GCSEs and whatnot
R is hoping to do some GCSEs now that she is 15 and wants to go to college next year. We thought we would go along to one of the Adult Ed centres and sing her up. After all, S did a couple of courses with Adult Ed when she was under 16, so no big deal. Except that in the mean time, somebody somewhere came up with a policy that specifically excludes home educated kids from accessing their courses.
Under 16s who attend school can be allowed to go to Adult Ed classes in Manchester, but not home ed kids under 16s. This comes down to funding and who will pay for them. Luckily, Aquinas Adult Ed Centre in Stockport is a bit more compassionate to the needs of our kids. S did 3 GCSEs there 3-4 years ago, and they have let R sign up for her English. Unfortunately, they are only open on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the Psychology GCSE, which is offered on a Monday is already full. English, Maths and Sociology are all on a Tuesday at the same time so she had to choose one, and she choose English. And it is costing me £151.
I have been in touch with our LA, to try to sort something else out, and they seem to be taking this seriously, and are really trying to help find an alternative. They are looking at FE colleges, and flexischooling at a school, academy or even a private school. The problem is, of course, that she has a certain schedule already that she wants to maintain, (mostly to do with her Radio show, and Arts Award, and social life) as well as the fact that she wants to do these courses in one year, and if she joined in with a school now, she would be in Y11, so would have missed the first half of the syllabus.
I just think if they could let her access adult ed, that would be the easiest thing. Well, fingers crossed that we get something sorted soon, or else she will blame me for ruining her life. :-o Actually, that will happen anyway, so maybe I should just chill, and go knit something else...
Under 16s who attend school can be allowed to go to Adult Ed classes in Manchester, but not home ed kids under 16s. This comes down to funding and who will pay for them. Luckily, Aquinas Adult Ed Centre in Stockport is a bit more compassionate to the needs of our kids. S did 3 GCSEs there 3-4 years ago, and they have let R sign up for her English. Unfortunately, they are only open on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the Psychology GCSE, which is offered on a Monday is already full. English, Maths and Sociology are all on a Tuesday at the same time so she had to choose one, and she choose English. And it is costing me £151.
I have been in touch with our LA, to try to sort something else out, and they seem to be taking this seriously, and are really trying to help find an alternative. They are looking at FE colleges, and flexischooling at a school, academy or even a private school. The problem is, of course, that she has a certain schedule already that she wants to maintain, (mostly to do with her Radio show, and Arts Award, and social life) as well as the fact that she wants to do these courses in one year, and if she joined in with a school now, she would be in Y11, so would have missed the first half of the syllabus.
I just think if they could let her access adult ed, that would be the easiest thing. Well, fingers crossed that we get something sorted soon, or else she will blame me for ruining her life. :-o Actually, that will happen anyway, so maybe I should just chill, and go knit something else...
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