MPs error over home education vote

MPs are debating the Bill that would give the assembly the power to make laws in the field of home education.

Tory MP Graham Stuart has tabled an amendment to to block this part of the Bill.

Mrs Randerson said: "My colleagues in Westminster subscribed to this amendment in error and will be removing their names from this Tory amendment."

Read it here.

Don't stifle home schooling

Neil Fernandez explains, here, how the proposals to register children educated at home would subject families to the misguided whims of local authorities.


Jeremy Wright, MP for Rugby and Kenilworth, explains why he voted against recently debated the Government’s Children, Schools and Families Bill here.


Socialization and Homeschooling: When my husband and I first considered homeschooling our two children, the most common response from friends and family was: “What about socialization?” It’s a legitimate question. Read it here.

USA: Homeschooled kids honored at state contest: A local team has managed to put together an award-winning performance during its first year of competition in FIRST Lego League. Homeschooling mum Jennifer saw the competition as a great opportunity for her son and daughter, ages 14 and 9, to learn about science and technology.

“I am always looking for ways to give my kids fun, hands-on, real-life meaningful learning,” she said. “My kids love Legos, so any chance I get to incorporate Legos into teaching that I do is a good one.”

Dorset parents sign petition against the bill

Andrew and his wife Mary-Clare teach their 15-year-old twins at home.

Andrew: “If they were able to interview the child separately from a parent that would be completely wrong. It would not normally be the case that anybody in authority would be able to interview a child without a parent present. Police interviewing a crime wouldn’t be able to.”

Mary-Clare: “If you choose to home educate you feel you can do a better job. We wanted our children to learn things when they were ready and in their own time. It’s more natural.”

Read more...

Some comments are also worth reading, like this one:

This Bill reverses the assumption of innocence in English Law, giving the authorities powers to enter law abiding family homes. If this legislation goes ahead it will well and truly open the flood gate of yet more state interference into private family life.

Parents are responsible for their children's education, not the state. Schools are "subject to checks and inspections" because with our taxes we pay for that education service and they have an obligation to parents to prove that they are fulfilling their paid duty. Parents do not have to prove that they are raising their children correctly, in law it is just assumed that they are.

"Under the plans, parents or their children will have the power to block the child being interviewed alone."- in the bill if parent or child exercises this power, then local authorities are allowed to issue a school attendance order for non-compliance!

Schools are not the foolproof "safety net" Government would like us to believe, nor does every child leave with a good education. In the current economic climate our taxes would be better spent improving the provision for the majority, rather than policing a tiny minority of home educators, for which there is no evidence that there is cause for concern.

What's on the news today

Jayne, who educates her three children aged nine, 12 and 15, said: “A lot of us feel the proposed changes are not about benefiting the child but about control. As the current legislation stands we have a very free system and that is a good thing. We want to protect it for people who need to make that choice in the future.” Read more...

Plans to force home-schooling families to register their children with local authorities are “not a good use of public money”, according to a member of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board. Read more...

Rising numbers of parents are being fined for taking children out of school for cheap term-time holidays. Read it here.

Homeschooling Family Granted Political Asylum

“This decision finally recognizes that German homeschoolers are a specific social group that is being persecuted by a Western democracy,” said Mike Donnelly, staff attorney and director of international relations for Home School Legal Defense Associaton.

“It is embarrassing for Germany, since a Western nation should uphold basic human rights, which include allowing parents to raise and educate their own children. This judge understood the case perfectly, and he called Germany out. We hope this decision will cause Germany to stop persecuting homeschoolers,” he added.

Read more here. The story also appeared on the Guardian, the Deutsche Welle, the Local, and in spanish here.

UPDATE: Commenting on this, Ed West says here that the British Government is trying to make homeschooling even harder because he suspects many of the parents are religious.

NAS position on home education clause

Proposals in the Children, Schools and Families Bill implement the recommendations of the Badman Review to register and monitor home educators:

Research suggests that children who are home educated are nearly twice as likely to have statements of SEN, and children with autism are heavily represented within this group. A lack of understanding of autism means the school experiences of children with the condition are frequently marred by misunderstandings, inadequate support and often bullying. Some parents are, consequently, left with little alternative other than to home school in the best interests of their child's education and mental and physical well-being. In some of the worst cases we also hear that parents are placed under pressure by schools to remove their children under threat of permanent exclusion or prosecution.

Far too many parents of children with autism who home educate are simply left alone 'to get on with it' without any support at all or say their local authority has been unhelpful and even hostile to their attempts to provide an appropriate education. This is particularly where the relationship between the parents and the local authority has broken down, during parents fight to get the right support for their child.

It is vital that the proposals in the Bill take into account the needs of this group of children. We want to see local authorities who have the training and resources in autism to be able to work in partnership with parents and give them the support they need to home educate their children. It is absolutely essential that this is a two-way relationship with an emphasis on support and not monitoring alone.

Mark Lever, chief executive of The National Autistic Society, here.

The Truth about Schedule 1 of the CFS Bill

The truth

CSF Bill House of Commons 2nd Reading

Michael Gove




Mark Field


You can also watch here Mark Field highlighting the concerns of home educators with regard to the recommendations of the Badman Review in a Westminster Hall debate he tabled on 9 June 2009.

Continue watching...

NH Home Schoolers Protest!

"New Hampshire home educators protesting proposed government regulations making NH the most difficult state to home school. It is a short account of why these ordinary families came out in frigid New England weather to voice their concerns to the New Hampshire legislature. A suprising mix of people with differing political, religious and social views gathered in a unified stance against their representatives."

UPDATE:
N.H. Homeschoolers Praise Vote Against Tighter Regulations
The N.H. House of Representatives rejected a bill that would tightly regulate homeschooling. The state House voted 324-34 against changes to the current law.

On the news...

Children's Secretary Ed Balls has defended plans to force home-educating parents to register with their local council as "very light touch indeed" [dismissing] Tory claims that the plans would "alienate and antagonise" home educators. Read more...

Here, Lord Lucas shares his "close interest in home education, in the Badman Report, and in the bill now before the Commons, which sets out to demolish people's right to educate their own children" and his difficulties when trying to get answers to his questions.

Meantime, in the USA, home schooling soars in Central Florida
... the number of kids sitting for lessons in their kitchens and living rooms surged 20% last school year. Read more...

While in New Hampshire home school proposal too strict
Parents portray the legislation as state interference in family affairs. "Some people think the government knows what's best for everyone, and that's not always true," said Pam Altemose, who brought three of her six children to the State House last week. Altemose, a Rochester resident with a master's degree in education, said she first chose home schooling so she could work individually with a son who has special needs. Read more...

Consultation Results

Home Education - registration and monitoring proposals
can be found here.

Home education and the children, schools and families bill

* The Guardian, Monday 11 January 2010

We believe that schedule 1 of the children, schools and families bill represents an unacceptable imposition of state control over families. Although it is aimed at children educated outside the school system, it has implications for all families.

Most parents would not make home-based education their first choice; but any family might need it if school seriously failed their child. Currently, this choice is lawfully available to all parents. If enacted, the bill would – for the first time – transfer responsibility for a child's education from the parents to the state. We believe this is a matter which should be of great concern to everyone.

A change in the law is unnecessary. Parents are already required by law to provide an education suitable to the age, aptitude and ability of their children, and to any special educational needs they may have. Local authorities already have the power to take action if parents do not do this.

Evidence indicates that home education is highly effective. Many home educating families use child-led educational methods which lie outside the prevailing educational paradigm. Diversity in education is precious in a democracy, and we need the law to protect it, and to protect the best interests of each individual child.

The interests of children are strikingly absent from schedule 1, which is concerned mainly with setting up a bureaucratic system administered by local authorities. They would be given the power to deny parents permission to home-educate, at any time, unless parents adapt their educational approach to fit in with the requirements of the system. The resulting insecurity would be damaging to many children, especially those with special educational needs.

Schedule 1 contravenes two principles of the government's own children's plan: that families bring up children, not governments; and that services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries. Given the controversy surrounding this section of the bill, and the serious criticisms made of it by the children, schools and families select committee, we call on the government to withdraw schedule 1 of the bill, and the accompanying clauses.

Ralph Lucas House of Lords, Oliver James, Child clinical psychologist, Anne Fine, Dr Frank Furedi Professor of sociology, Professor Anna Craft University of Exeter, Michele Elliott Founder of Kidscape, Professor Roger Scruton, Graham Stuart MP Chair, all-party parliamentary group on home education, Michael A Peters Professor, educational policy studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professor Brian Thorne Fellow, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, Professor Emeritus Janet Moyles Early years and play consultant, Tricia David Emeritus professor of education, Canterbury Christ Church University, Professor Andrew Samuels University of Essex, Professor Tony Kouzarides Cancer research scientist at Cambridge University, Professor Ian Cunningham Chair of educational charity, Dr Sacha Powell Acting director, Centre for Research into Children, Families and Communities, Canterbury Christ Church University, Dr Felicity de Zulueta Consultant psychiatrist in psychotherapy and honorary senior lecturer at King's College London, Fiona Carnie Vice-president, European Forum for Freedom in Education, Dr Alan Thomas Visiting fellow at University of London Institute of Education, Harriet Pattison Research Associate, School of Education, University of London, Dr Richard House Senior lecturer in therapeutic education, Roehampton University, Peter Humphreys Chair, trustee, director, The Centre for Personalised Education and Personalised Education Now, Veronika Robinson Editor, The Mother magazine, Sue Palmer Literacy specialist and author of Toxic Childhood, Dani Ahrens Open letter co-ordinator, Badman Review Action Group, Roland Meighan The Centre for Personalised Education Trust, Dr Teresa Belton Educational researcher, Dr Ben Anderson Department of sociology, University of Essex, Melanie Gill Forensic psychologist, Claire Fox Director, Institute of Ideas, Vincent Nolan Trustee, Synectics Education Initiative, Dr Marilyn Fryer, Director, The Creativity Centre, John Harris Professional storyteller/children's author, Norman Wells Director, Family Education Trust, Derry Hannam Researcher/adviser/trainer in education for democratic citizenship to Council of Europe, UK government and NGOs, Liz Steinthal Educare Small School, Dr L Safran Educationist, Chloe Watson Chair, Home Educated Youth Council, Cathy Koetsier Media officer, Home Education Advisory Service, Kathleen Thompson Committee member of Education Everywhere helpline, Annette Taberner Trustee of Education Otherwise, Kelly L Green Founding member of Freedom and Choice in Education, British Columbia, Wendy Priesnitz Founder of Canadian Alliance of Home Schoolers, editor of Life Learning magazine, Beverley Paine Editor Home Education Association Australia publications, Deborah Markus Editor, Secular Homeschooling Magazine and more than 1,000 other signatories (for a full list see http://is.gd/5ViV7)

Homeschooling couple arrested for not registering

In a move designed to send a message to parents, a New York couple were arrested and ticketed for homeschooling their children and failing to register their them with the school district. Read more here.

Watch more on the same story here.

New Hampshire restrictions on homeschooling

New Hampshire lawmakers are moving ahead with a bill to restrict home schooling. More here.

Home-ed voices from the Cotswold

"The Government wants to change the law so that inspectors can come into our own homes, test our children and interview them on their own. We are being made criminal in our own country."

"I have home educated my 14 and 22 year old from scratch with no interference from the state. My eldest gained a first class honours degree from Imperial College in Computing and Maths and now has an excellent job with a local games development company."

"Quite a lot of children are withdrawn from school because they have learning difficulties that the school cannot deal with and some because they have been abused and bullied by other school children. Without the freedom to home educate these children would have a very unhappy childhood."

Read it here.

Home-ed news links

North-East and North Yorkshire parents fighting a town hall crackdown if they choose to educate their children at home have won support from MPs after an investigation. Read it here.

South Yorkshire parents who educate their children at home gathered in Sheffield city centre as part of a national protest against proposed 'big brother' reforms which could become law next year. More here.

In Northumberland, MP joins condemnation of home-education red tape. Read it here.

Home-ed news around the world

USA
Mom turns to homeschooling to avoid 'experiments' on autistic child The school psychologist wanted to put the child in a room and expose her to known triggers to see how quickly she escalated and what her behavior would be.

Sweden
Court endorses 'kidnapping' of 7-year-old - Social services allowed to keep custody of homeschooled child

"Any nation that severely restricts the ability of parents to choose alternative forms of education, including home education, in the name of creating national unity, cannot call itself a free nation. Freedom necessarily requires the individual to have the liberty to think differently and believe differently than programs instituted by the current rulers of any nation. Educational freedom is the cornerstone for all freedom of thought and conscience," said Michael Farris, HSLDA chairman.

UK
It appears that the NASUWT supports a school-based system of education for all and reckons that the only way the Government can meet the Every Child Matters' aims is by making schooling compulsory for all children. FFI see this months' issue of their magazine (article on p. 23). You can read the NASUWT's submission to the consultation here.

Welsh concerns following the Badman report

Welsh Grand Committee in Parliament yesterday

Mark Williams: Before the hon. Gentleman moves on from education, he will be aware of the concerns expressed by many of our constituents about the implications of the Badman report. The Bill to which he alluded gives the National Assembly, quite rightly, the power to undertake an inquiry and to take action as it sees fit. Does he share the concerns of many of us in Wales about the knock-on effects of the Badman report on home education throughout Wales?

Mr. Llwyd: Like the hon. Gentleman, I have been lobbied extensively about the Badman report, and I presented a petition on it to Parliament last week. Currently, it is an England-only matter, and, to be honest, I have considerable faith that the National Assembly will be able to deal with things differently, as it did very early on in abolishing the rather strange tests that popped up all the time. We do things slightly differently in Wales, and sometimes we do them better. I believe that this is a case in point, and that we can and will be able to deal with the matter in a more acceptable way.

Lembit Öpik: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Mr. Llwyd: I do not want to take too many interventions, as I am keeping others from speaking.

Lembit Öpik: I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s generosity. A Mrs. McBride came to see me on this very matter. Is he aware of any serious impact assessment that accompanies the Badman report? As far as I can see, it is a completely disproportionate response to a theoretical concern.

Mr. Llwyd: The hon. Gentleman is right. As I said, I am confident in our colleagues across the political spectrum in the National Assembly. I am sure that they will do the right thing. It is a draconian report, and it is troubling for those who have always home educated their children, so I am hopeful that we will take a different view in Wales.

Mrs. Gillan: I have taken some interest in the Badman report because I, too, think that adopting its proposals would amount to undue interference by the state in the personal lives of all our constituents. Under the framework powers in the legislation, it is proposed that home education powers pass down to the Assembly, and as the hon. Gentleman’s party is in government, I would like his guarantee that the Badman report will not be implemented in Wales.

Mr. Llwyd: When I questioned the hon. Lady earlier, she said, “It is not for me to decide—it is for my colleagues”, so I think that the French word is touchÃ(c). I am not going to guarantee anything at this stage.

Mrs. Gillan: But you are in government.

Mr. Llwyd: Yes, we are in government, but I thought that the hon. Lady was hoping to be in government. Perhaps she is not really, but there we are. Let me put it this way: I sincerely hope that our colleagues in the National Assembly will take a different view of the Badman report. I am fairly sure that they will, but for obvious reasons I can offer no guarantees.

From here (scroll down to middle of column number 34).

Still on the news...

Miss Anne McIntosh, MP for the Vale of York and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Thirsk, Malton and Filey, presented Vale of York Petition on Home Education:

“The Government's response to the Badman review unfortunately places many admirable home educators under an unwarranted cloud of suspicion. The need for monitoring must not become a barrier for parents who wish to home educate their children.” Read more...

Also: House of Commons Report Concludes That Flawed Govt. Proposals On Home Education Must Be Rectified

Schools Minister's response to the CSF select committee report on EHE

Schools Minister Diana Johnson said:

We’re disappointed the Select Committee’s press release has a negative headline, but...

Read the rest here.