A New Approach

Not really, plenty of local authorities have been trying to pull this authoritarian control freak approach for years. If home educators weren’t so good at educating themselves it might have worked to.

Home education is a well-established and important part of our education system.

Good grief, can’t they manage to go one sentence without getting it wrong? Home education is NOT part of your education system, that’s the WHOLE POINT. Home educators have opted out or never even opted in to your education system.

England is and will remain under our proposals one of the most liberal countries in the developed world for parents who choose to home educate.

No, it IS one of the most liberal countries in the developed world (btw that is a GOOD thing) but your proposals will put an end to that and make it one of the most draconian, and please don’t mention Germany because the reasons for home education being illegal there are not something you want to admit to, even it they are dangerously near to the truth.

Our reforms will have minimal impact on home educators who are doing a good job -

Some people might give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume that this statement is the result of ignorance. I don’t think you can be THAT stupid so this is a LIE. You know damned well that your horrible bill will make a massive difference to home educators who are doing a good job, even an amazing job.

unlike many other countries, parents will be able to follow the wide range of different educational philosophies they currently adhere to, including autonomous learning.

LIE.

Home educated children will not have to follow the National Curriculum, take SATs tests or other public examinations. They will not have to observe school hours, days or holidays.

Like a mugger trying to convince you that they’re doing you a favour because they’re letting you keep your clothes and shoes.

For most home educators who already work harmoniously with their local authorities, the provisions in the Bill will bring little change on the ground.

This sentence isn’t at all clear. Are they saying that most home educators DO already “work harmoniously with their local authorities” and for them there will be little change? No, that can’t be right because if the figures they’re bandying around, 20,000 known, 70,000 total, are even remotely correct most home educators aren’t even known to their local authority. So it MUST be about the small minority of home educators who are both known to their local authority AND ‘work harmoniously’ with them. So in fact what they’re saying is that if you already do what your local authority wants, jumping through their hoops, accepting home visits etc. THEN there will be little change. Sorry, but SO WHAT?

However, when combined with our wider proposals, home educators will have much better access to support if their children have special needs, or want to attend college, or take public examinations.

Also SO WHAT? None of those proposals are in this bill. They will require significant funding which this bill will NOT provide. Significant funding at a time when public services are going to be cut. There will be no access to better support. In fact ‘better’ implies that some exists now!

There will also be funding to help local authorities provide support to home educators such as access to school libraries, music lessons, after school clubs and sports facilities.

LIE. There is NO FUNDING.

For the arrangements to be successful there needs to be co-operation between home educators and local authorities.

What arrangements? Arrangements for the non-existent support and services for which there is and will be NO FUNDING. Just how stupid do you think we are?!

They must recognise and respect each others’ responsibilities. Local authorities must respect the right of parents to decide the educational approach of their child,

Well that would be nice, but you’re really not helping.

and the current Bill reinforces the well established principle that parents are responsible for the education of their children, not the state.

No it doesn’t. It undermines it totally. Black is white again!

Home educating parents and their children should respect local authorities’ duty to ensure that every child in their area is being educated and assist them in discharging this duty in a way that is cost effective for the taxpayer.

Local authorities do NOT have such a duty. A nice touch here don’t you think that our children are now being told that they have to respect the local authority’s fictional duty, be good little girls and boys and cooperate.

As well as monitoring, our proposals envisage local authorities adopting a more supportive role to home educators in their area and homeeducators becoming more involved in shaping their local authority’s policies and practices that relate to home education.

So with no money to pay for this ’support’ and home educators justifiably upset you ‘envisage’ a world full of hearts and flowers and fluffy bunnies. Local authorities and home educators skipping hand in hand into a rose tinted sunset? What are you on?

Guidance will recognise that home educators and their children are a diverse group who are home educating for many different reasons. Many will be home educating because their child has not had a positive experience of school; others will have a philosophical preference for an educational approach which is very different from that offered in school. The local authority should approach monitoring from the perspective of collaboration and support, and make every effort to make arrangements for monitoring which are tailored to fit family routines.

Based on the contents of the bill and everything else we’ve seen, not to mention the past behaviour of many local authorities, excuse me if I find this wholly unbelievable.

For these reasons local authorities need to approach registration and monitoring with the widest possible perspective on what constitutes a ‘suitable and efficient’ education recognising that home educated children do not have to follow a prescribed curriculum, take tests or examinations, follow school hours or use any particular resources. There must be a focus on whether the home educated child is learning and making progress appropriate to their individual needs and aptitudes.

‘Progress’? Sorry, where did you pull that from? We are as parents obliged to provide a suitable education, our children are NOT obliged to make ‘appropriate progress’ whatever that is. Who I wonder will get to decide what progress is appropriate? I’m going to take a wild stab in the dark here and guess that it won’t be the child or the parent.

Monitoring must also be carried out in a supportive way,

This feels like I should be able to call it an oxymoron.

with the LA listening to the family, and doing everything possible to respond to the reasonable requests of home educating families for support, bearing in mind the cost and efficiency of delivery.

And once again there is no funding. So however ‘reasonable’ (who decides) the request it will be refused because (repeat it with me boys and girls) THERE IS NO FUNDING.

Local authorities should establish mechanisms for engaging with representatives from all parts of the home educating community in establishing arrangements for monitoring.

So they will ask us just how we’d like to be oppressed? Lovely!

We would expect the home educating community to be involved with commissioning monitoring arrangements, support services and in providing training to local authority officials carrying out monitoring.

Dream on! Not going to happen. An EO rep has already told you that they won’t be helping you.

The regulations and guidance on registration and monitoring arrangements will recognise that the interests of the child are of paramount importance.

But it’s not in the bill is it? So that’s just another empty promise thrown into this document to fool anyone who doesn’t know your track record.

The focus of the arrangements in the Bill is on the education of the child.

Just not in a positive or helpful way.

Where in the course of monitoring safeguarding concerns come to light these will be addressed through existing child protection legislation which is entirely separate from the educational arrangements set out in the current Bill. The following statement outlines our proposals in more detail for the regulations and guidance.

I think I’ll take another break here.

Last Modified: Friday, January 22nd, 2010 @ 12:23

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