Hi zazizoma

my understanding is that the welsh assembly will wait and see what happens in England and then decide whether to jump on the band wagon. Welsh HEers are just as worried about the whole thing as the rest of us. Scotland are neatly protected - they have completely separate law in this area and the executive have made it clear there are no plans to follow the dcsf agenda.

For those not following the story closely, you may be interested to learn that, following a heap of FOI requests and number crunching, it has been found that the whole "twice as likely to be abused" stuff you'll have read in the broadsheets a month ago was complete and utter bollocks. So the whole premise of the report, together with Badman's justification for his proposed punitive regime was based on a lie an unfortunate mistake.

linky 1

simple but devastating summary

I've not read all the messages so appologies if I'm off track but I think that the problem is that Badman thinks there is only one type of 'education' that can be called 'education' (ie a very schooly method of learning.) The general public seems to think this too and the people I have spoken to have said that they want to see home edders being checked to see if their children are up-to-age readers and so on. The proposals in the report are suitable for schools but they don't work for home ed.

I think it would be very productive to encourage people to imagaine that autonomous education was what the government thought was 'best' and that the few parents who decided to 'school' their children should be subjected to invasive checking to see if their child was recieving a suitably autonomous education and not being abused. These parents should also show that they have no definate plans or goals to be achieved over the next year. Evidence that too schooly an environment was being created should be treated with suspician and must mean that the child is not being 'educated' 'properly.' I know this would be hard for people to imaagine but this is EXACTLY what home schoolers are being put through, its just that our educational philosphy is not always the 'school' philosophy.

Also, any legislation, which sets a precedent of allowing a right of access to the family home is very dangerous.

How does this affect Wales? Education is one of the social elements that have been completely devolved from England. Ommward?

Whether or not you agree with/disagree with or practice/don't yet practice home education, please take the time to read this article (hope link works), and then make your own mind up as to whether or not this is an issue that may currently/one day concern you.

Well, considering there was talk about reducing the offical school starting age to 4 in a review earlier this year, there would be other ways of doing it. Like changing the EYFS or something. (the proposal was scrapped I think)

HSMM - I'm not missing the point - you need to see what the draft legislation says. If it can only be used for kids of compulsory school age, that means it can't be used for kids under 4/5. Mind you, it doesn't stop a nosey parker inspector having a look at the younger children in an HE family - eg one is 6 and there are, say, younger kids of 1 and 3. However, the devil is in the detail of the draft legislation and how it is framed.

I think some people are missing the point of the potential for expanding these in home visits. There is a 'curriculum' now for babies - the Early Years Foundation Stage. If you are staying home with your 6 month old baby, would you be happy for someone from the local authority coming into your home and asking you to demonstration how your child is progressing through the EYFS and how you are facilitating this? HE starts from birth, so most parents do it for a least a little while. Can you picture them interviewing your 1, 2, 3, 4 year old?

The thing is Helly, despite there being a consultation on this that doesn't close till October it is mentioned on the legislative schedule for 2009-2010. Essentially they've decided to go ahead no matter what the consultation results say. We wouldn't be able to say for sure, but given the speed the rest of this has been done with there are pretty strong suspicions that its being pushed through ASAP.

I hadn't thought that these new powers to inspect home educators could be used for kids not at nursery or pre-school but of course they could easily be used for this - if the legislation is framed that way. If, however, the legislation applies to children of compulsory school age then it can't be used for those who are younger. It would have to be amended at a later date.

I wouldn't worry too much anyway, this government's days are numbered and the Tories won't take forward most of Labour's plans.

I thought that the real reason for this legislation was to catch parents who keep their girls at home to force them into an arranged marriage but of course they can't say that because it would be considered racist.

I don't think social services should be able to talk to a child without a NEUTRAL adult present, even if it is a neighbour or a teacher from a school down the road. At least them you have a witness to what was said - and maybe such conversations should be videoed/taped. Otherwise they can suggest anything. Young children say all kinds of things and it would be very easy to misinterpret them - whether with good intentions or wilfully.

I fear that Baby P will lead to knee jerk reactions in the same way that Soham did. All I will say is: remember Sally Clark. Parents need protecting as well.

Just adding this, in case anyone isn't able to write to an MP or sign the UK petition, or you have people you can forward them to in other countries.

This link is to a global petition about the UK situation.

(Also this link is to a Swedish petition, they are also facing a similar situation as the government are saying that their schools offer such a comprehensive and inclusive education that there is no need for home educating to be a legal option!)