Studying leaving cert at home?

gerobrennan

My daughter is 17 and in 6th year at school and has very bad anxiety and its so difficult for her to go to school, it began ever since 5th year, its just gotten worse and I was wondering is there any way that she can study her leaving certificate at home as I think it would benefit her. Is there any way that she could submit work into her school and then sit her leaving cert and orals at her school when they are on? She has missed so many school days already because of her anxiety and it would really help her.

DK man

Students who have medical problems have got home visits from teachers in our school - we had a guy with a kidney problem who availed of the service - it wasn't full time and it couldn't facilitate the practical subjects. There is a scheme but not sure about the name

Sorry to hear about your daughter - anxiety when it strikes can be so crippling

We had a girl who couldn't make it through first year last year but has returned this year and thankfully she now in first year and doing really well.

I hope the school are understanding and even that some of the teachers will also give some of their own time...

Best of luck

gerobrennan

Thank you for the reply, its awful to watch her go through it, I hope the school can facilitate something because she really has an ambition to do photography and needs her leaving cert to get into a college.

rabbitrun

Hi, I am new to boards.ie. I typed in the very same question as you, today. My daughter is going through the same issue, except that she is repeating her Leaving Cert with an external college. The thought of facing the classes is just too much for her and she has said that she will find it easier to focus without the anxiety, if she works from home. She is going to ask the school counsellor what support they might have. I've not heard of this type of arrangement before. I'm wondering if a school/college where the student is registered will allow them to work from home, but then attend their premises to sit the exams?
This is totally uncharted seas for us, but my daughter's mental well being is paramount.

gerobrennan

Hi, we are waiting to find out from the school. We are going to have a meeting with the school and explain the situation as soon as possible, I dont see why it can't be arranged as most teachers have their own websites to share files and work to the students if they are going to work at home.
I will let you know the outcome of this,
if you have any more information please let me know as it would be a great help. Thank you

rabbitrun

Hope you get things sorted for your daughter. We also are setting up a meeting. In fact, I have noticed a difference in my daughter's mood since this new arrangement is under discussion as a solution. Of course I will update if I hear any more.

gerobrennan

Hi, we had the meeting with the guidance councillor and he doesn't want to give my daughter time off at all, he thinks she would benefit better being in school, ha! found it terrible, daughter was crying and everything so we're trying to find out where we can go from here.
Best of luck

IncognitoX

gerobrennan wrote: »

Hi, we had the meeting with the guidance councillor and he doesn't want to give my daughter time off at all, he thinks she would benefit better being in school, ha! found it terrible, daughter was crying and everything so we're trying to find out where we can go from here.
Best of luck

What subjects is your daughter doing?

It is entirely possible to sit the Leaving Cert as an external candidate; however, you must consider if any of your daughter's subjects have projects or practical elements which would need to be signed off on and completed under the supervision of a teacher.

gerobrennan

my daughter does business, history and religion,
two project based subjects, the history teacher said she would be willing to help her with it and with religion im sure there's help that can be given.

My daughter doesn't know how she is going to cope in school and just wants to do her leaving cert. As an external candidate how would that work? Would she have to have left her school to do it and be getting tutoring or how does that work?
Thanks for the reply, we're really stuck at the mo!

IncognitoX

gerobrennan wrote: »

my daughter does business, history and religion,
two project based subjects, the history teacher said she would be willing to help her with it and with religion im sure there's help that can be given.

My daughter doesn't know how she is going to cope in school and just wants to do her leaving cert. As an external candidate how would that work? Would she have to have left her school to do it and be getting tutoring or how does that work?
Thanks for the reply, we're really stuck at the mo!

"A person who is not a recognised pupil of a post-primary school may be admitted to the Leaving Certificate examinations as a External Candidate in one or more subjects on payment of the appropriate Fee."

I believe your daughter would have to leave her school. There is no obligation for her to get tutoring at home - it is entirely possible to self-study for the Leaving Cert, although tutoring would obviously be a massive help if you can afford it.

Something concrete would have to be sorted out and agreed on with Religion and History before any definitive action is taken.

gerobrennan

So if my daughter leaves school she can actually still do all her subjects in the leaving cert as an external candidate? we were unsure about whether or not that would be allowed? is it also the same with orals?

rainbowtrout

gerobrennan wrote: »

So if my daughter leaves school she can actually still do all her subjects in the leaving cert as an external candidate? we were unsure about whether or not that would be allowed? is it also the same with orals?

yes an external candidate registers with the SEC before January and elects where to sit the exams. So that could be in her current school. However like other posters have recommended, have a clear plan in place for any practical projects and orals. Given that she is currently a student in the school I can't imagine that being too much of a problem.

It might be worth arranging another meeting, this time with the principal or year head. It's one thing for her to stay at home, but you need to have a plan in place where she is getting regular tuition unless you can help her yourself or afford grinds. Some subjects she may find hard to teach herself.

It might be worth suggesting to your daughter (and see if you can get the agreement of the school) that she attends on a part time basis, or on a reduced timetable. E.g. that she attends each day until lunchtime and then goes home to study for the rest of the day. That way there are teachers on hand to monitor her work, and for her to ask questions, hand up projects etc. Knowing that she has an out everyday at lunch may help to ease the anxiety. If her situation improves, she could then aim to increase her attendance by staying a full day one day a week and build up.

Or maybe she could be accommodated by allowing her to work in a room on her own / school library for a part of the day for a while to see how she gets on. That might be a non runner for the school as there would be issues about her supervision.


Just on the point you made about teachers having websites. Honestly, most teachers don't have one. If the school has Moodle: file sharing and forum software, they might use it, but beyond that, teachers generally don't have their own websites. No one in my school does. It might not seem like a lot to you, but asking all of her teachers to sit down and email work to her daily adds to their workload, on an occasional basis it's not really a problem, but if it was expected from now until June I'm not sure how much support you will get for that. E.g. a teacher photocopies a handout or a worksheet out of a book. They don't have an electronic version so they have to scan it and then email it. There are few enough classes free as it is, so they are not going to think about spending a class doing that a couple of times a week.

gerobrennan

Will organise a meeting with the principle soon, just trying to not upset her too much as it's so overwhelming at the moment for her. I understand what you mean, I'm useless with technology myself but my daughter has told me most of her teachers have websites and Dropbox to share files for everyone in the class to access while at home, if she leaves school she will definitely take advantage of that as it will help her along with a tutor in the future. Thanks very much for your help

gerobrennan

also if my daughter leaves school does she get her leaving cert exam number when she applies as an external candidate? Thank you

rainbowtrout

gerobrennan wrote: »

also if my daughter leaves school does she get her leaving cert exam number when she applies as an external candidate? Thank you

Exam numbers are normally issued around January or February when the SEC know how many have entered for the exam

gerobrennan

awh that's great, thanks for the reply, It really helps

raymick

gerobrennan wrote: »

awh that's great, thanks for the reply, It really helps

hi, did you get your daughter sorted my son wants to do the same but no teacher will agree i don't know how to organise his oral and practical exams you get no help once you decide to leave he tutor said if he leaves he wont be allowed do the exam at his current school

rainbowtrout

raymick wrote: »

hi, did you get your daughter sorted my son wants to do the same but no teacher will agree i don't know how to organise his oral and practical exams you get no help once you decide to leave he tutor said if he leaves he wont be allowed do the exam at his current school

If he registers as an external candidate and his previous school won't take him back for exams the SEC will assign him to a school to sit his orals and practicals.

To be honest, I don't blame the teachers, practical work is meant to be done under the supervision of the teacher. He won't be doing that, so they can't verify that the work is his, so they won't want to be responsible for it or sign off on it.


Also remember, you said in the other thread you posted in about this that your son wants to leave this school. Actually in the other thread you said you were in fifth year and wanted to leave - so are you the parent or the son? You're basically saying the school isn't good enough and he can do better on his own, but still wants to use all the teaching resources in said school on a one to one basis. That's not what schools are set up for.

raymick

you obviously took me up wrong he does not want to use any resources the school has to offer on a one to one basis, i was trying to find out for him what leaving would mean for the practical part of the exams, you do not know my son and i have every faith in him applying himself and working just as hard from home as he would in school and achieving the results he wants

spurious

raymick wrote: »

you obviously took me up wrong he does not want to use any resources the school has to offer on a one to one basis, i was trying to find out for him what leaving would mean for the practical part of the exams, you do not know my son and i have every faith in him applying himself and working just as hard from home as he would in school and achieving the results he wants

He will have to find a teacher willing and able to supervise his practical work in doing the project/essay (whatever it is). They need to be able to attest that the work he presents is his own, so they need to be there from the start.

randylonghorn

I think one disinterred zombie thread is more than sufficient for this case.