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between a rock and a hard place

9 replies

hobbgoblin · 08/10/2009 13:23

1 handed post, baby attached

my dc have lots of friends in their village school. none of them like the school greatly, and my 7 yr old ds has a hard time due to issues i've posted abou before.

the issues are really coming to a head and i have been unable to tackle them by speaking to the school.

my ds in yr1 has a great teacher and my dd in yr 5 has a new teacher who seems very good and she really likes him. however, overall i feel the school is failing them socially and educationally. the homework in ds1's class is dire as is the discipline. the school ethos is not adhered to and neither are the better aspects of their behaviour policy. equal opps and community cohesion is poor and so on and so forth.

essentially, it is not a great school.

dc have expressed a desire for a change in schools but ultimately don't want to go for it due to concerns about making friends.

every day my heart sinks due to their reluctance to go into school and also the knowledge that i am sending them each day to a place i am not happy with either.

i would prefer to home ed. but my teacher training is ks1 and so would stretch my capabilitues with eldest dc, plus as a lone parent i just don't have the resources.

this is actually making me feel rather depressed. is there anything i can do?

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hobbgoblin · 08/10/2009 17:02

bumping for teachers who might be home

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stuffitllllama · 08/10/2009 17:07

How viable is a change in schools?

Getting a tiny feeling from your post that they want YOU to tell them they HAVE to move.

They will make new friends and they will still see their village friends. That's not the biggest issue. If you think they are being failed, and there is a better school near enough, a move is not such a bad idea. It a decision for you to take, not a democratic one, I don't think -- especially if they are already unhappy going in.

However, unless you are in a "middle school" area there's a second move to consider in two years.

If it was me, I would think a school move is worth it. It's not going to get any better.

The alternative is, getting heavily involved as governor, as parent, and making it better. Too late for your elder but not your younger.

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stuffitllllama · 08/10/2009 17:09

I'm not a teacher but my children have changed school a lot and not through my choice dh job etc so I can see both sides of school moves. It can definitely work out.

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Inghouls2 · 08/10/2009 17:10

if you're not happy Hobb.. move them.
I moved my boys from a school I wasn't happy with... they seemed ok (ish) and were really worried about making new friends. They were Yr 3 + 4
It took them all of ..oooh...3 days to feel right at home, with a new crowd of friends and were suddenly much happier and full of news and info about school when all I'd had before was "nothing" or can't remember" or "boring stuff"
They've been there a year now and we've never looked back. They regularly tell me how glad they are they moved.

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cory · 08/10/2009 17:11

If HE is what you want to do, then I would go to the HE section. HE doesn't have to be formal teaching (where the level of your teaching training would be relevant); it can be a more learner-led process, or a process where you all learn together.

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ommmward · 11/10/2009 19:22

You totally don't need teacher training to home educate successfully. A lot of the expertise teachers have is in juggling (or trying to juggle) the needs of 30 children at once - not something one needs with just a family's worth of children.

If you are thinking of HE as a lone parent, there is a yahoo group specially for your situation: here

Come and talk to us in the HE section?

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FABIsInTraining · 11/10/2009 19:24

I would change schools.

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lljkk · 11/10/2009 19:31

Lots of people HE without any formal educational type background.

The quality of Homework is not important in primary school.

I dont' know what the 7yo's issues are, maybe that would make all clear.

Is this supposed to be English understatement... . Does 'not great' = "Absolutely diabolical" in other parts of the English-speaking world? Or merely, 'Not great'? Our school is not 'great' either, but it's okay, DD loves it, DS1 and DS2 put up with it, and I would hate to HE, so stuck at school they are.