Interesting stuff regards the academy. It’s a shame the schooling will purely be whatever Ella has set. Because Heze may be the youngest in the group, if Heze comes home citing that his work doesn’t compare to what the teachers of the other boys have been set I fear the difference in work may be too easily dismissed by Ella (using the age gap as the excuse).
My understanding is that in America, kids have to maintain a grade average of C or above, to be able to play sports. Which might seem mean to put that requirement on kids who genuinely struggle academically, but I believe the ethos behind it is that being passionate about a sport also then forced the child to push themselves to do their best at school.
As the english football academies aren’t linked to the schools, there won’t be a specific academic standard they need to keep level with. I would think as the schools would need to agree to the day release and set and mark any work…they must also have the option to refuse the arrangement if they think the child’s academic potential is suffering significantly by being out of normal class. With the Grimwade’s homeschooling, there is no-one to give permission or to be more concerned over education than football.
Possibly the tutor supervising the day release could raise concerns with the council’s education welfare officer officer if they felt that the education being given was significantly substandard…but they may be under pressure from the academy not to do something that could affect the child remaining at the academy.
The biggest question for me is the weekly hotel stay, presumably in central london where prices are high. Who is paying for it, who is in the hotel room with him. Are children of 11 allowed to stay in a hotel room alone, how would he check-in? If an adult it sharing the room surely it would need to be a family member.
If he’s on his own or sharing with another child, then surely an adult must be staying in a nearby room….but who would that actually be? The team coach surely doesn’t take overnight responsibility, and hotels won’t like kids being unattended (even though Heze is likely to be well behaved, but they wouldn’t know that). What about travel to/from the hotel to the training ground and classroom, does he do that alone, does anyone check he is out of bed and getting ready on time in the morning?
It seems likely that either Tim or a grandparent would be staying as well, children need to be chaperoned when they ‘work’, and the academy will need to ensure that is actually being done for their own h&s compliance. Heze isn’t used to doing anything on his own, not clear he’s even caught a bus alone yet…I’m wondering if this ‘Heze’s leaving home’ stuff is for the camera, and Tim will actually be staying with him. Doesn’t explain how they will fund it.
Only other explanation I can think of is that it’s not actually a hotel, but boarding school type accommodation on site of the academy. With the relevant safeguarding staffing on site. That would make more sense.