Sarah Sudea, founder of Finding the Flex, looks at how to empower schools to improve wellbeing through adopting a more flexible approach.

7 min read

Sarah Sudea asks ‘where’s the wriggle room?’ in this article which takes a closer look at the ways in which a more flexible approach to schooling can work for children, families, and schools.

There is an uncomfortable and growing body of evidence that the challenges of a school environment can be detrimental to the wellbeing of some children and teachers.

We know that in 2022 78% of teachers experienced a mental health condition related to their work. As a result, perhaps, 40,000 of them left the profession last academic year.

We know that more 10-17 year olds surveyed were unhappy with school than with any other aspect of life included in the 2023 Good Childhood Report. Resultantly, perhaps, we’re in the midst of an attendance crisis with 22% of school children persistently absent in the 2022-23 academic year.

We know that mainstream state schools are subjected to rigid requirements in terms of curriculum, assessment and accountability and that these demands can make it hard for teachers to meet the needs of individual children.

What many parents and teachers don’t know is that it IS possible to *do* school differently.

This article explores two ways parents and schools can work constructively together, embracing greater flexibility, when in the best interests of children: delayed school start for summer born children and flexischooling.

Eleven years ago, I had a newborn in a sling and was keeping an eye on a toddler in a soft play, when another parent happened to mention that she knew of a child at her daughter’s school who was in the ‘wrong’ year group. I was a secondary school teacher, used to highlighting the summer born children in my planner for extra support right up to A-level, but I had never heard of such a thing. As mother of a shy summer born daughter, who was finding pre-school an unwelcome interruption to her rich life of solitary play and whose school application was due just a few weeks after her third birthday, this was a possibility I immediately wanted to research.

Similarly, when a new headteacher at my children’s primary school told parents/carers at a welcome meeting that she would be introducing a flexischooling policy, I didn’t know what she was talking about. A year later flexischooling had become an invaluable way I could support one of my children in managing the demands of school.

I had discovered the existence of these flexibilities purely by chance – and I was a teacher! They were both options that very few people knew about and even fewer understood.

Of course, not everything is for everybody.

For some families, these flexibilities won’t appeal or won’t be possible. But they remain available options, in the best interests of some children, that are worthy of consideration for parents and teachers.

Following that conversation in the soft play, I decided to research school starting options for my daughter and was surprised by a number of things:

• Compulsory school starting age (CSA) in England is the term after a child turns five. Families are eligible for the 15/30 hours government funding for nursery until then.
• Language of ‘delay’ and ‘holding back’ is commonly used when referring to summer born children starting at CSA; I always saw it as starting our child at school on time rather than a year early.
• Summer born children are more likely to be labelled as needing more support
• The introduction of Reception class in the 1980s enabled women to return to work and younger children to start formal education sooner, without the more generous adult to child ratios of a nursery setting.
• In 85% of the world, children start formal education at the age of six or seven.
• Many early years specialists and neuroscientists advocate a play-based education for longer.

COULD it be better for some summer born children to have an extra year of play, starting in Reception at five not four? MIGHT it reduce demands on EYFS teachers to have fewer summer born children in a class? WOULD parents/carers and schools like to better understand the benefits of delaying school start for younger children?

Back in 2013, everybody wanted to reassure me that our daughter was ‘ready’ for school. But I wanted simply to know if it would increase my daughter’s chances of thriving if she started Reception at five not four. Would it enable her to transition to school without needing additional support from staff? Reduce the risk of tearful drop offs challenging for everybody? In her case, undoubtedly yes.

Since we applied to our local council for permission for our daughter to start in Reception class at CSA, more and more families have chosen to do the same. The School Admissions Code supports parents’ right to request a CSA start out of year group and local authorities must now have clear policies on out of year group entry.

Flexischooling, however, remains poorly understood. It is already an available option and (thanks to the sterling work of ‘Flexischooling Families UK’ on Facebook) we know there are over 300 schools that support it in one form or another. However, the DfE makes reference to it only in their guidance on elective home education and for this reason it flies largely under the radar of school leaders.

Under flexischooling arrangements, children are on roll at a school (which retains full funding) and receive a full time education. However, headteachers can allow children to attend school part time and receive a ‘suitable education’ at home on the other days. This can be a positive and indefinite arrangement contractually agreed between headteachers and families and regularly reviewed.

Flexischooling agreements are co-created between headteachers, parents/carers and children and have myriad benefits, particularly for children with learning differences and disabilities and children with additional support needs, who disproportionately feature in school absence figures.

• Children who find the school environment overwhelming, or burn out towards the end of the week, are better able to cope
• Attendance is good on school days because the child’s social and emotional needs are being met through the part time arrangement
• Children have more autonomy on flexi days which fosters their intrinsic motivation and enables them to learn with more engagement and enthusiasm

2002 research by The Relationships Foundation concluded that flexischooling should be a ‘widely available option for all UK children.’

Whole school flexischooling policies like this one should be unique to each setting and can include terms stipulated by the head, for example a requirement that children are meeting age-related expectations in school. Decisions about each flexischooling request are always made at the Head’s discretion.

COULD it be better for some children to have an additional day or two a week at home with a parent/carer or receiving a different education elsewhere? MIGHT it reduce demands on teachers if children’s educational wellbeing was prioritised, particularly in EYFS and KS1? WOULD parents/carers and schools benefit from knowing that this option exists?

For ten years I’ve supported other families in understanding the benefits of taking advantage of some of these flexibilities. Unfortunately however, requests for delayed school start or flexischooling continue to be treated with suspicion by some schools.

These schools are missing a trick because there is value to be had for everyone in embracing a child-centred and flexible approach, without increasing burdens for staff. More pragmatically, flexischooling is a unique USP for undersubscribed schools who often see an increase in applications following its introduction.

Families feel a greater commitment to the school and sense of belonging. Parent/carers are grateful to have access to arrangements that allow their voices to be heard and their children to thrive.

Teachers feel grateful for the freedom to contribute to arrangements that are truly in the best interests of children. When the SEMH needs of children are being better met, pressure and workload for staff is reduced.

Most importantly, children’s needs are better served when the adults whose responsibility it is to care for and educate them are able to come together to pool their expertise and support the education that is right for every individual.

It’s worth reiterating that not everything is for everybody.

But there is an awful lot to be gained for schools in utilising delayed school start and flexischooling as mechanisms to enable better educational wellbeing for children, families and staff.

Sarah recorded a podcast episode discussing flexischooling. You can listen here.

You can visit the Finding the Flex homepage here.