tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36973463302927579992024-03-13T11:29:47.133+00:00StaffordshireWorking to maintain freedom in educationMairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.comBlogger250125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-67170425592472989952016-01-24T23:26:00.001+00:002016-01-24T23:26:52.935+00:00kids who stay home to be educated will only achieve the same level as the parents teaching them<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>"kids
who stay home to be educated will only achieve the same level as the
parents teaching them. Usually we want our kids to do much better than
we did and have better futures than us. it's only natural.. If the
parents achieved degree level at college/university, then their kids
should be fine with home studying.. However if they were near drop outs
that barely scraped by in school, then the kids have no hope."</span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>False,
at odds with the research. Actually kids from homes with less
educational achievement show a greater advantage from being home
educated.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>Alan Thomas</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>Paula Rothermerle sp</span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>and others</span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span> </span></span></span></span></div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-90926412951046565342016-01-24T22:30:00.000+00:002016-01-24T22:45:11.307+00:00All my children went to secular school! You can't offer them as good an experience! And update on our home ed outcome.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">"All my children went to secular school and grew up having faced trials and tribulations of what a school experience offers. There are limitations to home schooling and a child needs to experience all aspects of life to develop and that includes the good the bad and the ugly.. Your child cannot achieve its full potential sitting in the house"</span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">Sorry this is from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/loosewomen/photos/a.166231134878.118424.78781834878/10154270817724879/?type=3" target="_blank">Loose Women</a>, not sure she meant secular school but she was sure she was right.</span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><br /></span></span>
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">You
don't know this, you didn't do it. No child can experience all aspects
of life we live in too varied times. If you didn't home educate you
can only speculate on the limitations of home education. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">"My neighbours kids are home schooled and the children spend more time running round the back garden and walking the dog." </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">Ah
you know unless you watch them 23/7 you can't really know. There is no
such thing as school time in home education and learning can happen any
time. walking my dogs is one of the most social things I do. My own
child would have looked like she had no
school time cause she didn't, she learnt through exploring things she
found fun. It is called autonomous education. She is now doing a levels
at college and shocked that her friends have had that timetable all
their lives while she has run free.</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody">"Interesting.. What a shock she will get when she enters the world of work.. That's what school prepare children for."</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">She
is doing 3 A levels, Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry alongside
tennis coaching lol. She is a level one coaching assistant and has
already had paid work. She got on to those courses with no previous
formal learning just her own love of exploring
the subjects. She is up and out and does not miss lessons, it is her
choice, her investment, if she wanted to leave she could, if she wanted
to be late she could. She isn't, she doesn't want to, it is all her own
very passionate choice. Why would a child that could do that not be
able to hold down a job. Stick to your rigid ideas if you must but she
could probably run rings around you on most subjects and certainly in
having an open mind and being interested in the truth and not prejudice.
(Many people were engaging with this woman who just was not listening) Children are not lazy sods unless coerced and forced, left to make
their own choices they are almost always amazing! She is my fourth
child so I know about school and I still have the scars from protecting
my kids from very wrong assumptions regarding the capacity of
neurodiverse children who develop in a completely different way.</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">She
is also a volunteer peer tutor to a mature student who has seen her
marks rise three levels after only a couple of weeks of her help. You
really really do not know what you are talking about. She has been
asked to be part of the interview process
for many new appointments and he college has gone out of its way to
allow her to study these A levels as she has no GCSE's. They have
created a workaround, her mentor has done some autonomous learning to
make sure she can stay. She is typical of the home educated children I
see news of, moving on to formal education in the groups and amongst my
many fb home ed friends. This is the expected result of home ed. And
you would have to look very hard to find a home ed adult who is not
working, running their own business, thriving at uni or following their
dream.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">"</span></span></span></span></span></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody">Good
teachers make sure children are learning at their own pace, while still
being stretched - and any teacher worth their salt can make the
learning fun."</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">I
think teachers are more and more handicapped by government demands that
do not align with what we know about child development, in fact go
entirely opposite to it. That may have been true once although in a
childhood where I was often in staff rooms
as my school had different holidays to my mother's and my own schooling
and my four kid's experience I do not recognise that claim to be true,
it is harder now than ever to do that. Teachers are drowning in
directives and paperwork and all that matters to their masters is what
the statistics look like. But however good they are it would be hard
for them to match an education tailored exactly to the child's needs,
preferences and developmental level.</span></span> </span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">"I</span></span></span></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"> speak from experience when as a teacher I have had to help children to catch up with their peers."</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">"</span></span></span></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody">Well we've never met any teachers like that. Most just don't want them to fall behind, but again what are they behind of."</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">That
shaming phrase, fall behind, fall behind an imaginary norm, all
children are unique, that norm will be at the wrong place for most of
them although some are resilient enough to manage. Home educated
children are rescued from that shaming blaming system.
It is a shame if some have to go back, especially if it is not a choice
but circumstance but there is no way of knowing if they would not have
been more "behind" if they had stayed in school. Many children in
schools are behind this imaginary marker of success. It is not the kids
who always match this norm who do best in life, I feel sorry for those
who excel at school and find that actually life is nothing like it.</span></span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"> </span></span> </span></span></div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-66627519187285050492016-01-24T22:05:00.000+00:002016-01-24T22:05:08.622+00:00Why are schools monitored?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>As a home educator you
do not have to inform the council if you never register at a school,
education is a parental responsibility even when delegated to the state. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>Home education is exactly equal in law to school education. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>Schools are
registered and monitored because t</span></span><span><span><span>hey
are paid out of the public purse to educate other people's children. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span>Parents of home educated children are not spending taxpayers money hence
no oversight. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span>Home educated children are subject to the same child
protection laws that all children are.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-86300123933332187382016-01-24T22:03:00.000+00:002016-01-24T22:03:34.404+00:00So you are telling me that daily they get to discuss their beliefs with others and challenge their upbringing?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>That
is so not what happens in schools. In many schools children who tried
to do that would be bullied. But yes, not every day maybe except with
their parents and why would that be necessary. But yes they do - if
they want to - we are interested in our child's education we are not
brain washers we have no home ed curriculum that every child must
follow.</span></span></span></span></div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-71602540918888750872016-01-24T21:56:00.000+00:002016-01-24T21:56:26.285+00:00Suitable Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>There
is no definition of suitable, </span></span></span></span></span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>not
the detailed chronological achievement linked definition that those who
think all parents are unsafe to do the best for their kids would like.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> They don't dare because again it would
apply to schools also, many of which are self evidently not providing a
suitable education to many children and certainly not one suitable "(a)
to his age, ability and aptitude,</span></span><span><span><span> and </span><br /><span>(b)
to any special educational needs he may have" It would be very
difficult for an LA bod to judge and they actually have no power to do
so. They do not know the aptitude or needs of the child. And the norm
is a prejudice towards education that looks like school and most home
education doesn't and is all the more successful for it.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span> If they had a proactive duty to ensure they could be sued by al</span></span><span><span><span>l
the children and parents they let down. It would be difficult to do
so because education is a parental duty and parents
who send their child to unsuitable schools are breaking the law. Odd
that there is no call to prosecute them though as they are by definition
likely to be in far greater number.</span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-62228658506992218612016-01-24T21:48:00.000+00:002016-01-24T21:48:00.740+00:00At primary level perhaps this does not matter so much because it is believed that children at this level are not able to master the material at such complex levels as, say, secondary children are<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>Well this is
where school is wrong for so many childr</span></span><span><span><span>en,
children like mine are very able to but they are not able to write it
down till secondary level, or not sufficiently to demonstrate the
sophistication of their understanding. They have problems transposing
numbers so make mistakes in simple maths but later go on to understand
complex proofs and logic with relative ease. Primary school especially
is abusive as performance is all that matters, performance and stats.
School tells these children that they are unintelligent and a failure
and how many never learn different, I had no idea of how very wrong they
were about me until well into my 50s. Home ed lets the child learn and
teach through conversation, hard to imagine how school could match it.
Perhaps if it became a resource to help children answer their many
questions rather that shut up sit down keep still stop talking. Due to
my own dire and abusive education where I was blamed and shamed for
having a different brain not a plodding sequential one but a leaps and
spurts and make odd connections one I have protected my children from
the damage schools do to people like us. We are the wrong shape for
mass teaching, but I have learnt a lot about learning and child
psychology and development in the process. Good luck with your Phd, it
would be wonderful if a change that protected neurodiverse kids from
plodding repetitive curricula and being profoundly misunderstood could
could be instigated but you must know that government usually go in
exactly the opposite direction of what quality research suggests would
be efficacious.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Thing
is children who are home educated can play through the primary years
and pick up everything that is taught so laboriously to the children
trapped in the classroom for so many hours, so many years, as a bi
product of play and curiosity.</span></span></span></span></div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-70273064095901706252016-01-24T21:34:00.000+00:002016-01-24T21:54:29.553+00:00And answers to questions and challenges - I rather think promoting "hate of a minority group" is a bit pejorative and a tad on the hysterical side."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"> No it's not, not at all,
have you noticed how much is in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-35361261?utm_content=bufferf33b6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank">news</a> right now about a child let
down by social services many years ago. A <a href="http://sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dylan-seabridge-section-47-and-home.html" target="_blank">chil</a><a href="http://sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/dylan-seabridge-section-47-and-home.html" target="_blank">d</a> about whom there is no SCR, a child whose <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-29915106?SThisFB" target="_blank">parents have not been prosecuted</a>. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>It
is duplicitous, the child was not hidden, he was let down an neglected
by the state. The parents were not prosecuted so it is not obvious that
it was abuse, it is sad and perhaps support could have made a
difference but the social work dept did not</span></span><span><span><span> know the law around their own job. They failed a child that had been
reported to them, they had every power to insist on seeing the child but
they didn't bother. Nothing to do with education but everything to do
with poor quality badly trained social workers. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span>It is manipulation to distract from authority failings, many many </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=37623200&postID=250993560826019171" target="_blank">And they want to meddle in home education</a> <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pembrokshire+social+services+final+warning&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=FUGlVpmpH4edUe7bg9gN" target="_blank">rather than improve the poor services that failed him</a>. Doing so would fail him
again and all children who die because of incompetent and poorly trained
child protection agencies. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">It is a con to make them look like they are
doing something but that something wouldn't touch on the actual
problem, it would remove attention and funding from it. If you were a
home educator you would know that these unwarranted attacks are constant
and always with no actual evidence. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"> It is immoral and promoting
wasting money direly needed by LAs like Pembrokshire to properly train
their social workers or recruit people capable of learning. It is
politically motivated, and promoted by agencies like the <a href="http://sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/nspcc-determined-to-learn-wrong-lessons.html" target="_blank">NSPCC</a> who have
been trying to get control of us for years <a href="http://www.christian.org.uk/news/nspcc-sorry-for-home-school-child-abuse-slur/" target="_blank">using lies and manipulation</a>
seeing a rent seeking and mission creep reward.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><a href="https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-protection-system/case-reviews/2015/" target="_blank">All these SCRs in 2016 </a>and the <a href="http://www.radical.org.uk/barefoot/nspcc.htm" target="_blank">NSPCC</a> push for registration and monitoring because of 7 over 6 years involving home education where every single one was a known child let down by government agencies just as this child was.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g">And they know this because they have published them all. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><br /></span></span></span>
<span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><br /></span></span><span><span><span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
</div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-51634434065413379042016-01-24T21:13:00.000+00:002016-01-24T22:57:22.532+00:00Starting to put some of my comments made on media discussing registration of home educators here, this is for those who have swallowed The Badman Report whole.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
Graham Badman's report was thoroughly debunked by far sharper minds than his including Graham Stuart in the <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/uc999-i/uc99902.htm" target="_blank">select committee inquiry into the report</a>.<br />
<br />
Q13 Mr. Stuart: In any case in which a child is known to be on a child protection plan, will it, by necessity, mean that that child is known to the local authorities?<br />
<br />
Graham Badman: Yes.<br />
<br />
Q14 Mr. Stuart: So, if the numbers that were formally known about were approximately double your best estimate, it would take us back to almost precisely where we started, at the average of the population as a whole.<br />
<br />
Graham Badman: I'm sorry, I don't understand the question.<br />
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"Q15 Mr. Stuart: Well, if there are twice as many children in home education than are formally known about, which by definition includes all those for whom there is a child protection plan, it would suggest that, roughly speaking, you were back to 0.2% of the home-educated population having a child protection plan, which would put them in line with the national average.<br />
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Graham Badman: I think that it propels the figures the other way. It would actually make the proportion higher, because they are already included in the overall population and in the subset of the population, which would mean that the percentage will be fractionally higher. It works the other way."<br />
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Worrying that he was a maths teacher in a previous life.<br />
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"AFTER the report had been issued and roundly criticized by home educators, Badman conducted a third survey of LEAs to try to get a larger sample size. Badman claimed that this third sample was representative, but Stafford argues that it in fact was biased toward urban areas. Stafford here pulls out all the stops, for his concern is not so much about what all this means for home education but that <a href="http://icher.org/blog/?p=537" target="_blank">government policy is being made on such flimsy grounds."</a><br />
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I could produce many many other links, the report was trying to produce policy based evidence and used quotes in a very misleading and dishonest way.<br />
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<a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/memo/elehomed/ucm5902.htm" target="_blank">This is the submission by the church of england.</a><br />
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"24 Our submission was, naturally, designed to be read as a whole, but following the publication of Graham Badman's report, officers in the Education Division were disappointed with the impression left by the selective use of our submission.<br />
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25 We are concerned that the quotation from our submission used in the report appeared to have been selected to support the terms of reference of the review, which, whilst acknowledging that parents have a well-established right to educate their children at home and indicating that the Government had no plans to change that position, appeared overly concerned with the possibility of home educating being a cover for abuse, barriers to safeguarding responsibilities and possible changes to the regime of monitoring and support of LAs.<br />
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26 In fact, we specifically stated that in making prevention of abuse under the cover of home education the main reason for the Review has the effect of tarnishing the reputation of the many parents who choose to home education their children from the best of motives."<br />
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Even the police are not allowed to force a child to see them alone, social workers are only allowed to with evidence of harm. To allow council workers with no training in either home education or child welfare to have the same power would be very dangerous and open to abuse. <br />
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There is nothing in the law around home education that stops social services doing their job, a register would not help when social services already know that the child exists and have been warned about it and do not act on the information.</div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-42110795274356790292013-10-03T22:17:00.000+01:002015-05-18T14:07:50.335+01:00Urgent: Safeguarding consultation in Wales ends 25 October 2013. Threat to Home Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There is yet another potential attack on home educators in Wales only months after Leighton Andrews <span class="s1"><a href="http://edyourself.org/leightonandrewsstatementdec21.pdf" target="_blank">scrapped</a></span> his ill thought out plans for <a href="http://maire-staffordshire.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/time-to-respond-registering-and.html" target="_blank">registration</a> <a href="http://maire-staffordshire.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/bruces-response-to-consultation-on.html" target="_blank">and</a> <a href="http://sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-welsh-consultation-closes-tomorrow.html" target="_blank">monitoring</a>.</div>
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Dog with a bone comes to mind, I wonder who is determined to get this through, does Wales have its very own <a href="http://freedomineducationunderthreat.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/bursting-bubbles.html" target="_blank">Ed Balls</a>? </div>
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<span class="s1">The consultation is <a href="http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/education/revised-guidance-on-safeguarding-children-in-education/?skip=1&lang=en" target="_blank">here </a>and I urge everyone to complete it. Make it onerous for them to keep trying this on, they have had their answer but don't seem to like it so ignore it introducing the proposals through the back door of a safeguarding consultation hoping we will not notice the threat to us hidden in there.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This is very similar to the situation in England leading up to the <a href="http://pete-darby.blogspot.ie/2012/08/history-lesssons-part-one-rise-and-fall.html" target="_blank">Badman</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badman_Review" target="_blank">Review</a> where there were <a href="http://ahed.pbworks.com/w/page/1552782/BriefingPaperHEReview#3CONSULTATIONS" target="_blank">multiple consultations</a> held any of which could have damaged the freedom to meet children's individual needs.</span></div>
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You can sign a <a href="https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-welsh-assembly-government-stop-the-welsh-assembly-government-from-bringing-in-the-monitoring-of-electively-home-educated-children-under-the-guise-of-safeguarding" target="_blank">petition</a> against the muddying of education and <a href="http://ahed.pbworks.com/w/page/1553166/ReviewSafeguardingEvidence" target="_blank">welfare</a> in Wales.</div>
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Below Jayne Palmer outlines some of the concerns for home educators in Wales and gives guidance on filling in the consultation.</div>
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"Points you could include in your consultation response</div>
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2.7</div>
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Responsibility for safeguarding children who are educated at home by their parents or carers, or who are employed, is not solely an education issue. These matters are best dealt with by a multi-agency approach and should be addressed in locally agreed procedures in accordance with the principles set out in Safeguarding Children: Working Together Under the Children Act 2004</div>
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The Childrens Act 2004 refers to children missing education not Electively home Educated children. It further refers to vulnerable groups to which EHE children don’t belong. Parents retain responsibility for children and should not suffer interference unless they fail in their responsibilities.</div>
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2.12</div>
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Makes the same error as 2.7 and fails to acknowledge parents are the primary care takers of children under the 2004 act.</div>
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3.121</div>
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never enter the education system because they fail to start appropriate </div>
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provision at the start of compulsory school age (there is no requirement for </div>
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parents to inform local authorities of the fact that they intend to educate at </div>
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home if the child has never attended school); </div>
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are withdrawn by their parents who elect to educate at home and both </div>
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parents and the school fail to notify the local authority; </div>
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EHE children are fully engaged in education and parents take up their responsibility to educate children from the age of five as required in law, hence no failure to start education occurs just because a child is not in school. Where children are withdrawn to EHE it is the schools responsibility to inform the LEA and no requirement exists in law that applies to home educated children.</div>
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Evidence collected in 2012 from Welsh Local authorities shows that EHE children are less likely to be at risk than school children are. </div>
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3.124</div>
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The purpose of the duty is to make sure that children and young people </div>
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who are not registered pupils are identified and that effective monitoring systems are put in place to ensure that those children or young people are provided with ‘suitable education’</div>
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This give the impression that there is a duty to monitor EHE families and no such duty is in existence</div>
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3.149</div>
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ensure ongoing monitoring and tracking of vulnerable groups including those who have been excluded from school; Looked After Children and those registered as receiving education otherwise than at school; </div>
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This needs to be explained clearly many LEA’s’ do not understand the difference between EOTAS and EHE."</div>
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Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-51774175905393722482013-01-31T16:11:00.000+00:002013-01-31T16:11:36.497+00:00Who needs Ed Balls, Gill Kilner on categories of Home Educator<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I am very glad to see Gill blogging again, I have learnt so much from her careful analysis over the years, I am however appalled at what has driven her to the keyboard!</div>
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It has come to my attention that, according to a well-known fellow home educator, we are all categorised as follows:</div>
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<ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20.79166603088379px;">
<li>"Pleasantly mad but thinking and competent;</li>
<li>The Real Loonies aka two short planks;</li>
<li>The God squad (very strict religious and we barely ever talk to them or hear of them);</li>
<li>Fluffy (very autonomous but a little vague);</li>
<li>Yes sir no sir (UK homeschoolers and their ilk who do everything they are told by the LA and live in a bubble);</li>
<li>The pioneers (people like xxxxx [name deleted] who were doing it ages ago);</li>
<li>The last lot (xxxx, xxxxx, [more names deleted] etc who were us 10 years ago); and..."</li>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.787500381469727px;">You can read the rest <a href="http://sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/paranoid-traffic-lights.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
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Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-5514784939315648212012-12-18T17:12:00.001+00:002012-12-18T17:24:47.270+00:00Education Committee - Fifth Report Support for Home Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmeduc/559/55902.htm" target="_blank">report</a> is now published and I and a fair few of my facebook friends stayed up to read it, it was late!<br />
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The submissions from most of us are missing even though there was originally a link. I emailed the webmaster and received this reply:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">Dear Maire,</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">Thank you for your email.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">We have contact The Stationary Office who look after this content and the link was added in error. It has been removed and will be republished on the 20th December.</span><br />
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Sorry for any inconvenience.<br />
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Yours sincerely,<br />
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Webmaster | Parliament Website | webmaster@parliament.uk</div>
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<span style="line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">Why? There has been various speculation about the methods used to produce the report! My </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">favourite,, "copy and paste is so last year".</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">Again I have not read it carefully yet, trawling things with a fine tooth comb is not my forte.</span><br />
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A few things noticed on first pass:<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">"2. </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">We believe that the case law definitions of 'suitable' and 'efficient' education are sufficient, and encourage local authorities to use these as required. However, some aspects of existing guidance require clarification, and we recommend that the Department for Education undertake a review of the guidance concerning home education, working with local authorities and home educators to iron out any tensions. (Paragraph 15)"</span><br />
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So it looks like those new <a href="http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/e/guidelines%20for%20las%20on%20elective%20home%20education.pdf" target="_blank">guidelines</a> we have all strenuously opposed are coming anyway. :( more time taken from our children answering yet more <a href="http://maire-staffordshire.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/consultation-on-revised-statutory.html" target="_blank">consultations</a>.<br />
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A facebook friend and Bruce got a mention in the report, the friend (who made a very good point) unfortunately renamed and with typos introduced into her comment! Why are they not just cutting and pasting? Bruce for his suggestions about mandatory training and certification of EHE officers; he has yet to check whether his contribution has been accurately reproduced.<br />
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The committee clearly found this shocking:<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">12. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"><b>Local authorities have a responsibility to follow the law, and to be seen to do so. Considering evidence that only thirty [</b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">out of 152] </span><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">do not currently have </b><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; font-weight: bold;"><b>ultra vires</b></i><b style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"> statements on their websites, regarding home education, we urge all local authorities to undertake a swift review of their own material, and to ensure that their policies reflect the guidance available." </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">(information obtained by Alison Sauer)</span><br />
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Liking this:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Whilst Government guidance sets out the role of local authorities with regard to home education, we heard evidence that some authorities are acting outside the law. We urge all local authorities to undertake a swift review of their own material, including websites, and to ensure that their policies reflect the guidance available"</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">and this:</span></span><br />
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"It is not the role of the local authority to routinely monitor wether a suitable education is being provided, and local authorities should not act as if it is, or cause parents to believe that it is.[8]."<br />
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And <a href="http://m.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/dec/18/home-schooled-children-postcode-lottery" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> has reported it and not suggested we might be trying to hide something which is good.<br />
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I am hoping to see analysis from other bloggers more skilled at the task in the near future and will be watching my sidebar for it.<br />
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Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-634315146475335742012-12-17T17:05:00.001+00:002012-12-17T20:08:11.171+00:00Consultation on the revised statutory guidance on children missing education for local authorities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Just had a very quick glance at what I assume is the <a href="http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/c/cme%20guidance.pdf" target="_blank">revised guidance</a> although it didn't seem to be labelled as such.<br />
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This bit jumped out immediately, could be helpful or could be problematic.<br />
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"Children with statements of special education needs can be home educated but the relevant local authority must provide the special educational provision specified in the child’s statement."<br />
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It is a very simple consultation form, very different from the leading questions and hidden agenda of the ones we are used to.<br />
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<span class="s1"><b>Consultation Response Form</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Consultation closing date: 15 February 2013</b><br /><b>Your comments must reach us by that date.</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Department for Education statutory guidance for local authorities in England to identify children not receiving a suitable education </b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Consultation Response Form</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes, primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">If you want all, or any part, of your response to be treated as confidential, please explain why you consider it to be confidential.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">If a request for disclosure of the information you have provided is received, your explanation about why you consider it to be confidential will be taken into account, but no assurance can be given that confidentiality can be maintained. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The Department will process your personal data (name and address and any other identifying material) in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, and in the majority of circumstances, this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">If your enquiry is related to the DfE e-consultation website or the consultation process in general, you can contact the Public Communications Unit by e-mail: </span><span class="s3">consultation.unit@education.gsi.gov.uk</span><span class="s1"> or by telephone: 0370 000 2288 or via the Department's </span><span class="s3">'Contact Us'</span><span class="s1"> page.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Please tick the box that best describes you as a respondent.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">1 Do you have any comments on the draft guidance?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Thank you for taking the time to let us have your views. We do not intend to acknowledge individual responses unless you place an 'X' in the box below.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Please acknowledge this reply </b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Here at the Department for Education we carry out our research on many different topics and consultations. As your views are valuable to us, would it be alright if we were to contact you again from time to time either for research or to send through consultation documents?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">All DfE public consultations are required to meet the Cabinet Office <a href="http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/consultation-principles-guidance"><span class="s3">Principles on Consultation</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1">The key Consultation Principles are:</span></div>
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<li class="li8"><span class="s4"></span><span class="s1">departments will follow a range of timescales rather than defaulting to a 12-week period, particularly where extensive engagement has occurred before</span></li>
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<li class="li8"><span class="s4"></span><span class="s1">departments will need to give more thought to how they engage with and consult with those who are affected</span></li>
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<li class="li8"><span class="s4"></span><span class="s1">consultation should be ‘digital by default', but other forms should be used where these are needed to reach the groups affected by a policy; and</span></li>
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<li class="li8"><span class="s4"></span><span class="s1">the principles of the Compact between government and the voluntary and community sector will continue to be respected. </span></li>
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<span class="s1">Responses should be completed on-line or emailed to the relevant consultation email box. However, if you have any comments on how DfE consultations are conducted, please contact Carole Edge, DfE Consultation Coordinator, tel: 0370 000 2288 / email: <a href="mailto:carole.edge@education.gsi.gov.uk"><span class="s3">carole.edge@education.gsi.gov.uk</span></a></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Thank you for taking time to respond to this consultation.</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Completed questionnaires and other responses should be sent to the address shown below by 15 February 2013</span></div>
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<span class="s1">You can respond to the consultation by completing the response form and emailing it to <a href="mailto:SchoolAttendance.CONSULTATION@education.gsi.gov.uk"><span class="s3">SchoolAttendance.CONSULTATION@education.gsi.gov.uk</span></a> or sending it by post to:<br />
<br />
Department for Education<br />
C/o Juliette Duah<br />
Behaviour and Atendence in Schools Division<br />
Sanctuary Buildings<br />
Great Smith Street<br />
London<br />
SW1P 3BT</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">There is a consultation document <a href="http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/c/consultation%20document.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Might need to have a look at <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/proposals-for-joint-inspection-of-multi-agency-arrangements-for-protection-of-children" target="_blank">this</a> when it comes out.</span></div>
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Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-15724632366247477762012-12-12T21:50:00.000+00:002012-12-12T21:50:43.339+00:00Support for Home Education - Education Select Committee report published 18th December 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Press Release</b></div>
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No mention of the submissions so don't know if they will be published at the same time. Hope it is a pleasant surprise.</div>
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<b>Education Committee</b></div>
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<b>PN38</b></div>
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<b>Select Committee Announcement</b></div>
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<b>12 December 2012</b></div>
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<b>For Immediate Release:</b></div>
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<b>SUPPORT FOR HOME EDUCATION</b></div>
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<b>Publication of the Committee’s Fifth Report of Session <br />
2012-13</b></div>
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The Education Committee publishes its Fifth Report (HC 559-I) <b>at 00.01am on Tuesday 18 December: <i>Support for Home Education, Session 2012–13.</i></b></div>
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Hard copies of the Report will be posted on Tuesday 18 December to those who gave oral evidence to the original inquiry.</div>
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Embargoed electronic copies of the Report can be supplied upon request to Government departments, media and <span class="s1">witnesses who gave oral evidence</span> from <b>10.30am on Monday 17 December</b>. Non-media requests to <a href="mailto:educom@parliament.uk"><span class="s2">educom@parliament.uk</span></a> by <span class="s3">9.00am on Monday 17 December.</span> </div>
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All media enquiries should be addressed to Hannah Pearce, on 020 7219 8430 / 07917 488162 (<a href="mailto:pearcehm@parliament.uk"><span class="s2">pearcehm@parliament.uk</span></a>). </div>
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The report can also be ordered from The Stationery Office (tel: 0845 702 3474) or from the Parliamentary Bookshop (020 7219 3890), or can be viewed on the Committee’s website from 00.01am on <b>Tuesday 18 December 2012.</b></div>
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<b>FURTHER INFORMATION:</b></div>
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<b>Committee Membership is as follows:</b> </div>
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Mr Graham Stuart (Chair), <i>Conservative, Beverley and Holderness</i></div>
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Neil Carmichael, <i>Conservative, Stroud</i></div>
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Alex Cunningham, <i>Labour, Stockton North</i></div>
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Bill Esterson, <i>Labour, Sefton Central</i></div>
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Pat Glass, <i>Labour, North West Durham</i></div>
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Charlotte Leslie, <i>Conservative, Bristol North West</i></div>
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Ian Mearns, <i>Labour, Gateshead</i></div>
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Siobhain McDonagh, <i>Labour</i>, <i>Mitcham and Morden</i></div>
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Chris Skidmore, <i>Conservative, Kingswood</i></div>
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David Ward, <i>Liberal Democrat, Bradford East</i></div>
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Craig Whittaker, <i>Conservative, Calder Valley</i></div>
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<b><br />
Specific Committee Information</b>: <a href="mailto:educom@parliament.uk"><span class="s2">educom@parliament.uk</span></a> / 020 7219 6181</div>
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<b>Media Information: </b>Hannah Pearce<b> </b><a href="mailto:pearcehm@parliament.uk"><span class="s2">pearcehm@parliament.uk</span></a> 020 7219 8430 / 07917 488162</div>
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<span class="s4"><b>Committee Website</b>: <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/education-committee"><span class="s2">www.parliament.uk/education-committee</span></a></span></div>
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<b>Watch committees and parliamentary debates online</b>: <a href="http://www.parliamentlive.tv/"><span class="s2">www.parliamentlive.tv</span></a> </div>
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<b>Publications / Reports / Reference Material:</b> Copies of all select committee reports are available from the Parliamentary Bookshop (12 Bridge St, Westminster, 020 7219 3890) or the Stationery Office (0845 7023474). Committee reports, press releases, evidence transcripts, Bills; research papers, a directory of MPs, plus Hansard (from 2 hours after publication) and much more, can be found on <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/"><span class="s2">www.parliament.uk</span></a></div>
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Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-27607676414999077162012-12-04T10:40:00.000+00:002012-12-04T11:25:07.275+00:00Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Leicester and Leicestershire Local Authority Elective Home Education Departments<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1">Would do well to study <a href="http://www.blogger.com/Educating"><span class="s2">Lancashire Local Authority's web site</span></a>. As would the majority of Local Authorities who mostly bend he law to suit their purposes.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Educating Your Child At Home</b></span></div>
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<span class="s3"><a href="http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/atoz/a_to_z/service.asp?u_id=388&tab=1">Main Details</a></span><span class="s4"> <a href="http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/atoz/a_to_z/service.asp?u_id=388&tab=3"><span class="s3">FAQs</span></a> <a href="http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/atoz/a_to_z/service.asp?u_id=388&tab=4"><span class="s3">Contacts</span></a> <a href="http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/atoz/a_to_z/service.asp?u_id=388&tab=20"><span class="s3">Downloads</span></a><br />
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<span class="s1"><b>Main Details</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Most people choose to send their children to school to be educated, but you are legally entitled to educate your child at home.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">You don't have to be a teacher, operate to a timetable or follow the national curriculum (although you're perfectly at liberty to do so if you wish).</span></div>
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<span class="s1">If your child has never been to school or you are new to the area you don't have to tell us. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">If your child is registered at school you will need to send a letter to the head teacher informing them that you wish to educate your child at home. We will then contact you to and ask for some basic information.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Please note:</b></span></div>
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<li class="li8"><span class="s1">Where a child is registered at a school as a result of a school attendance order parents must ask the local authority to revoke the order.</span></li>
<li class="li8"><span class="s1">Where a child is placed at a special school under arrangements made by the local authority, parents need to contact us to ask for the child to be removed from the school register.</span></li>
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<span class="s1">If you would like to talk to one of our Elective Home Education (EHE) support workers about your decision to home educate or you would like any further support and advice about any information on this site please <a href="http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/atoz/a_to_z/service.asp?u_id=388&tab=4"><span class="s2">contact us</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This was not achieved without a tremendous amount of work from Local home educators over a considerable amount of time and a willing and enlightened (by them) EHE officer, however it is a tremendous achievement and all LAs should take note.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">If you are trying to work with your LA to establish a more truthful and respectful relationship this is an excellent example of how it could and should be done!</span><br />
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<span class="s1">The history of the negotiations and actions involved in reaching this point can be found <a href="http://www.lancashire-he.org.uk/thePast.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-30894453102263646502012-11-24T15:54:00.003+00:002015-05-18T14:08:08.141+01:00More on the situation in Wales and The Consultation - Guest post from Jill Harris<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Although I did not see the permission to post this till the consultation was over I still think it is well worth blogging Jill Harris' response. This is an extremely comprehensive answer and rebuttal of their questions and I think it may be very useful as a source of arguments if WAG press on regardless.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Question 1: Home Education Register *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*STANDARD VERSION **QUESTION 1 **--****DO YOU AGREE THAT A REGISTER</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">SHOULD BE KEPT AND THAT IT SHOULD BE A REQUIREMENT TO REGISTER IF A</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">PARENT ELECTS TO HOME EDUCATE? *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Plain English Version Question 1 Do you agree with our proposal that</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">requires children educated at home to be included on a register?</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Disagree</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Comments *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">There is a misconception amongst some that the existing system is one of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">a voluntary register, but this is completely inaccurate -- what we</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">currently have is a system of compulsory notification of de-registration</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">from school. The parents are simply required to notify the school in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">writing that they no longer require a place for their child, and the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">school is then required to notify the council that they are therefore no</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">longer eligible for funding for that child. This is merely to comply</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">with the contractual processes, and there is no requirement for the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">parent to inform the council of the decision at all, since it then</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">reverts to a private family matter.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">I do not believe there is any justification for a formal register, or</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">record of any sort, regarding how parents fulfil their duties. To do</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">this for educational provision makes no more sense than to do so for</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">diet or health care -- would a register of those with special diets in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">each area be considered necessary? Or of those choosing to use</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">alternative health services? It might make it easier to provide council</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">services, but that is nowhere near enough justification, legally, for</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">providing for routine official records of a private family decision.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">This would be an unwarranted intrusion on the right to a private family</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">life -- if there is no evidence of concern, then there is no</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">justification for the council to even request personal information, or</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">to have any forced role whatsoever. It is the provision of schools that</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">is the legal responsibility of councils -- the provision of education is</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the legal responsibility of parents. Home education therefore only falls</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">within the remit of council responsibility where there are specific</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">concerns.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The premise behind this proposal is based on a false interpretation of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the law. The WAG proposals state that :-</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"Section 436A of the Education Act 19962 places a duty on LAs which</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">consists of two parts. The first part requires a LA to identify (so far</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">as it is possible to do so) all learners of compulsory school age in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">their area who are not on a school roll. The second part requires a LA</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">to establish if such learners are receiving a suitable education. In the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">remainder of this document we describe this duty as 'the section 436A</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">duty'."</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Whereas what section 436A actually says is :-</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"(1)A local education authority must make arrangements to enable them to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">in their area who are of compulsory school age but---</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">(a)are not registered pupils at a school, and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">(b)are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The second "part" does not therefore require councils to establish</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">/whether/ children are receiving a suitable education, it simply</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">requires LAs to establish their identities if they are /not/. It</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">(legally) requires an "appearance" of them /not/ being in receipt of an</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">education that is suitable. This is entirely different, and concurs with</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the presumption of innocence -- the main concept underpinning all UK</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">law, and included in current WAG guidelines. There is therefore no</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">existing legal basis for routinely identifying or recording educational</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">provision, and to propose changing this would require a far more</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">substantial change in law than is being suggested. With no legal basis</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">for any such "register", there can be no enforceable duty on parents to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">register that their child is or will be home educated.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">As I have said above, introducing legislation that requires parents to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">inform the council about their own parental duties risks contravening</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">international laws regarding a right to a private family life -- if the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">parents choose not to use council educational services, then education</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">remains a part of their private family life.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The plain english version of this question does not refer to whether it</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">should be a duty on parents to register, which has significant</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">additional legal implications to those of just being "included on a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">register". This is a huge difference, and has potentially excluded those</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">relying on the "plain english" version from the opportunity to be</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">consulted on this aspect.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Question 2: Failure to register*</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*STANDARD VERSION QUESTION 2 -- DO YOU AGREE THAT IF A PARENT FAILS TO</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">REGISTER OR PROVIDES INADEQUATE OR FALSE INFORMATION THEN THE CHILD</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">BEING HOME EDUCATED SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO ATTEND SCHOOL? *</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Plain English version Question 2 - If the parent fails to register their</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">child, does not give all the information we ask for or gives false</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">information, should their child have to go to school?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Disagree</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Comments *</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Apart from the fact that I simply don't agree with the basic presumption</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">behind this question, it presupposes that school is the best option</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">whilst any dispute regarding this runs its course, which in most cases</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">simply isn't true. It imposes a huge change on the child, and will, in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">many cases, result in significant distress and disruption to their</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">education.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">There are may foreseeable circumstances where the information that a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">parent has provided could be subsequently, or subjectively, considered</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"inadequate", or where the information, or the information required, has</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">changed, and could therefore be considered "false". Changes in what</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">information is required, or in what form, would lead to disputes and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">legal challenges, as the whole idea is likely to substantially infringe</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">on the right to a private family life.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Allowing the council to impose a default option in cases where there are</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">no specific concerns that might warrant such, places the council in a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">decision-making role that far exceeds it's legal remit, and would</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">therefore leave the council open to legal action both as a principle,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">and also in light of any negative impact on the child of this</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">imposition. This proposal again demonstrates a lack of understanding of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the basic delineation of legal responsibility regarding something that</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">is a clear parental responsibility. There must be specific concerns for</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">a council to over-ride such parental responsibility.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">There is a vested interest in enforcing such a policy as there is a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">financial benefit to the schools and the councils, should children be</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">required to attend school (schools will then receive per-capita funding,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">whereas councils receive no per-capita funding for home educated</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">children). This would be an unacceptable influence in decision-making,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">and especially in using this as a default option.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Question 3: Working together*</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*STANDARD VERSION QUESTION 3 -- DO YOU AGREE THAT HOME EDUCATING PARENTS</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">SHOULD ENGAGE WITH THEIR LOCAL AUTHORITY TO ENABLE THEM TO ASSES THE</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">SUITABILITY OF THEIR HOME EDUCATION PROVISION *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Plain English version Question 3 - Do you agree that parents should work</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">with their local authority to make sure home education is meeting their</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">child's needs?</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Disagree</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Comments *</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Certainly not, and I do not see how councils can possibly hope to do</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">this? Suitability in this regard (in law) relates to the individual</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">child, and their age, ability, aptitude and any special education needs</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">they may have, not to any generic concepts of /a/ "suitable education".</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Unless councils are going to spend the ridiculously disproportionate</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">amount of time and money required to do this satisfactorily on such an</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">individual level, they are certain to find themselves in endless</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">disputes regarding what is suitable for each child. To do this</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">routinely, in the absence of any indication of concerns or shortcomings</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">makes no legal, financial or moral sense whatsoever. One of the main</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">advantages of home education is that it can be tailored in exactly this</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">way to suit each individual child, and since international law</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">recognises that parents should be assumed to have the best interests of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">their child at heart, it would again invite legal challenges to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">routinely impose an assessment by the very people whose services the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">parents have chosen not to use. The conflict of interests are clear. To</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">suggest that anyone other than the parents is best placed to make the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">decision as to what is suitable for their child contravenes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">international law, as well as the existing general responsibilities of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">parents. It is very clearly beyond the extent of the powers of the state</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">in circumstances where there are no specific concerns.</span><br />
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<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The plain english version of this question refers to the idea of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"working with their local authority", the legal implications of which</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">are far less significant than of the LA assessing the education. Again,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">this is a huge difference, and has potentially excluded those relying on</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the "plain english" version from the opportunity to be consulted on this</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">aspect.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Question 4: First meeting*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*STANDARD VERSION QUESTION 4- **DO YOU AGREE THAT THE INITIAL MEETING</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">BETWEEN THE LOCAL AUTHORITY AND HOME EDUCATING PARENT SHOULD TAKE PLACE</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">IN THE MAIN LOCATION WHERE THE EDUCATION IS BEING PROVIDED? *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Plain English version Question 4 - Do you agree that the first meeting</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">to join the register should take place where the child is going to be</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">home educated?</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Disagree</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Comments *</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Again, this is a presumptive question, as I do not even agree that such</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">an initial meeting should routinely take place. Also, this fails to take</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">account of the right to a private family life, and would give the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">council substantially more powers to enter the home of perfectly</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">law-abiding home educators, than the police would have when there is</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">actual evidence of crime!</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">It's incredibly insulting to try and pretend that it's not family homes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">that are being talked about here for the vast majority of children. With</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">home education, education remains part of parenting, rather than being</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"contracted out" to a school, and so to give routine access to the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">family home in this way would again contravene international laws</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">regarding family privacy.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Question 5: Annual review -- place of meeting.*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*STANDARD VERSION QUESTION 5 -- HOW OFTEN SHOULD THE ANNUAL MONITORING</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">MEETINGS WITH BOTH THE HOME EDUCATOR AND THE HOME EDUCATED CHILD TAKE</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">PLACE AT THE MAIN LOCATION OF EDUCATION? *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Plain English version Question 5 - Parents, the child and local</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">authority staff will meet once a year, to talk about the child's</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">development. How often should this annual meeting happen at the place</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">where the child is being home educated?</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Never</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Comments *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Again, this question assumes agreement that there should even be annual</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">meetings, which I don't agree with, and I don't agree either that</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">meetings should ever be required to take place at the family home unless</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">there are specific concerns that justify this intrusion on family privacy.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The real question here though, is the implied assumption that the child</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">be required to meet with the council annually. I would see this as a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">gross intrusion on the child's rights, and tantamount to unlawful</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">detention. /(//*Detention*//is the process when a state, government or</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">that time). /To introduce powers to detain a child in this way in the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">absence of any suspicion of wrongdoing would clearly contravene</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">international laws.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">International law also requires an assumption that parents are acting in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the best interests of their children, and there should therefore be no</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">routine questioning of children in this way. Again, this would give</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">councils more rights than police! Many children, especially those who</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">are very shy, or who have experienced bullying or phobia at school would</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">likely be seriously distressed at this proposal, especially since it</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">appears to not be something the child could opt out of. It would be an</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">incredible infringement on a child's rights to force them to even attend</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">such a meeting, especially if it were to be conducted without their</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">parents present. Again, this is way beyond the powers of the police in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">circumstances where there is evidence of actual abuse, and yet this</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">proposal relates to a routine process involving families where there are</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">no concerns at all.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">International law also requires parents to make decisions regarding</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">their children, on the basis that children are not yet able to make</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">decisions for themselves, nor to fully understand the consequences. It</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">is as meaningless, and pointless, therefore, to ascertain a child's</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">opinions about home education, as it would be to ask school children</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">whether they wish to be forced to attend school. I am not aware of any</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">evidence that home educated children express dissatisfaction, and it</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">would certainly be far, far less common than the number of school</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">children who resent and struggle with the compulsory nature of their</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">school attendance, the intense focus on testing, the fragmented approach</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">to learning, the dominance of certain subjects, the lack of provision</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">for different learning styles and needs etc. There is no explanation of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">any perceived benefit or aims of such questioning in the proposals,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">which makes this an even more extraordinary extension/contravention of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">existing laws.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Question 6: Refusing registration*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*STANDARD VERSION QUESTION 6 -- DO YOU AGREE THAT REGISTRATION SHOULD BE</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">DENIED OR REVOKED IN THE LIMITED SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES SET OUT IN THE</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">CONSULTATION DOCUMENT? (NOT SUPPLIED IN THE CONSULTATION RESPONSE FORM</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">SO NEED TO CROSS-CHECK WITH THE CONSULTATION DOCUMENT</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*_*</span><a href="http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dcells/consultation/120902registeringmonitoringen.pdf*_*which" style="background-color: white; color: #9136ad; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; text-decoration: initial;">http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dcells/consultation/120902registeringmonitoringen.pd\<br />f*_*which</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">appears on the consultation page described as "Registering and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">monitoring home-based education" pdf) *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*[ From the consultation document page 6. The LA would only be able to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">refuse a new application or revoke an existing*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*registration in a very limited set of circumstances:*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">. *if the parent fails to satisfy the LA that they are fulfilling their</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">duty under*</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*section 7 of the Education Act 1996*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">. *if the LA becomes aware of new or existing welfare or safeguarding</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">issues*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*that affect the suitability and effectiveness of the education provided*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">. *if the parent fails to cooperate with monitoring and/or reasonable</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">requests*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*to monitor.*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*]*</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Plain English version Question 6 - Should parents be refused</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">registration or have their registration overturned, if: the education</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">offered does not meet the child's needs, or puts the welfare or the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">safety of the child at risk? parents will not let the local authority</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">check that the child's education is suitable?</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Disagree</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Comments *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">I don't believe there should even be any such a thing as "registration",</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">but that isn't actually what is being described here anyway, which</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">actually amounts to "licensing". I don't agree with that either, and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">don't agree that the council has the right to prevent the parents from</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">pursuing their choice regarding education unless there is proven harm to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the child in doing so.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">To over-ride the parents in this way (with no need for even a suspicion</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">of concerns at any stage) massively shifts primary responsibility away</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">from the parents and towards the state, in a way that perhaps hasn't</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">been thought through? The implications are huge, and warrant full</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">consideration! This would be an extremely costly and litigious position</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">for a council to be in.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Existing laws already provide for a school attendance order where there</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">are specific relevant concerns, so the only role of this provision is to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">reduce the decision-making process to that of a council official, rather</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">than a court, which would clearly lead to many more disputes than at</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">present. I think the potential for this whole process to result in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">lengthy and costly legal challenges, and to tie up many parents and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">council officials in bureaucratic and legal disputes has been hugely</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">underestimated.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Introducing welfare or safeguarding issues here conflates education and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">welfare in a way that is extremely unhelpful, both for children, parents</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">and councils, and has already caused enormous problems in serious case</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">reviews. It is far more efficient for issues of concern to be dealt with</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">separately, and to completion, by those properly trained in each area,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">and for existing laws and procedures regarding welfare to be</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">appropriately enforced. The level of subjectivity and the power that</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">this proposal would confer on education officers will again give rise to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">many legal challenges and unnecessary conflict.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Given the personalised nature, legally, of the suitability of each</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">child's education, any attempt to regulate this, and any occasional</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">changes made to council requirements will inevitably lead to a number of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">families falling foul to this through no fault of their own, and to the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">detriment of the suitability of the education they are able to provide</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">to their child, resulting in protracted disputes which will cause</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">significant distress and disruption to children and their parents. As</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">tempting as it may be to more tightly define what the WAG considers</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">acceptable regarding suitability of the education, there is a reason</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">that this is not done - it prevents exactly the level of personalisation</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">that the law is intended to enable, and causes unnecessary restrictions</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">and unwarranted bureaucratic interference in a process that is not even</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">raising any evidenced concerns. Home education has been shown again and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">again, even where there is no formal structured "lessons", to be at</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">least as effective, if not more so, than the "one size fits all"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">approach of the school system. The inevitable end point of such a course</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">of action is to gradually progress to the point that children can only</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">be educated in the ways that schools are allowed to educate, as that is</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">what is defined as "suitable" in a mass, generic system. In fact it is</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the suitability of provision in relation to the practicalities of mass</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">instruction and supervision that is the largest factor in this, whereas</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">home educators can be far more diverse, flexible and responsive. It is</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">exactly that kind of generic approach that so many home educators are</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">perfectly legally stepping away from, and rightly so, as it does not</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">(and can never) provide an education that is suited to each individual</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">child. Parents who are able and willing to make the sacrifices required</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">to home educate are able to individually tailor and adapt the education</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">in a way that does not, and should not, attempt to duplicate the mass</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">school system, and which can enable a child to develop and excel in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">their specific talents, whether academic or not. Home education can also</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">enable children to direct their education in ways that take it beyond</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">any limitations of their parents experience/knowledge, and to maintain</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">either a longer-term diversity or a specialisation that schools cannot</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">hope to deliver. Many world experts and entrepreneurs have either been</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">home educated or have proclaimed themselves as self-educated.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">It makes no sense whatsoever to enable children to be educated</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"otherwise" than at school if this can only be done in a way and at a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">place that is exactly equivalent to school, or to empower council</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">officials to subjectively, forcibly and with extremely limited knowledge</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">of the child, decide how a parent (of whom there are no concerns) may</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">fulfil their parental duties. Again, international law (and current WAG</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">guidelines) requires that councils assume parents to be educating their</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">child appropriately unless there are specific indications otherwise.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Councils should not be able to define what is considered "suitable" in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">order to acquire powers to intervene, where existing evidence indicates</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">neither need nor benefit of doing so.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">If not co-operating with a "reasonable request" were included as</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">sufficient grounds for refusing a license to home educate, then this</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">would give far too much power to potentially adversarial council</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">officials. There are already considerable differences in how councils</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">interpret the existing law, so adding an open clause like this would be</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">far too open to abuse. What would be "reasonable" would again be open to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">legal challenge. It looks increasingly like these proposals are largely</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">about intimidating home educators by appearing to place the balance of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">power regarding a simple parental decision in the hands of the state, in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">an almost open-ended way. To do this as a routine measure, in the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">absence of any concerns would be quite remarkable, and would create a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">very dangerous precedent.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Question 7: Notice of registration*</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*STANDARD VERSION QUESTION 7 -- DO YOU AGREE THE AMOUNT OF TIME TAKEN</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">BETWEEN RECEIPT OF APPLICATION TO REGISTER AND NOTIFICATION OF</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">REGISTRATION OUTCOME SHOULD BE NO MORE THAN 12 WEEKS? *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Plain English Version Question 7 - Parents should be told within 12</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">weeks whether they can educate their child at home.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Disagree</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Comments *</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">I don't agree that there is any legal basis or justification for any</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">form of licensing or registration regarding home education, and would</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">certainly question what benefit would come of any time frame? It seems</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">more likely to me that it would be used against parents, meaning that</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">they only had 12 weeks to "convince" the council official that they</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">should be "allowed" to home educate, in which case it would probably be</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">very easy for that person to frustrate their efforts beyond this time</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">limit, should they be so inclined. This would result in a situation</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">where the previously identified default position of school would</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">presumably be applied, and the parent would therefore be prevented from</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">educating their child in a way that they have identified as enabling</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">them to fulfil their parental duties, purely because of bureaucratic</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">inefficiency or obstruction. This would be entirely inappropriate, and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">would again result in many avoidable legal wrangles, since the parent</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">has both the right and the responsibility to determine the nature of the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">education provision, unless there are specific indications that they are</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">/not/ providing an education that is suitable to their child.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">*Question 8 -- Any other comments*.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Responses to consultations may be made public -- on the internet or in a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">report. If you would prefer your response to be kept confidential,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">please tick here:</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Existing provisions are perfectly adequate regarding home education, and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">there is no established problem where they are followed properly,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">although unfortunately many councils do not do so. Setting up a system</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">that is based on assumed conflict and parental negligence, and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">unwarranted state intrusion cannot possibly improve the current</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">situation. The amount of money these prioposals will cost -- both in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">terms of staff time and legal challenges could be far more sensibly</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">spent. We are talking here about a group of people who almost</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">exclusively fully abide by the law, achieve better results both</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">academically, economically and socially for their children than most</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">schools, and who currently cost the state absolutely nothing. There are</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">rarely any actual concerns (as opposed to rumours of concerns), or</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">School Attendance Orders, and where these do occur, they are usually not</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">upheld in court, as they are often based in a mis-application or</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">misunderstanding of the law. Although it might seem unbelievable to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">councils that they don't have a way of knowing how many, or how children</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">are home-educated, neither do they know how many have special diets, or</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">use alternative health care. There is no good reason for a council to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">even know, let alone monitor, how parents intend to fulfil their duties</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">unless there are specific grounds for concern. The role of the council</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">is to act as a safety net for where there are genuine and evidenced</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">problems. If the council were to begin routinely investigating and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">monitoring families as to how they parent, then that would be a huge</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">culture shift that I hope isn't intended by the authors of these proposals.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">In summary, these antagonistic proposals turn the presumption of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">innocence on it's head, undermine the right to family privacy, and place</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">primary parenting responsibility in the hands of the state rather than</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the actual parents. All of these are only justifiable in exceptional</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">circumstances, not as a routine measure for perfectly law-abiding, happy</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">families.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The consultation document says that :-</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"Under the current system when a concern over the suitability of home</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">education provision is raised, LAs can find it difficult to gather the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">evidence needed to verify the accuracy of the concern."</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">but these proposals are not merely attempting to address the gathering</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">of evidence when a concern over provision has been raised, they are</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">attempting to check every aspect of the education of all home educating</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">families, in order to rule out the possibility of unidentified concerns.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The area that generally causes "concern" on the part of councils is</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">their belief that they have a duty to routinely "check" whether the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">education is suitable, and no identified process to do so, rather than a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">duty to intervene only when there are specific concerns that the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">education is /not/suitable, in the same way as with other areas</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">regarding council intervention in parental duties. This is a completely</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">disproportionate response to a concern on the part of councils that they</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">do not have as much power to routinely investigate as they would like.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">They already have powers to intervene where there /are/ specific, actual</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">concerns, and the processes are clear and effective. The proposed</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">unprecedented, routine infringement on privacy, and the reversal of the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">presumption of innocence for home educating families will contravene</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">several international laws, incur substantial and unnecessary costs, and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">irrevocably destroy trust between home educators and councils.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The existing law is perfectly adequate, enabling parents to choose to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">remain directly responsible for providing education for their children</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">in whichever way they feel best prepares each individual child for life</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">as an adult. Home education is a choice with considerable time and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">financial implications for the parents, but as international law</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">recognises, parents have the biggest personal investment in the future</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">of their children, and are strongly motivated to help them do well.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">There is no justification for routinely assuming that parents who home</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">educate do not fulfil their responsibility at least as well as those who</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">choose the route of mass education.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">With no actual evidence of need or benefit for these proposals, the WAG</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">is at risk of committing itself to an unprecedented level of unjustified</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">expenditure, unwarranted invasion of privacy, and inevitable protracted</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">legal challenges at a time when parents of school children are rightly</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">becoming increasingly disillusioned with the performance and practices</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">in schools, both regarding academic outcomes, and duties of care</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">regarding bullying etc. Since the evidence is clear that home education</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">has a proven track record on both these accounts, it seems that the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">agenda for these proposals is far more likely to be driven by a simple</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">desire to increase regulation and powers for state intervention, the</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">consequences of which will be completely disproportionate, both for</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">parents and councils. Since the basis of these proposals is actually a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">mis-interpretation of the law, as explained in the answers to Q1, Q3 and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">Q5, then it would seem better to clarify to councils that they only (and</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">should always /only/) have powers to intervene in parental duties where</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">there are specific concerns, and that, as with all other parental</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">duties, they do not have a right to routinely investigate whether</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">parents are fulfilling their duties regarding education.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">The basis for the state routinely investigating provision in schools, is</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">that it is responsible for such provision /on behalf/ of the parents ie</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">it has contractual responsibilities, and therefore has a role in</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">enforcing quality control. Where parents do not "contract out" their</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">responsibility for the actual provision of the education, and choose to</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">home educate, this remains a private family matter, and is no concern of</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the state unless it "appears" that the parents are /not/ fulfilling</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">their duties. Schools who comply with what the state has determined</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"suitable" provision of education, are in a clear legal position, since</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the onus is then on the parents to take action if they feel this is not</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"suitable" for their individual child's age, ability, aptitude, etc. It</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">is also worth noting that parents actually remain legally responsible</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">for their child's education even when they do contract out the provision</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">to schools, and that schools rely on this to avoid liability for</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">"failing" children. To introduce measures that shift the balance towards</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">the state having primary responsibility for education would indeed be a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">significant shift both legally and financially for councils, and should</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">not be done on the back of a simple lack of information regarding a</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">matter for which they have no legal remit in the first case.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.333333015441895px;">There is another great response <a href="http://pete-darby.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/yet-another-consultation-response.html" target="_blank">here</a> as well.</span><br />
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Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-73620673034965213932012-11-22T23:43:00.001+00:002012-11-22T23:55:31.629+00:00Another excellent response to the consultation on Registering and monitoring home-based education in Wales<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><b>A wonderful response from </b></span><b>David Silvester </b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Educating children at home</b></div>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">The Welsh Government wants children who are home educated to be on a register.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">We want to ask parents and children about their home education every year.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Please answer the following eight questions and tell us what you think. If you have any further comments please use the comment boxes and add separate sheets if you wish. </b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Question 1: Home education register</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Do you agree with our proposal that requires children educated at home to be included on a register?</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Agree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> Disagree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> X </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Not sure </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comment: The state is not in a position to know better than a parent or their child what constitutes a suitable and appropriate education. The state is a large apparatus which moves and adapts a lot slower than individual families and fields of knowledge. When education experts like Sir Ken Robinson have been saying for years that the one-size-fits-all school system doesn't work, those of us who choose to move with the times and do something about taking responsibility for our children's learning should not have to answer for that choice to a system that cannot possibly keep up with the speed at which the cutting edge evolves. The function of the state is to serve it's citizens – not the other way around. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<b>Question 2: Failure to register</b></div>
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<span class="s1">If the parent fails to register their child, does not give all the information we ask for or gives false information, should their child have to go to school?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Agree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> Disagree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> X</span> <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Not sure </span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comment: Since I do not believe that anyone should have to register in the first place, then it follows that I do not support any punitive measures for those who do not register. The case for compulsory registration has categorically failed to be made.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<b>Question 3: Working together</b></div>
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<span class="s1">Do you agree that parents should work with their local authority to make sure home education is meeting their child’s needs?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Agree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> Disagree X<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Not sure<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comment: I believe that the local authority should work with home educating families if the parent or child requests it. What families choose to do is of no concern to the local authority. I believe that local authorities should support and even offer funding for home education. I do not believe that a local authority can have any claim to an objective, impartial measure of whether “home education is meeting [a] child's needs”. This is a purely subjective question, and cannot be quantified in any meaningful way. It is inevitable that should any such measure be brought in, certain individuals will fall foul of it's assessment methods through no fault of their own, and their education and / or family life will suffer as a result. I believe that the state should stay out of family life, and should recognise that stress (particularly external legislative stress that is based on ideology and control, not individual reality and </span>freedom) is one of the number one problems which leads to the breakdown of families and ultimately, society as a whole.</div>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<b>Question 4: First meeting</b></div>
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<span class="s1">Do you agree that the first meeting to join the register should take place where the child is going to be home educated? </span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Agree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> Disagree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> X</span> <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Not sure </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comment: I do not agree that there should be any meetings whatsoever, unless they are specifically requested by the parents or child concerned. Note that social services already have a raft of powers to intervene in any case where there is a genuine reason for concern, and also that the vast majority of home educating families do so without giving any cause for genuine concern under the existing legislation which already confers such powers.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Therefore, I maintain that the case for these meetings and assessments is spurious at best. There would appear to be precious little evidence to suggest that it is actually needed, and very little understanding of the many nuances of home education. Again, the state is too large an apparatus to be able to grasp such subtleties with anywhere near the level of detail that would allow for sound legislative decision making about them.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<b>Question 5: Annual review – place of meeting</b></div>
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<span class="s1">Parents, the child and local authority staff will meet once a year, to talk about the child’s development. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">How often should this annual meeting happen at the place where the child is being home educated?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Always<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Sometimes<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Please suggest below how often (for example every two years, three years, four years and so on)<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Never`<span class="Apple-tab-span"> X</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Not sure<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comment: The wording of this question appears to assume that such meetings should happen at all. I disagree wholly with that assumption – these meetings should not take place whatsoever.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I maintain that the case for any intervention in the lives of home educating families has not been made, and that the state is not in a position to make such a case, because it simply does not possess the resources to develop an intimate understanding of the many subtleties of the many home educating families that exist.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Without this intimate understanding of each family – whose needs may be changing on a constant basis – there can be no case for creating broad legislation which dictates the choices available to families for how they educate their children. By definition, any such legislation will trample all over the needs of a large number of the families affected by it, and therefore, it should not exist in the first place.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Question 6: Refusing registration</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Should parents be refused registration or have their registration overturned, if:</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<ul>
<li class="li3"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">the education offered does not meet the child’s needs, or puts the welfare or the safety of the child at risk? </span></li>
<li class="li3"><span class="s2"></span><span class="s1">parents will not let the local authority check that the child’s education is suitable?</span></li>
</ul>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Agree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> Disagree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> X </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Not sure </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comment: Parents should not need to seek “permission” from the local authority to make decisions about what works for their own families, period. The local authority is not in a position to be able to judge or offer any such “permission”. The matter is outside of the scope of their understanding, outside of their remit and jurisdiction, and does not concern them in any way. Social services already have the power to intervene in cases where there is genuine concern for the welfare of children. There is no cause for concern with the vast majority of home educating families – therefore, the case for any extra legislation needs to be made based on actual evidence to suggest there is a need for it. No such evidence has been produced, and nor will it be – unless you are seriously suggesting that there is any cause for welfare concerns </span>with the vast majority of home educating families? (Again, if so, either produce your evidence or drop these proposals altogether.)</div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Question 7: Notice of registration</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Parents should be told within 12 weeks whether they can educate their child at home.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Agree<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> Disagree X<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Not sure </span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comment: The wording of this question again assumes that the local authority is in any position to judge or offer such “permission”. What is the basis for this assumption? Where is the evidence of it's suitability?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Once the local authority has demonstrated their suitability to get involved in the intimate details of individual families lives, then they might be considered to be in a position to offer to ratify that which parents and children have already been deciding for themselves without any problems since the dawn of humankind.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Until such time, local authorities have no place inside the decision making process of the family unit, so the question is moot.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Question 8: Are there any other comments you would like to make?</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comments: This is some of the most badly thought out legislation I have ever encountered. The underlying assumption – of these questions too – is that the case for interventions has even <i>been made</i>, and that such involvement of the local authorities is necessary. This is an erroneous assumption with literally no evidence to support it, and therefore the basis for this entire consultation is null and void.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The survey demonstrates such a total lack of understanding of the complexities of home education – the many needs of the people doing it, their reasons for choosing not to be involved in the state education system, the problems inherent in monitoring, the problems inherent in fixed curricula, the vast majority of success stories, the incredibly small number of genuine problem cases – that it gives me serious cause for concern that those who are proposing and drawing it up simply do not understand the first thing about what they are dealing with.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Those of us who choose to home educate our children (in whatever style that fits the individuals concerned, as determined, adapted and carried out by loving parents who are giving their all for their children) should not be the victims of intrusive, baseless and wholly unnecessary legislation from bureaucrats who are attempting to massively overstep the bounds of their office, to usurp power from families and bring legislation into the personal decisions of parents and their children.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Responses to consultations may be made public – on the internet or in a report. If you would prefer your response to be kept confidential, please tick here:</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Thank you for giving your views.</span></div>
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Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-62885681380890535352012-11-22T22:10:00.001+00:002012-11-22T22:12:04.471+00:00Bruce's response to the consultation on Registering and monitoring home-based education in Wales<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You can find the details about this consultation in <a href="http://maire-staffordshire.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/time-to-respond-registering-and.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.<br />
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<span class="s1"><b>About this consultation</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">The purpose of this consultation is to seek the views on the Welsh Government’s proposals for the introduction of a compulsory registration and monitoring system for home educated children. This document asks questions relating to specific aspects of the proposals.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Question 1 </b>– Do you agree that a register should be kept and that it should be a requirement to register if a parent elects to home educate?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Disagree</span></div>
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<span class="s1">X</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
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<span class="s2">This proposal is disproportionate and would remove parents’/guardians’ legal duty to provide an education for their children. The introduction of a de facto licensing scheme would require an amendment to section 7 of the 1996 Education Act as home educators would no longer be able to meet their legal obligations.</span></div>
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<span class="s2">The measure is also unnecessary as local authorities have adequate powers to deal with children missing education.</span></div>
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<span class="s2">The WAG has provided no robust evidence that a registration scheme is required. The proposal is based on a whim.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Question 2 </b>– Do you agree that if a parent fails to register or provides inadequate or false information then the child being home educated should be required to attend school?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Disagree</span></div>
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<span class="s1">X</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
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<span class="s1">This proposal fails to meet any basic notion of ‘fairness’. If the parent/guardian fails to provide sufficient or false information, then the child is punished by being forced to attend school. Penalising children for decisions or mistakes made by their parents is counter to natural justice.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">It is also against natural justice that the decision to compel attendance should be taken by an unelected official rather than by a court. There also needs to be an accessible, open and transparent appeal system.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The proposal takes no account of the reasons for the inadequacy of the information. The family making an unintended error would be penalised as severely as someone deliberately seeking to mislead a local authority.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">There are no criteria defined for determining whether or not the correct information has been provided (e.g. would omission of a phone number constitute inadequate information, if not, what would?). The effect would be to confer a considerable degree of discretion on local authority officials. This will lead to a postcode lottery with similar cases being treated inconsistently between local authorities. The inevitable outcome will be numerous legal challenges from home educators.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The introduction of this proposal will undermine relationships with home educators and harm the welfare of children. Forcing home educated children - many of whom, for a variety of reasons, do not ‘fit’ with the approach adopted in mainstream schools - will engender</span><span class="s3"> </span><span class="s1">a fall in their self-esteem and confidence and hinder their educational development.</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 3 </b>– Do you agree that home educating parents should engage with their local authority to enable them to assess the suitability of their home education provision?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Disagree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td4" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">X</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td9" valign="top"><div class="p11">
<span class="s1">This is a poorly framed question and demonstrates that the proposals have not been clearly thought though from the perspective of home educators. Why would any rational home educator willingly engage in a process that could result in their child being forced to attend school?</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The Welsh Government is also proposing a revised definition of "suitable education" [consultation document paragraph 12]. However, this change is unnecessary as the current legal definition – that education has to be efficient and full-time and suitable to age, ability aptitude and to the child's special needs – is fit for purpose. </span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The proposal to revise the definition of suitable education will have adverse unintended consequences for WAG. Any new definition will have to apply to school educated children as well as home educated children. Given the widely acknowledged poor performance of pupils attending Welsh schools (see, for instance, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-20414626"><span class="s4">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-20414626</span></a>) it is highly likely that home educated children subject to a School Attendance Order will receive an unsuitable education according to the new definition. The implication is that the impact statement for the proposal needs to include a substantial sum to cover the cost of compensation payments to home educated children who were forced to attend schools and as a result received an unsuitable education. Indeed, this may be the outcome whether or not the definition of suitable education is amended.</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 4 </b>– Do you agree that the initial meeting between the local authority and home educating parent and child should take place in the main location where the education is being provided?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Disagree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td4" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">X</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td10" valign="top"><div class="p11">
<span class="s1">This is a double barrelled question that assumes a) that there should be a initial meeting between the local authority and the home educating parent/guardian; and b) it should take place in ‘the main location where the education takes place’.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The very notion that the local authority should have the right to meet with the home educating parent/guardian once they have taken the decision to home educate is objectionable and unwarranted. Given that no evidence or sound arguments have been presented to justify the establishment of a registration scheme, and that any such scheme would undermine and so require legislation to replace section 7 of the 1996 Act, it follows that there is no case for an initial meeting.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">What does the phrase ‘the main location where the education takes place’ mean? If it means the home of the parent/guardian why not say so? Is it the case that policymakers are reluctant to state explicitly that local authority staff will have a right to enter people’s homes for fear of alarming the wider general public about the erosion of human rights that this proposal would entail? The proposal is disproportionate (relative to the loss of human rights it demands). It is also discriminatory as no similar power is to be exercised against school educating parents, yet under section 7 of the 1996 Act there is equivalence in the duty placed on those parents/guardians using schools and those educating otherwise.</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 5 </b>– How often should the annual monitoring meetings with both the home educator and the home educated child take place at the main location of education?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td11" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Always</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td12" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td13" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Every two years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td4" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td14" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Every three years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td15" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Up to five years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td12" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td16" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Never</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td4" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">X</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td17" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td18" valign="top"><div class="p11">
<span class="s1">As with question 4, this is a poorly constructed question. It is a double barrelled question covering both the frequency of monitoring and the location of the monitoring.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">There is no case for either monitoring or that any monitoring should take at ‘the main location where the education takes place’ (whatever that means – see response to question 4). Monitoring, irrespective of the frequency or location, would undermine the pedagogy benefits of home education. </span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 6 </b>– Do you agree that registration should be denied or revoked in the limited set of circumstances set out in the consultation document?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td19" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td20" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td21" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Disagree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td22" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">X</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td23" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td24" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td25" valign="top"><div class="p11">
<span class="s1">This question is wholly misleading and the specific proposition unacceptable given that there is no case for introduction of a registration scheme or for local authorities to be given the power to decide who can or cannot educate their children at home.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The question is misleading because the consultation document does not propose a limited number of circumstances. The document lists the following circumstances:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<ul>
<li class="li14"><span class="s5"></span><span class="s1">if the parent fails to satisfy the LA that they are fulfilling their duty under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 </span></li>
<li class="li14"><span class="s5"></span><span class="s1">if the LA becomes aware of new or existing welfare or safeguarding issues that affect the suitability and effectiveness of the education provided </span></li>
<li class="li11"><span class="s5"></span><span class="s1">if the parent fails to cooperate with monitoring and/or reasonable requests to monitor. </span></li>
</ul>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1">(para. 26)</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Whilst this is only three sets of circumstances they are so broadly defined and all encompassing in their scope that virtually every home educating parent would be at risk of having their license to home educate revoked. These ‘sets of circumstances’ would grant unelected officials a vast degree of discretion. The proposal is disproportionate and constitutes a serious attack on the duty of parents to provide a suitable and efficient education under section 7 of the 1996 Education Act. </span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 7 </b>– Do you agree the amount of time taken between receipt of application to register and notification of registration outcome should be no more than 12 weeks?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td19" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td20" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td21" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Disagree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td22" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">X</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td23" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td24" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td26" valign="top"><div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 it is the duty of the parent/guardian to decide how to provide a suitable and efficient education, not the duty of the local authority. Once the parent/guardian decides and:</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li11"><span class="s5"></span><span class="s1">if the child has never attended a school then there must be no requirement for the parent/guardian to inform anyone; or </span></li>
<li class="li11"><span class="s5"></span><span class="s1">if the child attends school then deregistration should commence following the school’s receipt of written notification to withdraw the child.</span></li>
</ol>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The proposed period of 12 weeks (comprising two periods of 6 weeks) is unnecessary and arbitrary as no justification is given as to why such a long period of time is require. </span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 8 – </b>We have asked a number of specific questions. If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use this space to report them:</span></div>
<div class="p16">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p17">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td27" valign="top"><div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The consultation proposals demonstrate that policy makers have failed to grasp the character and nature of home education – had they done so, they would not have even considered making the proposals in the consultation document.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Policy makers could have learnt from the flawed review of home education in England conducted by Badman. This consultation document, like the review, is undermined by confusing educational and safeguarding issues. Intellectually and practically these are separate issues and policies that confound them are poorly designed and destined to be ineffective if implemented.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">The proposals are ill-conceived and ill-judged and will require amendment of section 7 of the Education Act 1996. To avoid legal challenges and judicial review of cases, together with claims against WAG and Welsh local authorities for failure to provide a suitable education for former home educated children, section 7 would have to be amended so that the Welsh Government (not parents) assumed sole responsibility for providing a suitable and efficient education for all children. Such a change would be vehemently opposed by a coalition of parents, educationalists and public schools.</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p18">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p18">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td28" valign="top"><div class="p3">
<span class="s1">Responses to consultations may be made public – on the internet or in a report. If you would prefer your response to be kept confidential, please tick here:</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td29" valign="top"><div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
And here is the final version of mine:</div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>About this consultation</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">The purpose of this consultation is to seek the views on the Welsh Government’s proposals for the introduction of a compulsory registration and monitoring system for home educated children. This document asks questions relating to specific aspects of the proposals.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 1 </b>– Do you agree that a register should be kept and that it should be a requirement to register if a parent elects to home educate?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td4" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1">As private citizens home educating parents should be served by the state not controlled by it. There is no evidence of a need for this change in the law and surely with the dire state of education in Wales the money it would require could be far better spent. Parents are the most suitable people to have responsibility for their children’s education, the state, especially in Wales is failing spectacularly. Leighton Andrews is talking seriously about removing responsibility for education from LAs, what sense does it make to give them power over home educating parents who for the most part do a far superior job? </span><span class="s2"> There is real danger of introducing one size fits all, broad and balanced requirements that will hinder home educators in meeting the individual needs of their particular children. This will undermine the major advantage of this form of private education, that it can be precisely and continuously adjusted to meet the changing needs and interests of the child. Home education can and often does produce spectacular results and they nearly always exceed what can be achieved for a child as one of thirty children in the stressed, teaching to the test environment so common in today’s schools.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 2 </b>– Do you agree that if a parent fails to register or provides inadequate or false information then the child being home educated should be required to attend school?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">No, there should be no register for choosing a legal and equal form of education and no, the child should not be punished if parents do not comply with a draconian state grab for power, remember you are elected to serve!</span></div>
<div class="p14">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">Also why do you think it would be an improvement for the child to have their own and their parents’ legitimate choice removed violently by the state and the child thrust into the failing schools run by LAs obviously inadequate to meet their actual responsibilities? </span></div>
<div class="p14">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">This is the worst sort of bullying and abuse of power.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 3 </b>– Do you agree that home educating parents should engage with their local authority to enable them to assess the suitability of their home education provision?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">Absolutely not, why should sovereign citizens engage with their employees for a service they do not require, especially when those employees run such an inadequate service. The LAs are obviously in no position to judge a suitable education and if it is defined they will also be judged against that definition much to the detriment of their budget. How many parents would just love to sue the state for its failure to educate their children suitably!</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 4 </b>– Do you agree that the initial meeting between the local authority and home educating parent and child should take place in the main location where the education is being provided?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td8" valign="top"><div class="p13">
<span class="s1">The state should not be forcing itself into private homes; as has often been said “1984” was a warning not a helpful guide to state oppression. The home educating parent has no need to meet state officials unless they can be of service to them or there is evidence of failure on their part. Do we not live in a democracy rather than an authoritarian despotism? Home education is equal in law to school education; schools are inspected to let parents and citizens know that their money is being prudently handled and their children well served. Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case in Wales. Even if it were though there is definitely no reason to let LAs force their way into private homes to make a judgment on the education provided, it is not their responsibility nor something they know anything about. On what basis would they be fit to judge, and even if such an outrageous intrusion into private family life were at all acceptable, which it is most certainly not, surely they would have to prove that that they could provide an efficient education themselves first? Parents are the people responsible for the education of their children and do not need to prove that they are using public money well or caring for strangers’ children appropriately because unlike schools they are not.</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 5 </b>– How often should the annual monitoring meetings with both the home educator and the home educated child take place at the main location of education?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td9" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Always</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td10" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td11" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Every two years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td12" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td13" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Every three years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td14" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td15" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Up to five years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td16" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td17" valign="top"><div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b>Never</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td18" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td19" valign="top"><div class="p13">
<span class="s1">Monitoring is entirely inapropriate, would you like me to monitor your computer? You may well have something on there that is illegal but you benefit from the presumption of innocence and the police will not knock on your door and demand to monitor just in case you have peadophelia on there, they have to have evidence! Home educators have the same right to the presumption of innocence. The LA has no business concerning itself with private home education unless it is brought to their attention that education is not taking place. They need to conserve their time, money and energy to put their own house in order, a task that seems to be beyond them.</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 6 </b>– Do you agree that registration should be denied or revoked in the limited set of circumstances set out in the consultation document?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">Section 7 places a duty on parents to ensure a suitable eduction for their child, how can they do that if the LA override their choice? </span></div>
<div class="p14">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">So the choice of method of education, home education or school, state or private is the parent’s choice and no business of strangers ill versed in individual education in the real world and failing in the institutionalised education they are tasked to provide.</span></div>
<div class="p14">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">If an LA is alerted to real concerns about any child’s welfare, home educated or schooled, then social services are the department to deal with it as they are trained and employed for this purpose. Confusion over education and welfare has had tragic consequences, don’t muddy the waters.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 7 </b>– Do you agree the amount of time taken between receipt of application to register and notification of registration outcome should be no more than 12 weeks?</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p7">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1">It is a parents duty so a parents choice, once the decision has been taken the child is no longer a pupil and no longer under the jurisdiction of the school or the LA. I think you will find that what you are suggesting here is illegal. No application is necessary, it is none of your business what choice a parent makes about the education of their child but it is your duty if the parent devolves the education to you to provide a suitable one. I think you have the nature of the relationship confused here, the parent chooses, you provide a service if required, you do not dictate to the people legally responsible for the choice and the outcome!</span></div>
<div class="p14">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 8 – </b>We have asked a number of specific questions. If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use this space to report them:</span></div>
<div class="p16">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p17">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">No to registration, no to monitoring. Do not take this foolish step, the unintended consequences will drown you in court cases and cause unimaginable harm to home educated children. There is absolutely no evidence of a need for this policy, policy should always be evidence based. This seems like some sort of distraction technique in order to avoid considering the dramatic failure of state based education in Wales.</span></div>
<div class="p18">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">Defining suitable education will mean that schools will have to meet the standards decided not just home educators. Changing the law so that the state has primary responsibility for education will leave it open to legal challenge from the many parents whose children have been failed by the state. When the state fails a child that child is just one of many to it, it does not have to live intimately with the consequences. It is a different matter for the parent. As a now home educating parent whose children would have been shamefully failed by the state without vigorous intervention on my part, intervention that in the end was not sufficient, I would grasp eagerly at the chance to gain redress against a heartless and unfeeling system that cared not one jot for my children’s wellbeing or learning, believe me I am not the only one!</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p19">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p19">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td20" valign="top"><div class="p3">
<span class="s1">Responses to consultations may be made public – on the internet or in a report. If you would prefer your response to be kept confidential, please tick here:</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">I have seen some marvellous responses from others, let's keep them coming!</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td21" valign="top"><div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-4238041093502447692012-11-21T23:16:00.000+00:002012-11-22T17:41:46.767+00:00Time to respond, Registering and monitoring home-based education Consultation, Wales<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Here is my initial response; I have not proof read it and would welcome any comments and corrections. There are only two days to go and the more I think about it the more I cannot understand how people who think themselves fit to rule us and sort out the problems of the world can even consider this proposal. It is really important that they get a huge negative response, what are they thinking of, 50% of their schools are failing and there is absolutely no evidence of a need for this. Leighton Andrews at the same time as wanting to give this extra extra power to oppress us to LAs is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-20414626" target="_blank">talking about removing education from their remit </a>as they are failing so badly, how ridiculous!</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Fiona has a lot of helpful information <a href="http://edyourself.org/articles/walesbriefing.php" target="_blank">here</a>. Thinking back to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badman_Review" target="_blank">Badman</a>, a most unpleasant thing to do, it seems to me that the big push in England came once his <a href="http://www.swsurrey-home-ed.co.uk/resources/8318-DCSF-HomeEdReviewBMK.pdf" target="_blank">shameful report</a> was published. With this in mind it would be worth being part of <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rhuad_y_Ddraig/" target="_blank">these</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/522052077822022/" target="_blank">groups</a> so that a coordinated push against any silly ploughing on with these proposals despite an almost certain mainly negative response to the consultation can be challenged most effectively.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1"><a href="http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/education/registeringandmonitoring/?lang=en&status=open" target="_blank">Here is a link to the actual consultation form</a> and here Fiona has an explanation of the page <a href="http://edyourself.org/articles/welshconsultationdoc.php" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">When you have downloaded and filled in your response email it to </span><a href="mailto:Wellbeingshare@wales.gsi.gov.uk" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #0973a5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wellbeingshare@wales.gsi.gov.uk</a> cue faint hysterical laughter at the irony!<br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">And Gill has done a far more comprehensive analysis than mine <a href="http://sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-welsh-consultation-closes-tomorrow.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b><a href="http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dcells/consultation/120902registeringmonitoringen.pdf" target="_blank">Registering and monitoring home-based education</a></b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td1" valign="top"><div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>Consultation response form</b></span><span class="s2"><b> </b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td2" valign="top"><div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Your name:<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Organisation (if applicable):</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">e-mail/telephone number:</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Your address:</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p6">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Responses should be returned by 23 November 2012 to:</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Pupil Wellbeing Branch</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Support for Learners Division</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Department for Education and Skills</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Welsh Government </span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Cathays Park</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Cardiff</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">CF10 3NQ</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">or completed electronically and sent to:</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">e-mail: <a href="mailto:WELLBEINGshare@wales.gsi.gov.uk"><span class="s3">WELLBEINGshare@wales.gsi.gov.uk</span></a> (please enter elective home education consultation in the subject matter box).</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Please tick the box that best describes you as a respondent</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s4">□ <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span><span class="s1">Home educated<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span><span class="s4">□</span><span class="s1"> <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Home educating </span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>child/young person<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>parent</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"> </span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s4">□</span><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Local authority<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span><span class="s4">□<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span><span class="s1">Organisation representing</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></b>home educating families</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s4">□</span><span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Other organisation<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span><span class="s4">□<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span><span class="s1">Other (please specify in </span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>with responsibility for<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>box below)</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>children (please specify</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>in box below)</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td3" valign="top"><div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Please specify:</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p7">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>About this consultation</b></span></div>
<div class="p7">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">The purpose of this consultation is to seek the views on the Welsh Government’s proposals for the introduction of a compulsory registration and monitoring system for home educated children. This document asks questions relating to specific aspects of the proposals.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 1 </b>– Do you agree that a register should be kept and that it should be a requirement to register if a parent elects to home educate?</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td4" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td8" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td9" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">As private citizens home educating parents should be served by the state not controlled by it. There is no evidence of a need for this change in the law and surely with the dire state of education in Wales the money it would require could be far better spent. Parents are the most suitable people to have responsibility for their children’s education, the state, especially in Wales is failing spectacularly, Leighton Andrews is talking seriously about removing responsibility for education from LAs, what sense does it make to give them power over home educating parents who for the most part do a far superior job? There is real danger of introducing one size fits all, broad and balanced requirements that will hinder home educators in meeting the individual needs of their particular children, a benefit of a this form of private education that can produce spectacular results and nearly always exceeds what can be achieved as one of thirty children in a stressed, teaching to the test environment so common in today’s schools.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 2 </b>– Do you agree that if a parent fails to register or provides inadequate or false information then the child being home educated should be required to attend school?</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td10" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td11" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td12" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td13" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td14" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td15" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">Why would it be an improvement for the child to have their own and their parents’ legitimate choice removed violently by the state and the child thrust into the failing schools run by LAs obviously inadequate to meet their actual responsibilities.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<b>Question 3 </b>– Do you agree that home educating parents should engage with their local authority to enable them to assess the suitability of their home education provision?<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p15">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td10" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td11" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td12" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td13" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td14" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td15" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">Absolutely not, why should sovereign citizens engage with their employees for a service they do not require, especially when they run such an inadequate service. The LAs are obviously in no position to judge a suitable education and if it is defined they will also be judged against that definition much to the detriment of their budget. How many parents would just love to sue the state for its failure to educate their children suitably!</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 4 </b>– Do you agree that the initial meeting between the local authority and home educating parent and child should take place in the main location where the education is being provided?</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td10" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td11" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td12" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td13" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td14" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td15" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">The state should not be forcing itself into private homes; as has often been said “1984” was a warning not a helpful guide to state oppression. The home educating parent has no need to meet state officials unless they can be of service to them or there is evidence of failure on their part. Do we not live in a democracy rather than an authoritarian despotism? Home education is equal in law to school education; schools are inspected to let parents and citizens know that their money is being prudently handled and their children well served. Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case in Wales and there is definitely no reason to let failing LAs force their way into private homes to make a judgement on the education provided. On what basis would they be fit to do that, surely they would have to prove that that they could provide an efficient education themselves first? Parents are the people responsible for the education of their children and do not need to prove that they are using public money well or caring for strangers’ children appropriately because unlike schools they are not.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 5 </b>– How often should the annual monitoring meetings with both the home educator and the home educated child take place at the main location of education?</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td16" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Always</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td17" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td18" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Every two years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td19" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td20" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Every three years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td17" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td21" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Up to five years</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td15" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td22" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b>Never</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td13" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td23" valign="top"><div class="p14">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td24" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">The LA has no business concerning itself with private home education unless it is brought to their attention that education is not taking place. They need to conserve their time, money and energy to put their own house in order, a task that seems to be beyond them.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 6 </b>– Do you agree that registration should be denied or revoked in the limited set of circumstances set out in the consultation document?</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td4" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td8" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td9" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p12">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">It is the parents choice and no business of strangers ill versed in individual education in the real world and failing in the institutionalised education they are tasked to provide.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 7 </b>– Do you agree the amount of time taken between receipt of application to register and notification of registration outcome should be no more than 12 weeks?</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td4" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Agree</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td5" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td6" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1"><b>Disagree</b></span></div>
</td>
<td class="td7" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td class="td8" valign="top"><div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Not sure</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td9" valign="top"><div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p11">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">No to registration, no to monitoring. Do not take this foolish step, the unintended consequences will drown you in court cases and cause unimaginable harm to home educated children. There is absolutely no evidence of a need for this policy, policy should always be evidence based. This seems like some sort of distraction technique in order to avoid considering the dramatic failure of state based education in Wales.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><b>Question 8 – </b>We have asked a number of specific questions. If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use this space to report them:</span></div>
<div class="p16">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p17">
<span class="s1">Comments:</span></div>
<div class="p13">
<span class="s1">Defining suitable education will mean that schools will have to meet the standards decided not just home educators. Changing the law so that the state has primary responsibility for education will leave it open legal challenge from the many parents whose children have been failed by the state. When the state fails a child it is just a number to it, to the parent it is a far more important issue. As a now home educating parent whose children would have been shamefully failed without vigorous intervention on my part, intervention that in the end was not sufficient, I would grasp eagerly at the chance to gain redress against a heartless and unfeeling system that cared not one jot for my children’s wellbeing or learning, believe me I am not the only one!</span></div>
<div class="p18">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p18">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="t1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="td25" valign="top"><div class="p5">
<span class="s1">Responses to consultations may be made public – on the internet or in a report. If you would prefer your response to be kept confidential, please tick here:</span></div>
</td>
<td class="td26" valign="top"><div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-77141600623630676252012-10-17T14:39:00.000+01:002012-10-22T16:45:10.253+01:00Select Committee Oral Evidence Session: Enquiry into Support for Home Education.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="p1">
My own rough impression of <a href="http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=11520" target="_blank">the session today</a> followed by a record by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shena.deuchars"><span class="s7"><b>Shena Deuchars</b></span></a></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br />
<b>Members of the committee:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.grahamstuart.com/" target="_blank">Graham Stuart</a>, <a href="http://davidward.org.uk/en/" target="_blank">David Ward</a>, <a href="http://www.ianmearns.org.uk/" target="_blank">Ian Mearns</a>, <a href="http://craigwhittakermp.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Craig Whittaker</a>, <a href="http://www.alexcunninghammp.com/" target="_blank">Alex Cunningham</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>First session</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Elaine Grant, Monitoring and Support Teacher for Elective Home Education, <a href="http://www.croydon.gov.uk/education/parentalsupport/home" target="_blank">Croydon Counci</a>l, </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Melissa Young, Virtual School Education Manager, <a href="http://www.warrington.gov.uk/info/200301/schools/483/home_education" target="_blank">Warrington Borough Council</a>, </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Helen Sadler, Home Education Adviser, <a href="http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/education-lifelong-learning/about-us/lea-services/welfare-service/home-education/" target="_blank">Leicester City Council</a></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br />
Someone heard GS say this how we can help "you" in your statutory duty to ensure the education of the kids? I really do hope this was misheard because if not there is little hope.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">There was a lot of talk about sharing good practice, ironic cause the bad is shared like wildfire.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Satisfyingly great emphasis was put on the dishonest ultra vires information on most of the local authority websites.<br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Melissa who did the bulk of the talking despite looking younger and less experienced than the others made it clear that she does her best to stop people home educating by intervening at the very earliest stages before deregistration, her remit is quite clear, to prevent people home educating. Resolving issues in school is absolutely not a suitable task for someone who at least technically is employed as a support to home education. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Melissa did not care that home edders found the <a href="http://www.electivehomeeducationservice.co.uk/" target="_blank">joint website misleading</a>, it didn’t mislead her and that was an end to it.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Melissa didn't think one size fits all but yet wants a statutory definition of what a suitable education is and claims that individualising things would be having one amount of money for primary and one secondary, a great demonstration of an inability to understand what the phrase means. She called being electively educated at home “being out of education” twice, a regretable but probably honest slip of the tongue.<br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Lol, a snide (possibly) but greatly enjoyable request from one of the panel that they should give Melissa a rest and let someone else speak, she is very very pleased with herself.<br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">There was a lot of talk about interpretation of the law, Melissa seemed unable to consider that a desire to control might be why LAs interpret the law differently. </span><br />
<br />
The best bit was when the 3 of them said LAs need help interpreting the law correctly, and GS replied that no-one on the HE side had that problem, and he has written examples of LAs acting ultra vires.<br />
<br />
<span class="s1">A l</span>ot of talk about defining suitable, worrying as it was encouraged by GS.</div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Mr Ward's asked about the danger of defining suitable that it risked of imposing your own standards and ideas on everyone.</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Helen Sadler confessed that she knew of 15 home educating families not known to the LA as information given by an independent agency; has Helen the right to this information about private citizens?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Helen says she trained herself by visiting Staffordshire’s forum, it was not clear whether it was a home educating support website or a council one, anyway autonomous education fail!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Helen thinks that she is close to getting results, as someone who has tried to liaise with her with a view to improving the incorrect information she has been giving out for donkeys years I have to feel sorry for her; so many years working on improving things with no results.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">They all thought that we thought they were lovely and that relationships were improving, alarming given the trouble home educators are having with the backdoor introduction of Badman, and I have had sight of letters from Helen Sadler claiming all sorts of power she knows she does not have and basically attempting to deceive new home edders. Fortunately we are well networked but some probably get caught in that net.</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<br />
The EHE witnesses were all very upfront about seeing their job as safeguarding and clueless as to why this is offensive. They were forced to admit that they provided no support.<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">They all rejected compulsory registration, but with regret because they could not envision it being policed effectively.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">None of them had a clue that they should not be contacting us without evidence of lack of education. (Liz Truss was quite clear about this though)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The amount of time spent on talking about a cooling off period was extremely worrying especially as it was encouraged by GS, I though that one had been put to bed, they all wanted it of course. I am surprised at it being raised as it is illegal and would impinge on our section 7 duty. Offrolling is not our problem, punish the schools, don’t destroy our civil liberties!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Also puzzling talk of Home edders begging the LA for advice and support and pleading for 3 monthly visits, not sure it is the right choice for people like that.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">A few committee members were not keen on us having anything even access to exams, give us your taxes then bugger off! Nice!</span><span class="s3"><br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">Graham made a very touching speech about how we are a poor little powerless minority, nice one, painting the LAs as bullies harassing a helpless minority. </span> He is trying to make it impossible for his witnesses not to understand what is actually happening and that it is quite clear to him!</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">He knows that we are not helpless, we recruited him after all, but us vociferous lot seem more resourceful than some if others have actually written in with the issues he reports. </span> Not doubting his word at all but we must await the publication of the submissions to get our own take on that.<br />
<span class="s1">
<br />
It was suggested that an independent body such as Ofsted should check up on LAs, they were not too keen on the idea of someone judging them, lol, sauce for the goose and all that.</span><span class="s3"><br />
</span><span class="s1"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<b><span class="s1"></span>Second Session</b></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><a href="https://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/departmentalinformation/ministerialteam/truss" target="_blank">Elizabeth Truss MP</a>, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br />
</span><span class="s3">A very bad start from Ms Truss who thinks she allows us to home educate, not a wise thing to say in a public forum.</span><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">A lot of her soundbites were sound but it became clear that it was a money saving choice to leave things as they are and that we are on our own in terms of any support she will offer us. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">When pressed on support for us she nearly said "As long as it doesn't cost any money", she just stopped herself but we heard!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">She stated repeatedly that there was no evidence that home ed outcomes were worse than school ones so was not willing to change policy or the law. She was very keen on evidence based policy, must have enjoyed reading the Badman Report then!</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br />
It was very amusing to watch Graham challenge her, often having her speechless and stuttering.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s3"><br />
</span><span class="s1">She stated that she respects us, that set alarm bells ringing as it usually signals abuse or completely ignoring our point of view, let's hope Truss knows what it means. The fact that she mentioned prison sentencing as an analogy though does not bode well.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br />
She admitted to Graham that she not given much thought to philosophy but was going to have a talk with herself about it! He hoped she enjoyed her personal dialectic, lol.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">He forced her to agree to be a champion of home ed and to consider making it easier or even compulsory for schools to provide spaces for home ed kids to take exams.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">She was not at all keen on that declaring that we are to be totally abandoned to localism and must challenge the LA ourselves, nothing new there.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">She stated that she awaited the conclusions of the committee with interest, we await with a little more than interest :\</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It must have made for an interesting and challenging first week in a new post.<br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">There were cries of</span><span class="s1"> “how can we know they are being educated if we don't know who they are” from some of the more gullible? members the committee but she would not play that one which is good.<br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I actually began to enjoy the cut and thrust towards the end, I can't see any revolutionary changes in the offing but I do think parents of special needs kids with statements may need to sharpen their knowledge of the law as the LA could take Truss's comments as permission to interfere.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">We definitely need guidance on taking LAs to task.<br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">On the whole it could have been better, it could have been worse, I suspend judgement till the fat lady sings!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">From another viewer, thank you </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/shena.deuchars"><span class="s7"><b>Shena Deuchars</b></span></a> for allowing me to share this.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">My comments in purple</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
They've lost the plot (surprise)!<br />
<br />
Melissa Young (Warrington): The law is ambiguous - there is no definition of "suitable" or "efficient" education. It is open to interpretation so it is up to each LA to decide if it meets statutory requirements.<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Except, of course, there are NO statutory requirements.<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">Helen Sadler (Leicester City) knows what she is talking about and seems reasonable: No LA offers training in HE, I trained myself. We try to see families once a year but if they don't wish to see me, I have to say OK. "Registration" is an unfortunate choice of word.<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">Craig Whittaker MP: How can we insist on registration if we offer no benefit from it?<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br /></span><span class="s1">Good point, Craig.<br />
<br />HS says law needs clarity but says her best bet is to put new HE families in touch with others. </span><br />
<span class="s8"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="s1"></span><span class="s8"><span style="background-color: white; color: #674ea7;">As her local contact up until a year ago this is news to me.</span><br />
</span><span class="s1"><br />
Elaine Grant (Croydon): Define "suitable". I define it as not reducing life chances.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s9">Graham pointed out that it was not possible for choices made not to limit life chances. Maire</span><span class="s1"><br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">All are not happy with case law; they want a statutory definition of "suitable".<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">Ian Mearns MP: Should we have a single coherent document that talks about HE?<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br /></span><span class="s1">MY: Yes, but it would be difficult to cover all possible situations (e.g. rural and urban).<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">MY is very worked up about travellers. (And if that is what HE means in her head, then she's probably not thinking about most of the people reading this.)<br />
<br />
HS: relationships improving. Families are more likely to come forward.<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br /></span><span class="s1">EG: relationships are improving but I'm worried about the ones I don't know. Some want to see me every three months. Parents like me to validate what they are doing.<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">It doesn't seem to occur to them that many people think adults should not NEED to be validated by other people. Some of us see it as a personal weakness (and often a result of schooling, where we spent up to 13 years being told that nothing we did was worthwhile unless someone else approved or marked it).<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">Craig Whittaker: Is being in the Virtual School area (which deals with looked-after children, safeguarding and children at risk) a good message to give to HEers?</span><span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">So, the MPs listened to what we said and are asking directly about our suggestions. The LA people are not prepared to discuss safeguarding...</span><span class="s8"> They have not come prepared to discuss that!</span><span class="s1"><br />
<br />
David Ward MP: Should registration be voluntary? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">HS and EG: Voluntary. MY: I'm torn - voluntary because enforcement would be difficult. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">HS: Would we give them anything more if families were registered. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">David Ward: How many HE children don't you know about? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">All three think numbers are going up and they know that they don't know about all. No serious idea of how many they don't know about. [Duh!]<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">EG admitted to ultra vires behaviour - encouraging schools not to deregister for a period in order to address the school's management. But some schools get parents to deregister and they turn up in my office wanting to know when I'll send the tutor round.<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">All three think it is appalling for schools to do that. Early intervention in school problems would help.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Ian Mearns: Are some schools particular offenders or is it across the board that schools force off-rolling? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">HS: I don't know, I deal with one family at a time.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">Oh, good. Larger, cross-LA agencies can offer us HPV vax. </span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">EG: 22 wider London LAs meet once a term to share good practice.<br />
</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Ian Mearns: Should we set Ofsted onto you to disseminate good practice? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">EG: No, cos different LAs are very different.</span><span class="s3"><br /></span><span class="s1"><br />
Sauce for the goose? </span><span class="s8" style="color: blue;">Snap : )</span><span class="s1"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="s8" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">Ian Mearns: What do you think of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alison.c.sauer"><span class="s10">Alison Sauer</span></a>'s suggestion that your website masquerades as an HE support group? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">MY: That was not the intention</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">David Ward: Have you heard of parents HEing to avoid prosecution for truancy? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">All three: Yes. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">MY: those are the families where I'd want to be involved at an early stage. And avoid HE if it is not the parents' lifestyle choice.</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><br />
BUT, if a child is not attending, then deregistering to avoid prosecution may be entirely rational!!!!</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1" style="color: blue;">Got to be a good subservient and take your medicine!</span><span class="s6"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="s1" style="color: blue;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">DW: What financial support does your LA offer to HEers? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">EG: In the last year we've put in help if requested for 14-16 programmes, if proposed course is in keeping with earlier HE. (1 last year, 4 this) Don't know funding source.<br />
</span><span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">That raises the issue of who decides it it is in keeping! What does that mean?<br />
</span><br />
<br />
MY: No funding. Our families have done distance learning GCSEs. Now they are more aware of possibilities and we are looking at it. But it is unclear - we can fund HE but must be substantial - can't fund only one GCSE.</div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s2"><br />
</span><span class="s1">HS: We intend to try to find out how to get funding but haven't managed yet.</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">We're bureaucrats, you expect us to be able to get through the bureaucracy? What an idea!</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">David Ward: What about SEN? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">All: Looking at statement and supplying therapy (e.g. SALT) even if place of ed changes to HE. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Graham Stuart: Much stronger duty on LA to ensure suitability of education for SEN. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">MY: Yes.</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">Ian Mearns: What support do you provide? </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">HS: Signpost to other services. Various groupings of </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">HEers organise in different parts of the city. They work together well and do not ask for support. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">MY: Connexions as was now sits in the same team and we have a dedicated person offering careers advice to HEers.</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1">Graham Stuart: Should % of per capita amount go to LA for provision of services to HE families. </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">All: Yes, but 10% is too low.</span></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">
</span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">Craig Whittaker: Badman recommended consultative forums. Do you do them? </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span>
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">All: No. But parents can contact us.<br />
</span></span></div>
<span class="s1">
</span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="s1">
</span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">Duh! That sounds like they don't know what "consultative forum" means!<br /><br />
</span></span></div>
<span class="s1">
</span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">Ian Mearns: Moving on from HE to further and higher ed? </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">All: I've had success with my Y11s moving on. </span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="s1"><span style="color: purple;">This claiming our children as their own in this patronising way </span></span><span style="color: purple;">disgusts us</span><span style="color: purple;">, insolence from complete strangers who would have no role in our lives if at all possible!</span></span></div>
<span class="s1">
</span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="s1">
</span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">Rent-seekers! The young people are not "yours" and you have not assisted in them moving to work, post-16 education, etc.</span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><br /></span>
<b>Second session from Shena.</b></span><br />
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">
</span></span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><span class="s1">GS: How are you going to ensure that HEers are better engaged by consultations? </span></span></span></div>
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">
</span>
</span><br />
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">
</span></span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><span class="s1">ET: I'll be interested to hear what the committee thinks about that.</span></span></span></div>
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">
</span></span>
<br />
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">
</span></span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><span class="s1">??? That's not an ANSWER!!! You've been called to give evidence. Say what you like about the LA officers, at least they are not politicians! And GS accepted that as an answer... Why? She should at least have been forced to say "I've never even thought about it."</span></span></span></div>
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">
</span></span>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="s1"><span class="s1">
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: Why was HE moved from children and families to education and childcare? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: The secretary of state took that decision and I'm sure he had his reasons. Anyway, my office is very close to his.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Three minutes in and NO answer to anything!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="color: #674ea7;">This does not surprise me, is it not all we have come to expect from those who seek to rule us.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: What are the key issues re HE? </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: Clearly there are issues. Balance between freedom of HEers and s7 duty is an issue. Funding and access to support are issues. The balance between support and [?? nothing?] is about right.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">[This bit is verbatim because people are commenting on it all over the place] </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">We give home educators considerable freedom. We also give them responsibility to provide a suitable education for their children. We don't ask them to register. We don't have undue interference, which I wouldn't be in favour of but at the same time, we understand that it is a profound decision to educate your child at home and when a parent makes that decision they do have to take financial responsibility for that. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">[Non-verbatim] Gove was clear on funding and I don't see a need to change it, given financial situation, but I'll read the committee's report and consider its recommendations.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
</div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.legislation.gov.uk%2Fukpga%2F1996%2F56%2Fsection%2F7&h=nAQHs6y4zAQE60WbJ9DWxpUWMZAS-y_quFTHQKOVrI7JswA&s=1"></a></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/grahamstuart62"><span class="s2">Graham Stuart</span></a>, perhaps you can encourage Ms Truss to read the relevant statute (<a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/7"><span class="s2">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/7</span></a>)? Society as a whole (of which I am a part) places the duty on EVERY parent of every child of compulsory school age to cause him or her to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his or her age, ability and aptitude (AA&A) and any special educational needs (SEN). This is not given by your (or any) government to home educators. Society sees education as a Good Thing and places a duty on parents, ALL parents. Not on resident parents, white parents, black parents, working parents, able-bodied parents or ANY other subcategory - ALL parents have a duty to ensure that their child has an education. You cannot put a legal duty on people and then determine how they must carry it out - in fact, section 7 does not do so. It is unfortunate that section 7 implies that "regular attendance at school" automatically discharges the parent's duty - is clear that significant numbers of school-attending children do not receive an education suitable to their AA&A and SEN. If the Education Department and LAs are supposed to be ensuring that parents comply with section 7, perhaps they could start with considering whether parents do cause their children to receive efficient full-time education suitable to their AA&A and SEN by regular attendance at school. Given that the government uses taxpayers' money to fund the majority of schools, surely its should ensure that they are fulfilling their purpose?</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/7"><b>Education Act 1996</b></a></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/">www.legislation.gov.uk</a></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1">An Act to consolidate the Education Act 1944 and certain other enactments relating to education, with amendments to give effect to recommendations of the Law Commission.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Secondly, I do not understand why it is obvious (as implied by Ms Truss's tone) that a parent who makes the decision to home educate has to take financial responsibility for it. A parent who decides to use a school does not have to take financial responsibility. I do not intend to argue for funding - I am well aware of the strings that would come with it and would have refused funding in order not to comply with the strings - but I argue with the suggestion that it is self-evident that families should fund home education from the household budget.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Was just thinking about MY talking about NEETs. She said that of the four HE "leavers" she knew about, one was NEET - but she was a traveller staying with the family, which is culturally appropriate. So, how does that make her NEET. And why cannot they find out how many exHE NEETs they have from the other end, by asking visitors to DWP about their place and date of last education? That would surely give a better idea of whether HE is an issue for future employability? The current method of counting NEETs is widely acknowledged to be stupid.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Neil Carmichael: What about registration because we can't count them? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: Tricky balance. LAs think it is better to co-operate with parents. I'm in favour of LAs co-operating with parents and schools: registration wouldn't help that. Relationships are improving, at least in the LAs who appeared before the committee.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Eh? how did the 's' word get in there? Does she not know that some of us have never used them? Also, she has a sample of 3/152 where 'relationships are improving' - and she's only heard one side of it. Is that good enough for a minister?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: On balance, the system we have is the right one. Education of children not in school is responsibility of parent, not LA. [Yay!] If LAs hear of CME, they have a duty to follow up [implied: not to seek out]. No evidence that HE produces worse outcomes so no need to change current system.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Alex Cunningham MP: How can you track and check outcomes if you do not have a register and don't know who they are? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: <span style="color: red;">It is the parent who has legal responsibility, therefore LA does not have to hunt down all parents - that would be shifting responsibility. </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">AC kept coming back to it but he was blown off.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: What does the DfE website mean when it says its considering policy. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: Nothing, really. It depends on what comes out of the select committee. If it ain't broke, let's not try to fix it. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: HEers think law/guidance are clear; LAs think not; what do you think? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: <span style="color: red;">I see no reason to amend it.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">David Ward: 122 LAs have ultra vires or misleading info on websites. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: If the DfE is told about it, we'll follow it up. I am in favour of localism and it is up to LAs what services they provide. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">DW: Should other orgs take on a monitoring role? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: No strong view. Will wait for committee report. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">DW: Do you have any view on whether LAs should support or monitor?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: <span style="color: red;">Localism - they can do what they see fit and answer to local electorate.</span> </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="color: #674ea7;">This is where it all goes pear shaped, we are offered up to the wolves!</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">DW: Has the DfE looked at support for HE. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: From Sept 2013, FE colleges can admit 14-15yos without reference to LA. Other than that, new legislation should take account of effect on HEers.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Ian Mearns: You keep saying you have seen no evidence. Perhaps the DfE should look for some? There should be minimum standards [for LAs?] that HEers can fall back on. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: There have been independent studies on numbers and I'm waiting to see the committee report to find out what best practice looks like. I want to see evidence but do not want to intrude on families.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: but we are not talking about intruding on families. Couldn't Ofsted deal with LAs, whose procedures and paperwork vary widely? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: We need more transparency to make LAs look to what they are doing, so they are held accountable and can learn from best practice.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Ian Mearns: Can the DfE make it clearer how LAs should access APF? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: Yes. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">IM: <span style="color: red;">And what about SEN, can you be clear that LAs should provide support for SEN, even if the child is HE?</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: <span style="color: red;">Yes, with or without statement. </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">IM: How does the SEN Bill affect this? Can you make sure that HEers are catered for by it? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: Yes. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">IM: It's a postcode lottery - what should HEers do if they are in a 'bad' postcode? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: I'll wait to see what the committee report says. Localism. Legislating or regulating does not necessarily change what happens on the ground. LAs should do their jobs properly.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Craig Whittaker: Access to exams? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: Evidence of difficulty but what can govt do about it and what can schools do about it? It is a cost for a school and I don't want to make it hard for them. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: So you prefer to have a group of children effectively barred from public exams? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: There's evidence it is difficult but not that children have been barred. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: Lots of schools manage it OK. I'm not sure that it is a great cost to schools. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: But this govt wants to let schools get make their own decisions and therefore are reluctant to intervene. HEers manage to get exams, even if difficult. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: Duty could be on LAs, like with other duties that they fulfil through schools. You're the first person to say that there shouldn't be any changes. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: But don't want to interfere with autonomy of schools. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: If we can show that HEers cannot access exams, will you deal with it? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: There is evidence and evidence but I'll look at it with an open mind.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Craig Whittaker: It's the access not the cost, because parents have to pay. What about access to other services (sport, music, etc.)? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: No idea. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Alex Cunningham: What about giving HEers vouchers? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: overall constraints on education budget, where the funding would be found. Also admin difficulties, given discussions about registration.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Errm. If we all put our children into school that would make a HUGE impact on the budget - at least 21,000 * £4000 = £84 million plus the cost of buildings, equipment, etc.<br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Oh, well done, Alex Cunningham. He says precisely that - if the HEed children were in school, they'd cost you money so why is it not available? </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: When HEers decide not to use schools, they take on the financial responsibility.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">That's an answer?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: If LAs want to release the money to HEers, we won't stop them. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">AC: But there's no consistency across the country. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: Consistency is not necessarily desirable. It is up to LA leaders to answer for that to the committee. We're all waiting for your report. The current system, broadly speaking, is working. We don't want to upset the balance. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: Will you be a champion of HEers? [General laughter] </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: That would make me popular with you. I certainly respect HEers and I will take up their issues with other ministers and with myself. [General laughter] Yes, I will be a champion.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">David Ward: I have a right to go to the Bahamas but cannot afford it. What about parents who have the right to HE but cannot afford exam, swimming, etc.? Its a worthless right. We are looking for a message to HEers. If they have a right to HE, they need a right to reasonable costs to fund it.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Aaaarghhh! We are not talking about a RIGHT but a DUTY. If I cannot afford to feed my kids, the govt helps me because I have a DUTY to feed them. If every parent in the country were to fund education directly from the household budget (rather than through taxation), I bet that would have an interesting effect on the economy.<br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It's a right and a responsibility. Cost of exams is a relatively small cost compared to overall cost. The parent is deciding not to educate inside state system and they need to make sure they can provide. The govt says that the taxpayer will pay for state system. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: Do you have a philosophical objection to state provision to supplement HE? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: No, it is a practical objection. No time to consider philosophy since joining the DfE. I'll think about it, especially after I get your report.<br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">M: Does it not concern you that we have no idea about numbers? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: some studies show 20,000 (known by LAs). We get back to registration. I'm not convinced that tracking is not important. Perhaps HEers themselves could look at the numbers. Not responsibility of DfE to find out how many HEers. (Pending reading the report.) </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">IM: But LAs may be completely unaware of some children. ET: I see no evidence that this is a problem.</span><span class="s4"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">GS: Some HEers suggested they'd like to have an online free school. Would you fund it? </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ET: Philosophical difference between home education and school. It's on a continuum. ...</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
That's all, folks!</div>
</span></span></div>
<span class="s1">
</span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="s1">
</span></div>
<div class="p8">
Thank you Shena, very very helpful!</div>
</div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-43615632587401274142012-09-24T17:17:00.000+01:002012-09-24T17:19:54.256+01:00Response to Fifth Request for Information on Home Education form Leicestershire Elective Home Education Team.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="p1">
I sent <a href="http://maire-staffordshire.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/response-to-local-authority-fourth.html" target="_blank">this letter</a> to Leicestershire CC in June 2010 when they requested information from me for the fourth time, I call that monitoring funnily enough which they are not empowered to do, and I hoped I had seen the back of them. </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
When I received a letter in April this year I was very tempted just to shred it but I had a lot going on so took the easier route of responding with no additional information,</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Dear Ruth</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Thank you for your letter of 5 4 2012 requesting information about Beth's education. I can assure you that it is progressing well. For our philosophy and approach please refer to previous correspondence.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Yours sincerely </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
...........</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
i received a thank you for this so maybe it allows them to tick a box, not sure what I will do next time, maybe send them <a href="http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/e/guidelines%20for%20las%20on%20elective%20home%20education.pdf" target="_blank">the guidelines</a>.</div>
</div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-67721552431952470722012-09-24T10:08:00.001+01:002012-09-24T15:41:42.989+01:00URGENT: SUPPORT WELSH HOME EDUCATORS TODAY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I am sending this message via email to the Senedd today, it would be lovely if others sent something like it, I do not want the welsh government to think that because the weather and the distance and just life stop some of us from being there that we are not wholeheartedly behind them giving them all our support.</span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">We are sending this message to support the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/522052077822022/">Welsh home educators</a> braving the weather and gathering outside the Senedd today. Although sadly we can’t be there with them we are with them in spirit.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">There has never been a demonstrated need for <a href="http://www.home-education.org.uk/articles/wc/wc-consultation%20document.pdf">government to interfere</a> in <a href="http://www.home-education.org.uk/wales.htm">home education</a>, in all cases where a home educated child has come to harm (very few in reality) government agencies were already involved for other reasons than education and failed to act.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As the home educators in Wales hand over the “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/282535531847304/">Hands for Home Ed</a>” I will be sending my thoughts to support them along with many other people.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Yours sincerely</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Maire Bruce and Beth Stafford.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Please share this far and wide, we are <a href="http://www.senedd.assemblywales.org/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=582">sending</a> it to <a href="mailto:Leighton.Andrews@wales.gov.uk"><span class="s2">Leighton.Andrews@wales.gov.uk</span></a></span><br />
<span class="s1"><a href="mailto:Leighton.Andrews@wales.gov.uk"><span class="s2"><br /></span></a></span>
<span class="s1"><a href="mailto:Leighton.Andrews@wales.gov.uk"><span class="s2">And copy to </span></a></span> David Jones. Tory MP Secretary of State for Wales.<br />
<div class="p2">
<span class="s2"><a href="mailto:david.jones.mp@parliament.uk">david.jones.mp@parliament.uk</a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-67191724506472142612012-08-11T13:27:00.000+01:002012-08-13T00:20:37.549+01:00To be alive and to be aware of it is to be 'political'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some profound and true words from a <a href="http://the-exiled-educator.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">friend</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">"You may THINK you have the right to freedom, privacy, autonomy of thought & deed... water, food shelter... a vote, equality, peace... education, heath care, social welfare, free speech... to not be victimised or offended or endangered or killed... but the 'rights' you believe yourselves to have are not written in stone... & I actually gravely doubt the reality of many of them... they are but a mirage. They are merely privileges accredited to us by others... <a href="http://the-exiled-educator.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/you-should-stop-being-so-political.html" target="_blank">they are hard won & can be easily lost."</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-62555164222123704542012-07-16T17:29:00.000+01:002012-07-18T09:19:54.434+01:00Local Authorities and Home Education: A Case Study in Bad Behaviour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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from Cos I Can</h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
Why I recommend people tell the LA to sod off.</span></h3>
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<div class="p1">
<br />
<div class="p1">
</div>
<div class="p1">
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I sent a lovely deregistration letter into the school, saying how pleased I had been with certain teachers. I didn't slag the school off even though some teachers had made life difficult for Mathew, because they refused to acknowledge his needs and differences. I was hoping to leave things on a positive, even though things had been awful for my son. I didn't get a response, instead I was ignored. This took me by surprise but I wasn't too bothered by it.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Unfortunately I caught a sickness bug not long after deregistering them, I stupidly answered the phone, in between bouts of throwing up, the woman waffled out her name so fast and didn't explain who she was, all I know is that she was something to do with home education and wanted to come and see us, I asked that she call me back another day because I was ill. She agreed, eventually, after trying to push me for a date, I threw up and hung up the phone.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I didn't hear anything for weeks, assuming she had forgotten. My dad was visiting one day and we saw a lady walk down the drive carrying a briefcase, I said 'I bet this is the woman', she wasn't! She apologised for turning up unannounced but was in the area, so thought she would bring me the forms out that I had to fill in. She didn't ask to come in. At the time I didn't see anything odd about this, although reading the forms that asked about our curriculum and subjects made me aware that they clearly didn't know much about home ed, I also felt the forms didn't look official so therefore not compulsory, so i made hamster bedding with them. I still to this day have no idea who she was.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I thought that was it, oh how wrong I was! We had been out to toddler group as we usually did on a Wednesday morning, as we got in, the phone was ringing, I answered and all I heard was</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'Where were you? where were you?' being bellowed at me</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'excuse me, but who are you?'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'Where were you?'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'If you tell me who you are I will decide if you have any right to know where I was!'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'I'm Mrs B from Doncaster Council, ...' she did say her name and job title but I was flustered by this stage and didn't hear her.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'I came to see you this morning and you didn't answer the door'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'Well I was out as I wasn't expecting visitors'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'You told me to come today'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'I have no idea who you are or that I've ever spoken to you'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'well I rang you and we booked today in'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I finally sussed she was the one that called when I was sick, I explained how we had not made an appointment, but I had told her to ring me back another time.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'Are you calling me a liar' she shouted</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'er yeah' I said, ' You called me when I was sick and I asked you to call me back another day'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'well I've got it written in my diary to visit you'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'well I think maybe you made a mistake'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">this conversation went on for ages, she was obnoxious, it ended with me asking what she wanted to see me for anyway.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'to discuss whether you need support getting your child back into school or help sort any issues with school'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'no I don't and don't ever call or write to me, I never want you to contact me again'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I hung up, I was actually shaking, so I sat and took a moment to pull myself together, then I tried to figure out who she was, so I rang the council and explained to the receptionist that I'd like to talk to the manager of the department that deals with children who are deregistered. She put me through to integration and education welfare. I spoke to the manager Mr D, he listened carefully and agreed I should not be spoken to in that manner, but maybe I had made the mistake, (I forgot to add in here that he also tried telling me there was a new law that meant I had to let them in, I later realise he was attempting to pass the Badman shite off as law!) I didn't back down and sent a written complaint in, I received an apology for the 'misunderstanding'.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">All went quiet, then one day I had a letter and the same forms as before, the letter basically said I had to have a visit from the Elective Home Education Consultant, it didn't explain my options. The leaflet which was included, talked mostly of curriculum's and lessons and keeping records. Again I didn't fill the forms in, but there was a date in the letter for a meeting at my house, I didn't know I had an option to cancel.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">THE LEAFLET</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'...it will, however, be the responsibility of the parent to show the Local Authority that the programme of work is helping the child to learn and that the child is making progress.....'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">the purpose of the first visit is to discuss your plane and he quality and range of the curriculum to be offered....'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'evidence would usually include a written programme of work, samples of work, an interview with a parent and a discussion with the child'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'should parents elect not to meet the consultant the evidence of the programme of work and a full range of work samples is of critical importance'</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I spent hours cleaning the house and telling the kids to be on best behaviour, I let the EHE in, and she sat there, belittling all my choices, telling me how important it is to push Mathew to write, that Home Ed kids don't have friends, that school is really the best place, that I should push for a diagnosis for Mathew. She was awful. She sent a report, that stated I should keep the kids work in date order and split into subjects and that it should all be named and dated, she said that whilst the little bit she was allowed to see showed an education was being provided, she expected at the next visit to see a lot more written work. She also mentioned my 1 year old daughter in the report. I made a complaint and had the report altered, but they said that this was the EHE's opinion and only she could amend it. But she was on holiday. Once she came back I contacted her, she said that because it had been a while since she visited (2 months) she would need to do another visit because she couldn't remember us, and her notes matched her report. I declined!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">A few months later there was a knock at the door, we were all still in pj's and watching a film, breakfast pots still on the table, she was a social worker and demanded I let her in, without going into it too much, she had an allegation that I loved one kid more than the other and that home ed was an issue. She thought home education was illegal, looked around my house, attempted to talk to my kids, who ignored her lol. She went away telling me she thought that would be the last of it, but then I got a letter saying they wanted to do a core assessment, which would involve weeks of interviews and meetings and discussions with my children, also that they recomended I have another EHE visit, because their last report (less than 6 months previous) was no longer valid. I fought them and never met with them again, or let them meet the kids again, I also didn't agree to the EHE visits again. I sent in doctors reports, to show I was looking into a diagnosis for Mathew, I sent a report of all the activities and places we went where adults were in contact with my children, I had people (25 of them) that were in contact with my children and/or knew me well to write character statements, and I kept fighting until they agreed that actually there was no cause for concern. Which they never actually had, their report said no concern except they are not see by a teacher every day. I told them that this was discrimination against home edders who legally choose to educate their children. The case was dropped. The social worker was shipped off, from what I have heard she was sacked. The whole thing had been started by 2 family members, that knew little to nothing about me and had decided cos my kids didn't sit to the table to eat, and were allowed to watch tv and eat sweets and of course now didn't go to school that I must have been covering up abuse. Oh and of course that I loved the older one more, cos he sometimes needed a bit more attention because of his ASD and SPD stuff.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"> I got to know more about the law, and the home ed requirements. Well I was fuming to say the least, they had not once said I could send a report or anything other option for that matter. Then I became ill, I needed my gall bladder removing and it was making me really ill and tired. I got a letter (8 months after initial visit) asking for another visit, I replied saying I would provide them with a report in due course, but due to illness that they give me some time. in the space of a month I had 3 phone calls and 2 letters demanding my report, by this stage I was even more ill. I sent an email saying it had not been a year since their visit and I would write to them before then.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Then I was admitted into hospital, I spent 2 weeks being admitted, always being told I was next on the list for the op, to find someone else was rushed in in front of me, I kept coming home and back again the next day. I had 2 missed calls from the EHE (still a month before the year was up) I answered the call laid in hospital, she was really arsey with me and demanded a report, so I emailed a very short report to them from my hospital bed.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'Dear EHE, I am still happy to be home educating and take my responsibilities to provide a suitable education, seriously. I provide access to numerous materials, including, books, computers and outings. The children are happy to be home educated and thriving</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Regards</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Me.' (or something like that)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">THE REPORT</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'...as no evidence of the children's work was provided it is difficuly to write a more detailed report, or relate the children's individual achievements.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"> It said they would contact me in a year. Just over a year later I received a letter that said; </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'I would like to introduce myself as the new consultant for elective home education in Doncaster, .......... I note from our records that you prefer to submit a report outlining the educational provision for.......As it is a year since we last made enquiries, I would be pleased to receive your report by the end of April........'</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I replied:</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Dear Mrs W,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I am still home educating my children, ensuring it meets their individual needs, aptitudes and abilities. As you are probably aware there is nothing in law that states I have to meet with yourselves nor provide a report and you should only be making enquiries if there is evidence that an education isn't being provided.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I am including the following information just so that you have a little bit of info about our home educating, we follow a semi structured/autonomous style, child led, and child centred. I make sure they have access to plenty of resources including books and computers, we are actively involved in the home education community.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I now do not expect to hear from you again unless there are concerns.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Regards</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">ME</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I got a thanks for that, email.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Since then, I have met with the LA with other local people, at their offices, to discuss their recent bad behaviour, letters and website. At this meeting it was agreed that we (the home edders) would write drafts for their letters. website and leaflet and that they would be checked over by the EHE and authorised by management. We were promised that they wanted to improve things and that an open meeting would soon be organised for all families and the LA to attend to discuss issues etc.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">We spent hours rewriting and discussing these documents, I organised to meet Mrs W at my home to discuss them and hopefully get her to agree to what we wanted. When she turned up, it was clear that she felt intimidated by me, but also her boss, who didn't even know she was here. She went away promising that the letters would be sorted. Also that the open meeting was being sorted.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Then it all went tits up, her boss left unexpectedly to a different role, leaving her not knowing who, what or where. I'd asked to see a copy of the EHE policy and been fobbed off, so I sent a FOI (freedom of information request) it came back with a copy and a copy of the new draft, which is awful. I sent emails (so did Fiona Nicholson, who had been working with us) to the people we knew of at the LA that might be able to help make some progress, we had a list of names, but no one willing to say yes lets get this done. We finally were given the name of the replacement, Mrs V, I emailed her and she responded with 'I'm sure we will meet and talk soon' I replied asking when, I didn't get a reply, nor did I get a reply from my emails to Mrs W, or any of the other staff, there seemed to be a strange silence. We found this worrying, so drafted a complaint and sent it in. I'm still waiting for a response. We know they were having a meeting this week, so we are waiting on the outcome.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Meanwhile, I was emailed by a newcomer to home ed to say she had had a letter from Learning and Behaviour Support ;</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'..........Although I am sure you have already given serious thought to such an important matter, we would like to arrange a visit with NW our Re-Integration Officer to discuss this with you before we </span><span class="s2">formally</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2">process home education</span><span class="s1">. We would ·Iike to arrange a visit for X date if this is convenient. You can telephone us on 000 or write to her at the address below to confirm this date, and we will be able to discuss this with you.I am sure you will appreciate that the Local Authority must ensure that you are clearly informed about the legal situation, the relevant sections of the Education Acts and the Authority's procedure for monitoring education at home. Accordingly, information and guidance notes for parents are attached with this letter. It is important that you read all this information carefully, but I must draw your attention</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">to Part 1 The Legal Framework........'</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">She couldn't understand what they wanted, when she already new it was Mrs W that did EHE, she had a few things going on so I called on her behalf and spoke to NW and cancelled the appointment. She told me that the appointment was so she could discuss with the family whether they were happy with the decision to home educate, or whether there were issues she could help resolve with the school. I told her they were happy, to which I was told, 'ok, I will pass the families details onto Mrs W the EHE, so she can organise a visit' I told her the family probably wont be having a visit 'oh well that's ok they can send children's work in instead as evidence' 'yep they wont be doing that either' I replied, to this she didn't know what to say, I asked if she knew EHE law, no she didn't, and was surprised that what she thought was law, actually wasn't. I suggested that we meet and discuss all of this, she liked the idea and welcomed ways to make things better. But, and isn't there always a frigging but? she spoke to her manager who rang me eventually a few days later, he was not willing to discuss anything, and downright refused to acknowledge that their behaviours were not appropriate. I also notified him (as we had already done every other member of staff) that the cooling off period that they had instigated was actually illegal and went again the 'pupil registration regulations 2006' his was not interested and wanted to know who would take action against them if it wasn't sorted. He said that they would contact home edders if they ever felt the need to ask for their input on the LA policies. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">So not only do they know they are acting beyond the EHE guidelines, they are breaking the law, by telling schools not to remove children's names immediately, they don't actually care. They are refusing to speak with us, or meet with us. So I await a response to the complaint, and see if anything happens off the back of the meeting they've had.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I don't hold out much hope, so for now, I tell any local family to not deal with them at all, opt out of visits, don't send lengthy reports and definitely don't fill in their dodgy forms. I happily will help any family and as I have before I will speak on their behalf. I will help write letters, I will say you should always reply to their correspondence, even if it is stating the law and saying sod off!!!!!</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<a href="http://myhomeedjourney.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/why-i-recommend-people-tell-la-to-sod.html" target="_blank">Read the comments here.</a></div>
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</div>Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-64242914272523842352012-07-13T23:21:00.000+01:002012-07-13T23:21:19.850+01:00It got busy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sorry no more postings on the Select Committee, my submission went of un proofread and at the last minute, still it went. <br />
<br />
Very much looking forward to<a href="http://www.hesfes.co.uk/" target="_blank"> Hesfes</a> in just over a week, not so much the packing.<br />
<br />
Interesting post about autonomy in higher education caught my eye.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; line-height: 20.799999237060547px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">"The open day began with a short but detailed introductory talk from Professor Neary on the reasons for setting up the SSC and how it intends to be organised. He outlined how the Centre’s existence is a response to the increasing commercialisation of Higher Education, with increasing privatisation and rising tuition fees cutting off access to millions of potential students. He was quick to point out that the Centre is in no way opposed to ‘official’ universities, but that it intends to offer a more democratic education. He also stressed the point of equal involvement from both staff and students in a non-hierarchical setting, stating that rather than differentiate between the two groups, everyone involved on courses would be referred to as ‘scholars’, as the academics themselves have as much to learn from their students as the students do from them." <a href="http://lincolnundergroundcollective.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/autonomous-education-the-social-science-centre-lincoln/" target="_blank"> Read more here.</a></span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697346330292757999.post-68600424615527208702012-07-02T01:00:00.001+01:002012-07-02T10:45:05.695+01:00Select Committee Inquiry: Support for Home Education<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Time is getting on for submitting a memorandum to the<a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/news/new-inquiry-support-for-home-education/" target="_blank"> Education Select Committee's inquiry into <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.3em;">Support for Home Education.</span></span></a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The deadline is <span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.5px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">noon on Monday 9 July 2012</span></div>
<h1 id="ctl00_ctl00_SiteSpecificPlaceholder_HeadingOne_ctlHeadingH1_h1Item" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(207, 207, 207); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Of course non of us are eager to engage with this process again, myself included but needs must so here are some of the resources I will be using in the hope that they may help others in the process.</span></span></h1>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I do think it is worth making the effort, I know it is a long shot but wouldn't it be nice if those pesky LAs were to offer real voluntary support instead of the coercive misinformation that is the norm at the moment.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Here are the questions:</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Written submissions of evidence are invited on the following specific issues:</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">• the duties of local authorities with regard to home education;</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">• what support (financial and otherwise) is currently available for home educators, including from local authorities and other bodies;</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">• the quality and accessibility of that support;</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">• whether current arrangements for financial support are adequate;</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">• the support available for home-educated students’ transition to further education and higher education;</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">• what improvements have been made to support for home educators since the December 2009 recommendations of the Children, Schools and Families Committee; </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">• what guidance is available for local authorities concerning their duties in regard to home education, and the quality of that guidance; </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">and</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">• whether the Government needs to alter existing policy or arrangements concerning the support available for home educators.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am seeing the questions about support as needing to be informed by the quality of "support" on the ground at the moment. They need to know where they are starting from, so even if you do not want any support and wouldn't touch it with a bargepole it wouldn't hurt to inform them of the sort of harassment home educators experience in the name of support from many councils on a regular basis.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So here are some links that might be useful.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Statutory-LA-Guide-09.pdf" target="_blank">CME Guidance</a></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/e/guidelines%20for%20las%20on%20elective%20home%20education.pdf" target="_blank">Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/memo/elehomed/contents.htm" target="_blank">Memoranda from the Badman Inquiry for examples of how to do it and relevant info and ideas.</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://information%20about%20right%20to%20and%20responsibility%20for%20a%20child%27s%20education/" target="_blank">Information about right to and responsibility for a child's education</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Some of the worst current offenders, <a href="http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/elective_home_education_informat_2#incoming-291779" target="_blank">Doncaster</a>, <a href="http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/elective_home_education_lettersf#incoming-292470" target="_blank">Lincolnshire</a>, <a href="http://www.homeeducationstaffordshire.co.uk/2012/05/18/stoke-on-trent-city-council-misinformation/" target="_blank">Stoke on Trent</a> and <a href="http://barking%20and%20dagenham%20home%20education%20policy/" target="_blank">Barking and Dagenham</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I will try and blog about this more up until the deadline.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Remember "Every little <a href="http://sprout-and-squidge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/our-very-own-monitoring-policy.html?m=1" target="_blank">(bit of humour)</a> helps" <a href="http://secondaryathome.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/lincsfinalresponse.pdf" target="_blank">We need to do our best to make it impossible for public servants to behave like this!</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
B<a href="http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/localgovernment/2128928" target="_blank">ut oh dear this does not look good!</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>Mairehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00516412983740136098noreply@blogger.com8