private education?

Sparkkee

fraz_babe wrote: »

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.

the smaller class sizes would mean that hopefully he'd get more 1-2-1 attnetion than now so hopefully what ever is bothering him would be picked up eventually.

but it's more than that - he loves music and art and drama and the school he's in offers very little in the way of extra-curricular activities. i'm looking for a way to get him to the point where he will willingly walk into school rather than having to be carried through the doors (literally!:eek: )

i'm not sure that home tuition would help in this case as it's not the academic school work that is bothering him as much as "school"

Sparkkee

Fuchsia_a wrote: »

"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.

i wondered about that too, but i always feel like a pushy mother whenever i try to raise the subject with his teachers! giving him more or more difficult work to do is hard without the support of the school and at the minute i feel like i'm beating my head against a brick wall in order to get some support. :rolleyes:

Sarahsaver

OP have you insisted on a visit to the school from the Educational psychologist?
I stomped my feet and exercised all my rights and most schools would have listened but my daughter's didn't so I am home educating her now probably until she gets to secondary school.
if problems are extreme they will not be 100% with the school, so moving a child to a different school will just move the problem. I do have experience of this I was a teacher.

Sarahsaver

Oh yes and contact your local Parent Partnership, they will support you.

Sparkkee

Sarahsaver wrote: »

OP have you insisted on a visit to the school from the Educational psychologist?
I stomped my feet and exercised all my rights and most schools would have listened but my daughter's didn't so I am home educating her now probably until she gets to secondary school.
if problems are extreme they will not be 100% with the school, so moving a child to a different school will just move the problem. I do have experience of this I was a teacher.

it was actually suggested by his infants school at the end of year 2 that they bring in the educational psychologist (and then the junior school decided that they knew better at the start of year 3... 9 months on and here we are again!) he's back on the waiting list but it's likely to take until a few months into year 4 before he is assessed.

i know that it's not as simple as just being a "bad school", but until someone works out what the problem is i'm having to watch him be dragged into school and then make himself ill in order to be taken home again. it's not helping his education at all, and it's disrupting the other kids in his year too.

sorry - i know i sound very negative at the minute. i'm just trying to work out whether there is an alternative to all of this!

Sparkkee

Sarahsaver wrote: »

Oh yes and contact your local Parent Partnership, they will support you.

what is a parent partnership and how do i contact them?

Sarahsaver

Trouble is you see if you move schools BEFORE your child has been assessed by an ed. psych you will go to a new school with no 'track record' IYSWIM, and starting completely from scratch may well be hard work.
Look for parent partnerships on your local council website, they should have a link to them, or contact the education department. Parent partnerships are independent and they know their stuff, will attend meetings with you and help you through any issues you have with the school.

Sarahsaver

You can contact the ed psych directly - the school will have one assigned to them, and you are legally entitled to ask for an assessment its not down to the sole discretion of the school. i have a draft letter i will post later requesting an ed psych involvelemnt.

beautifulgorgeous_2

I was told that in some education authorites the ed psy is almost told not to find dyslexia and that paying for your own test is both quicker and may get a different result. Incidentally I find dyslexia doesn`t end only in poor spelling. It is often poor coordination, recall of tables, sequencing of months of the year, telling the time and its significance, shoelaces, riding a bike, confusion of left and right, poor handwriting, verbal knowledge far in advance of written.
I also read of a study that dyslexic babies tend not to crawl and if they do they are later and not very skilled at it.
Also don`t believe everything you read, private schools have to "sell" themselves. Try to talk to current parents and see what help the children actually get.

Dick_here

fraz_babe wrote: »

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

They teach you English properly for one thing. For example, you would understand the difference between "less pupils" and "fewer pupils".