a mixture of both.
I had learned my lesson with my older children, who spent a miserable time at a very well regarded 'academic' primary school with fancy uniform etc etc, but which was run like a military boot camp, (they also cheated in the SATS according to dc1) and whose ethos respected neither children nor parents.

When I moved them to this school, (and my dc4 is obviously now there too) it was due to the caring and holistic ethos rather than an obsession with SATS results or a high ranking in the league table. The school is not perfect at all, but it was the best thing I did and I learned my lesson that league tables do not tell you what you really need to know.
There's no fancy uniform here - and actually quite a high % of SEN children in some years - but I feel that ultimately the children will be cared for, treated with respect (I've never heard of a teacher shouting in this school) and accepted as they are.

[Amber]

I think it may be a mixture of both.
I had learned my lesson with my older children, who spent a miserable time at a very well regarded 'academic' primary school with fancy uniform etc etc, but which was run like a military boot camp, (they also cheated in the SATS according to dc1) and whose ethos respected neither children nor parents.

When I moved them to this school, (and my dc4 is obviously now there too) it was due to the caring and holistic ethos rather than an obsession with SATS results or a high ranking in the league table. The school is not perfect at all, but it was the best thing I did and I learned my lesson that league tables do not tell you what you really need to know.
There's no fancy uniform here - and actually quite a high % of SEN children in some years - but I feel that ultimately the children will be cared for, treated with respect (I've never heard of a teacher shouting in this school) and accepted as they are.

I find your attitude very refreshing um...it is so easy to get bogged down in league tables and external measures of excellence, but I wholeheartedly agree that the 'caring and holistic ethos' you refer to is much more valuable than high SATs results. We chose a primary school on that basis too...but beware, if it isn't measurable, it is not likely to be valued by the powers that be, either. Sadly.

I think the objections to flexi-schooling tend to be logistical as much as anything else - timetabling, missing lessons and then trying to complete work others have started, that kind of thing. While it might suit a parent to have the child at home on a Wednesday afternoon, say, if Wednesday afternoon is start-a-piece-of-work-for-Thursday afternoon, it might be a bit tricky to slot the child back in.

[mystery]

Yes I can understand that problem, particularly if more than one child did it in any one class, it could be the most irksome pain for the school. It would require maybe explaining what needed doing to the parent so that the child was prepared for the next day, but that is one more piece of extra planning for a teacher that it might not be possible to fit in. It might be possible though to study the timetable with the parent and work out which session was the least worst one to miss each week, or if the parent was able to be flexible, hit a different session each week.

Um did you have to give some reasons for your flexi-schooling request or did you just say please and they said yes?

[um]

I explained my son's particular needs and difficulties, and how he would benefit from some 1-1 time.
With 5 children, and working around 3 evenings a week, I can't really provide this attention at other times.
He has asperger's (high functioning) and some physical problems that require a lot of physiotherapy exercises.

There was no problem and they agreed readily. I wanted him home for one full day and I said that I could arrange my work hours around them, whichever day they chose. They said Friday was best.

He has only been doing it for 2 weeks, so it is too early to evaluate, but I imagine that he soon will be calmer and more able to manage life 'within himself', because of the extra time, attention and support he is getting.

[mystery]

Brilliant. It does sound like they have listened to you extremely well. In reality, maybe Friday is in some ways a great day for him too as it means before the hurly burly of the family weekend he has had you to himself. Wish you so much luck with this way of doing things to meet his needs.