Our teenagers' school can't support their needs

Schools claiming that they are student-centred is a fallacy.  They might want to be, but the very structure of their being prevents this from happening.  Primarily they are timetable centred because they need to match teachers, classrooms and students which is an enormously difficult task to do, never mind catering for individual needs within that.  It's not that schools don't want to meet your needs - it is simply that they cannot.  There is only so much a school can flex, and the greater the demands for personalisation, the less able they are to provide personal support within their fixed budget.  Teenagers whose needs exceed the 'norm' of the provision can struggle in school as these needs cannot be met - and this is absolutely not the fault of the school.

This is why we work in partnership with schools to provide this additional support to these students, outside of the school premises.  Sometimes students attend school part of the time, other times they work with us solely and do all their learning from home.  We manage this relationship with the school and any case workers or health workers, and between us, we support the student as best we can.

Normally, our students in this situation have a relatively good relationship with you (their parents), and so it is possible for you to do the 'facilitating' within the Inventorium platform if the school doesn't want to play ball.  Sometimes, your relationship with the school is problematic - understandably - as you have become frustrated at their lack of ability to meet your teen's needs.

Options for these students:

1.  The best option for teenagers falling into this category is a FLO arrangement with their current school - the partnership model we discuss above.  This gives them the opportunity to return to school for the activities in which their needs are met, and we pick up and fill in the areas where this is not occuring.  However, this does require the school to agree to work in partnership with us and pay our costs, and they are under no obligation to do this - but we do have good relationships with over a dozen schools so it is possible.

2.  If you are in South Australia or the Northern Territory, you can enrol in our cohort programs which we run in partnership with a public school for years 7-9 (small cohort only), and with Open Access College for years 10-12.

3.  If these options are not open to you, you can enrol with us on our 'complete' program which is the equivalent of a private schooling option, and you have to pay the fees.

4.  If this is not affordable, you can purchase our online platform and support your teen yourself.  We set you up as the nominated teacher, and if you get stuck at all, you can purchase a single tutorial as and when you need it, and one of our teachers will help you and your teen.  Usually these are for you to check your plans with our teachers, check the standard of work being produced, and reassure yourself that you are on track.