private education?

beautifulgorgeous_2

I still think that he may be dyslexic. This can manifest itself in many ways and in my dd case was not confirmed until she was 11. Incidentely her independent school told me I was waisting my money on the accessment and that she was only thick. Sent her to the faith comp where she got 320 points at A level although she is still dyslexic. My son is also dyslexic but in a more conventional way and was accessed also by a private test at the dyslexia institute at 6. I moved him to the local primary at year 3 and to the same school as his sister at 11. Both mine have faired better away from the academic independent school into carefully selected state schools. I would get his accessed by the educational psychologist after you have had his hearing and eyesight tested of course.( We all try this when our children to not progress in school) Teacher`s habit of putting "messy boys" next to "tidy girls" does not have the effect of rubbing off but highlighting the boys inadequasies

kj*daisy

You'd need to see whether the private school would be prepared to take on a child with possible SEN. Some cater specifically for things like dyslexia etc but some won't take any children with SEN and one round here actually boots kids out if they show up such problems as they go through the school.
I'd push for more help through the SEN or and Education Psychologist at the moment tbh but maybe see if any of the private school in your area are set up to deal with sen issues and go and look at them and see what you think.
It sounds like he's very bright but with a specific as yet unidentified issue that causing him difficulty and to dislike school, but you probably don't need me to tell you that. Good luck with getting some more help.

Lokolo

I'm sorry but what kid at some point doesn't hate school?

I hated school most of the time until Sixth Form and at which point I really enjoyed it, not having to be in lessons 9-4, having self study and things like that. Really made me enjoy it.

Just deal with it, make him go, soon he will get over it. (put special treats in his lunchbox!!! or make friends out of school, go to the park, join a football team, join cubs)

If he is in year 3 that must mean hes been at school a few years now, has he hated school all of these years?

I highly doubt he is dyslexic just because of his handwriting. My brother has terrible handwriting, can spell better than me, went for tests, and basically he just isn't the brightest spark in the world.

Good luck though!!

fraz_babe

I have not read the replies you have recieved.
But, i dont see what is different about a private school apart from less pupils in a class. What about a personal tutor? or home tutor? Where they come to you house.

Fuchsia_a

"he's in the top third of his year group in everything, higher than that in maths"

Is he very clever for his age? If so, the work could just be too easy for him. I was in the top group for everything most of the way through school and even that didn't push me enough to keep me interested a lot of the time, and I found it hellishly boring and resented having to do any work when it seemed far too easy to be worthwhile. If I had work to do that I considered to be too simple for me, I found it really hard to motivate myself to bother with it at all.

My parents sent me to private school for a year because I wasn't learning anything in normal schooling, and it was generally similar to normal schooling but they bumped me up two years. I learned a lot more there than I would've in a normal school, and felt a lot more engaged. If you can afford it, it might be worthwhile, but if he is clever and that's why he's bored, just giving him more difficult and a larger quantity of work may actually motivate him more than anything else. I was only bored and demotivated because I wasn't being stretched, so if he's clever then he may be in the same situation.

dad-of-4

I took my kids out of school and decided to home educate, they are much happier now, your son sounds very much like my 9 year old, hes been out of school a few months, but has rescently started to open up with some quite suprising revalations about what has gone on at school in the past. when all we used to get was the i hate school, dont want to go. etc etc.

personaly i wouldnt take the schools word for it that hes not being bullied or having other difficulties, my eldest daughter was the kind of kid who couldnt get out of bed quck enough on a school day, absolutly loved it, then the complaints of being picked on and bullied started, she started to feel alienated and began to say she had no friends, started to loose her confidence in her learning abilities, and all the time the school said there was nothing wrong.

it went from where she would whinge about feeling ill in the hope she wouldnt have to go, to her crying her eyes out and begging her mum not to make her go in school once she got there.

although when i originaly thought about home ed it was for my son, his behaviour, and the schools inability to deal with it, it ended up being my daughter that tipped me in favour, i just couldnt bare to see such a sweet innocent little girl with such a zest for life & learning become so tainted by the whole experience of school.

School Sucks , it was [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL] in my day and its been getting worse and worse ever since.

Sparkkee

beautifulgorgeous wrote: »

I still think that he may be dyslexic. This can manifest itself in many ways and in my dd case was not confirmed until she was 11. Incidentely her independent school told me I was waisting my money on the accessment and that she was only thick. Sent her to the faith comp where she got 320 points at A level although she is still dyslexic. My son is also dyslexic but in a more conventional way and was accessed also by a private test at the dyslexia institute at 6. I moved him to the local primary at year 3 and to the same school as his sister at 11. Both mine have faired better away from the academic independent school into carefully selected state schools. I would get his accessed by the educational psychologist after you have had his hearing and eyesight tested of course.( We all try this when our children to not progress in school) Teacher`s habit of putting "messy boys" next to "tidy girls" does not have the effect of rubbing off but highlighting the boys inadequasies

ds did have problems with his hearing when he was very small (we only found out when he couldn't hear me yelling at him to stop when he nearly ran under a bus!!) so i'm paranoid about gettting his sight and hearing tested whenever something isn't quite right. other than needing a good scrub, his eyes and ears were normal at his last check-up, thank heaven!

we're on the waiting list for the educational psychologist (for the second time in a year - the last time we were placed on the list by the infants school and the junior school decided to take him off without my consent...) but the latest news is that it is likely to be late in the autumn term before he can be assessed. i'm just not sure that i can watch him hating his life so strongly every morning for a whole term more whilst waiting for the appointment, knowing that it might make absolutely no difference whatsoever.

Sparkkee

kj*daisy wrote: »

You'd need to see whether the private school would be prepared to take on a child with possible SEN. Some cater specifically for things like dyslexia etc but some won't take any children with SEN and one round here actually boots kids out if they show up such problems as they go through the school.
I'd push for more help through the SEN or and Education Psychologist at the moment tbh but maybe see if any of the private school in your area are set up to deal with sen issues and go and look at them and see what you think.
It sounds like he's very bright but with a specific as yet unidentified issue that causing him difficulty and to dislike school, but you probably don't need me to tell you that. Good luck with getting some more help.

the school we were looking at has a sen co-ordinator (not that it necessarily means anything!) and i've sent off for more information about their policy on children with sens.

Sparkkee

Lokolo wrote: »

I'm sorry but what kid at some point doesn't hate school?

umm, me? i think this is one of the reasons i'm finding it so difficult to cope with him hating it :rolleyes:

Lokolo wrote: »

Just deal with it, make him go, soon he will get over it. (put special treats in his lunchbox!!! or make friends out of school, go to the park, join a football team, join cubs)

If he is in year 3 that must mean hes been at school a few years now, has he hated school all of these years?

i want to believe that it is something he will grow out of, but it has been like this for two years now and a low grade dislike for a couple of years before that. i do make him go to school - like i said before, i loved school and i think that education is the single most useful gift i can give him - but i don't want to destroy the love of learning he has through a really bad school.

Lokolo wrote: »

I highly doubt he is dyslexic just because of his handwriting. My brother has terrible handwriting, can spell better than me, went for tests, and basically he just isn't the brightest spark in the world.

Good luck though!!

thanks!

Badger_Lady

fraz_babe wrote: »

But, i dont see what is different about a private school apart from less pupils in a class.

Depending on the school, it can be very, very different (particularly at this age).

My friend's DD was put into private education aged 7 because she was particularly bright and was starting to get bored (therefore playing up and losing interest in lessons).

At her school, they work in "project teams", where pupils each take a lead on something different and a whole project will last a half-term. The pupils get much more one-on-one teaching, and the methods prepare them both for coursework (the "project" principle is very reminiscent of some A-level formats) and for real-life careers, where you usually lead a team and/or work on long-term goals (scientists, business managers...).

It suits her down to the ground, and she's absorbing an incredible amount of knowledge, loving every minute of schooling. She spends a lot more time outside of the classroom and seeing things first-hand rather than just in books.

On the other hand, a friend of mine who went to private senior school didn't benefit so greatly. GCSEs are GCSEs wherever you study them, and the fact of being at an expensive school means most of the other pupils are very well off - my friend was bullied for being "poor", or for not wearing the latest designer labels. Of course, she just passed this onto her parents "But I need those new trainers!!!". I was much happier at my state-funded Grammar school.