I think this is what you might be hearing.
This is from the EO list and is not a rumour.
[begin quoted message. nb the original author specifically gave
full permission for anything to be quoted or modified as the message
gets circulated ]
"What can someone do who is worried about possible changes to HE law
and practice and wants to get involved , but needs a simplistic
breakdown of what is going on? Could the following information be
provided:
a) The DfES is in charge of .......
b) They are planning .......
c) There is a man proposing.....
d) To keep home education alive you need to email/write to.......
and say TODAY"
So here goes. (It isn't a complete precis, since some of the ideas
warrant fuller exposition. )
a) The Department for Education and Skills is the government dep't
that is responsible for developing strategies in education. They see
part of their remit as aiming to achieve excellence for all and their
functions will accord with the Every Child Matters
agenda. www.dfes.gov.uk/aboutus/
b) Following last year's DfES consultation on draft local authority
Home Education guidelines, (which many HEors felt did not adequately
or fairly represent the views of a large portion of the HE
community), the DfES intend to conduct another consultation on
Elective Home Education. They describe the proposed consultation as
being "a full one, conducted via the Department's consultation
website."..where they hope to ensure that the documents are
accessible to as many people as possible.
www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/
c) Put simply, it appears that the DfES is considering using the
Every Child Matters Agenda to insist that HEors conform to standards
as decided by the state. This will doubtless mean that they would
like to impose a system of routine monitoring to assess progress. It
would
also, in all probability, mean that they would like to intervene in
the matter of educational content, either explicitly through the
imposition of a curriculum or through the method of punitive
monitoring.
The DfES's complaint with the current system is that whilst schools
are subject to close inspection, home educators appear to get away
with it and that "whilst s437 of the Education Act 1996 provides a
remedy for LAs which have concerns that there may be no suitable
provision, this is unwieldy, time consuming and expensive and in some
cases will be nugatory where home educators are making good provision
but are resistant to LA enquiries."
d) To keep Home Education as we know and love it,
1/ Write to Elaine Haste of the Elective Home Education Department
(DfES) at [email protected] and ask to be included on a list of
those who receive information about the consultation.
sample letter/email :
"I am a home educating parent. I understand that there is to be a
DFES consultation
about light touch changes to the "monitoring" of home educated
children. Please keep me informed of any further developments with
regard to this consultation.
Yours sincerely"
You can also email or write to Elaine Haste personally :
[email protected]
Elaine Haste
Elective Home Education
DfES
Mowden Hall,
Darlington
DL3 9BG.
NB: This does NOT mean that you have taken part in the consultation
and the DfES cannot honestly claim that you have. The reason why this
last point is important is that HEors who are experienced in the area
of government consultations are rightfully cynical about the uses to
which these exercises are put. On previous occasions, HEors have
found that they may as well have been shouting at the moon, since
their views were not adequately or fairly represented in any
conclusions or practice, though the DfES nonetheless was able to band
it about that they had consulted us.
So why bother signing up now if we don't plan to actually take part
in the consultation? Signing up is important because the DfES needs
to know just how many of us they are going to have to deal with. They
need to realise just how many of us will resist changes in a serious
way. If the ptb think that they currently have significant problems
with the dealing with HEors under the present legislation, they need
to realise just how many more problems they are going to have should
they change the situation in the way they appear to intend. This will
only happen if the numbers of us who look as if we are going to be
resistant to change really stack up.
Shena Duchars [quoted with permission] from UK-HE list has received
confirmation from Elaine
Haste :
"We intend that the forthcoming consultation on elective
home education will be a full one, conducted via the Department's
consultation website. We hope this will ensure that the documents are
accessible to as many people as possible, and are currently compiling
a list of home educators who have expressed interest in being
involved in the consultation."
If thousands of us dig in our heels, refuse automatic monitoring,
refuse to use their curricula, and make it quite clear how much
trouble we are going to give them, I think they will think twice
about going down the route of increased monitoring and interference.
The law may be awkward to enforce now, (and so it should be, imo, for
otherwise we would live in a police state) but it will be a damn
sight more difficult for them to enforce if they try to change it,
for not only will they find themselves issuing bundles of expensive
SAOs, but they will also find out that many of our children have
unusual educational needs for which they will rightfully have to
cater.
2/ Spread awareness. Send this post (or improved version) anywhere
you think helpful. Tell at least 4 other HEors what is going on and
get them to sign up, as above. Get them to tell at least 4 others.
Put this on Local HE Lists everywhere. Blog the story if you have an
HE or any other kind of blog. Use this explanation there if you don't
have the time to re-write it fully.
3/ Spread the positive word about home education (personalised
learning, healthy happy children etc ) possibly using the recent
media stuff about "toxic childhood". This would be the "battle of
hearts n minds"...
5/ If you are a member of Education Otherwise you might want to
communicate your feelings to the EO Government Policy Group about
what you would ideally like EO to be doing about all this.
[email protected]
You could also speak to your Local Contact. If you are a member of
any other home education support organisation (or you know anyone who
is) please pass on general information about the forthcoming DFES
consultation.
6/ If you have any energy left, I would also write to your MP, whose
seat will doubtless be a much more marginal than it has been for
years.
www.writetothem.com/
Tell her/him , for example, that you don't want your private family
life invaded, that should the situation change and HEors be told what
to do, you believe that changes will lead to a challenge in the law
that holds that parents should be responsible for the education of
their children and that you will encourage parents everywhere whose
children are failed by the state system to sue the state for it's
woeful failure....
HEors managed to resist similar state encroachment in the US. They
jammed the switchboards, looked as if they could be an expensive
problem, and frightened candidates by threatening to use their vote
in this consideration alone. We can do it here too.
Do copy anywhere if useful.
[end of quoted message]