Playing It By Ear
Flopsy 4y, Mopsy 2.5y, Cotton-tail 7m
Sep
17
Just gave myself a shock!

Flopsy would be starting school next September (2007).  I’ve just been looking at an online parenting forum and someone had posted about how she’s really daunted by having to have her school application forms in by mid-November.  It’s made me realise how ignorant I’ve made myself of the shcool system - I mean I know what happens in school because I’ve been there.  I know about the National Curriculum because it was introduced while I was at school and it was what my mum had to learn about when she trained as a primary school teacher.  I know what good teachers do and what bad teachers do.  But I don’t know about all the official-ness - what I’m meant to do if Flopsy goes to school; when I’m meant to do it; how I should prepare her etc.  I’ve not actively ignored any talk about school, but most of our friends now either have babies way too young for school, or children who’ve been in school a while, or are home educating.  And I don’t see a Health Visitor and the girls don’t have jabs, so there’s no way the system gets a chance to butt their noses in and tell me what to do.  It’s also a bit scary because…well…this is the time we really do have to make a decision.  Do we start researching schools so we’ve got options open to us should our circumstances suddenly change?  Or do we continue as we have done just ambling along ‘playing it by ear’ intending to home educate Flopsy?  What have others done who’ve made the decision to HE before their children were school age?



8 Responses to “Just gave myself a shock!”
  1. 1
    jax Says:
    5:21 pm

    ambled.

    And then my kids ended up in school recently, but it’s a small private school, they started there two days a week and are now doing three, and I still don’t know how that would suit the LEA.

    I did read the ofsted reports on our local schools (you can find them online fairly easily) and I believe you can now apply online in many areas. Did that help at all?

  2. 2
    jax Says:
    5:22 pm

    and I should add that I made the reference to it being a private school because it meant I didn’t have to go through any major hoops with the flexi schooling side of things - just asked whether they accepted part time pupils when we went to look around and that was pretty much it.

  3. 3
    playingitbyear Says:
    5:45 pm

    Thanks Jax - glad to know I’m not the only one!

  4. 4
    CamianAcademy Says:
    7:07 pm

    We’ve always intended to homeschool even before my kids were born. If they need to go to “regular” school we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I figure there’s no need to worry about it now.

  5. 5
    Joanna Says:
    8:55 pm

    Tamsin was at playschool, one of the younger ones in her year, and loving it, so I just ignored the whole Reception class issue and kept her at playschool 4 mornings per week. We’ve just started flexi-schooling now she’s entering Year 1, and she’s going 3 afternoons per week. I wrote to the Headteacher at the beginning of this year asking if they would consider it, and then we went in for a meeting. I don’t think there’s any harm in not doing anything now, and making quick decisions nearer the time if it’s necessary. After all, if you moved to a different town just before she was due to start school, as a friend of mine just did, you’d have to get a quick unscheduled entry in the new place anyway - there are always ways and means.

  6. 6
    Elizabeth Says:
    9:50 pm

    I have always known I would HE. My two have never been to Nursery, and they will be 4 & 5 at Christmas time. I have never looked at any schools. To be honest–I can’t even make heads or tails about the British school system–the differences between the Infants,Juniors,Grammer schools is beyond my knowledge!
    As the others said–if you do decide they should go, you can cross that bridge when you get there.

  7. 7
    Stella Says:
    10:46 pm

    I had this shock too just recently, Kpie is due to start at the same time as Flopsy! I can’t decide whether to look at schools “just in case” or so I at least know what the alternative is all about. I fel so clueless. But I think we will probably just carry on as we are.

  8. 8
    Deb W Says:
    3:21 pm

    I’d have four in school this year if they went: one who started school, one who had nursery but never went to school, one for whom I wondered about sending him to nursery but didn’t, and one for whom it never occurred to me to bother. Maybe I’m getting smarter; maybe I’m getting lazier ;-)

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