To think Home Education should be made illegal

[Viviennemary]

I would like to see a ban on HE except perhaps in a very very few cases and with good reason and under strict supervision.

He would obviously have thrived in school

Not necessarily obviously at all.

I think what most posters here know is how variable home ed can be- from the very best to the very worst - from rounded well educated children to those who are basically feral or abused or uneducated

IMO It shouldn't be banned but there should be minimum standards that childen should meet if they are to be allowed to stay in home Ed

Not sure if you know this but private schools cost thousands?

I have a very sociable, busy, academically able child with lots of friends who loves being home educated. They'd probably be fine at school too but home education suits them much better, more time to play and follow their own interests, more active learning, more trips. I definitely couldn't afford a private school.

Home educated children can sit the same exams as any other child. Many opt for igcses which are more exam based and are also recognised used internationally. The beauty of home ed is that they can sit as many or as little as they want, in their own pace (my child is doing two next year, a year earlier than school peers) and can choose the subjects that they want to do.

Mine won't go to university but ir he did, it would be exactly the same route as any other child...a levels etc.

I disagree that school sets them up for life better than home education...I'd go as far to say it's completely the opposite.

And what about their ability to educate and the syllabus?

Its education for an intolerable shut-in future.
the destruction of what makes us human.

This assumes though that the parent making the decision a) has their child's best interests at heart; and b) is actually capable of teaching their child.

@twistyizzy 30% of kids in state schools leave without GCSE pass grades. So fair to say that they aren't getting an education either

I have two children doing GCSEs this year that may come out with only a handful of pass grades. They are severely dyslexic. They have had a lot of support in school, still do for exams etc. and were in an SEN provision for primary. Some children are never ever going to 'get' what they need to 'get', having them at home will not help that.

You forget that a lot of teacher training (and, indeed, teaching) centres on behaviour and classroom management which is not relevant to home education.

Most reasonably well educated adults would be able to do a decent enough job of educating their own children, certainly at primary level. If they couldn't it wouldn't exactly be a ringing endorsement for our education system, would it?

You are right. I meant legally the boy is innocent unless proven guilty.

I am on the fence with this one! More needs to be done in terms of home visits and check ups from professionals.

My son has ptsd diagnosed and is being treated by cahms. Entirely from his school experience.

Education is recognised as a fundemental human right. So it's important that whatever education a child receives, it is fit for purpose.

The reality is that there are plenty of schools, in this country, that are not delivering an education that is fit for purpose. So it's not that surprising that home education quality varies hugely as well.

at the time he was immuno compromised and I didn't want him exposed to covid, and then he was getting on so well that we just carried on

Then it was out of necessity. The reading for pleasure thing is most dependent on what you as a parent model but I’d agree that it suffers from the gender stereotypes that kick in hard when they start school - sitting and reading quietly seems to be seen as ‘girl’ thing.

It is often trotted out that a benefit of HE is sitting exams at their own pace. But so many HE parents do not seem to realise that sitting exams in this way seriously disadvantages children trying to access a good university. Decent universities want to see that children can handle a heavy academic workload and often will not accept qualifications gained over many years.

I just told my 13 year old daughter about this thread. She went to an infant school, then to independent. Has been home-educating for over three years now and already has a GCSE (got a 7- 2 marks from an 8). She’s taking another 5 GCSEs currently and will sit these in the Summers of Year 9/Year 10. She’ll take more in Year 11.

She’s been made a teaching assistant at one of her clubs (is the only home-educated person there). All of her friends go to school, apart from one who is at home for health reasons (funded by County). He is also doing really well under his own steam.

She very much sees her Home Ed status as having grown up and left school; she believes that she is in the real world already. All of her other friends go to school and she’s always interested/fascinated by their experiences. She is a better version of herself this way and is far more likely to meet her potential. I am a teacher in an independent school myself and she recently co-directed my school play (for Year 8).

Sorry yes, you are right. Social Services still failed to act though.

Interesting juxtaposition of posts.

I used to work in university admissions and this is total bollocks.

It’s like home ed stereotype bingo on here.

I am not against more oversight but I do think that it needs to be realistic and fair, recognising that home education is not school. I wish that the government would work with a range of experienced home educators when drawing up their ideas, after all we are the ones with on the ground experience and knowledge.

Yes, that's true. Most people would get better grades if they could just take one gcse at a time rather all together.

@Punocchio I agree with you about a lot on this thread, but I disagree that most of teacher training is about classroom management. Teachers learn mainly about pedagogy, lesson planning, adapting to different needs, and assessment. Behaviour and classroom management takes up a small part of their training time and is mainly learned on placements.

I would have thought universities would love young adults who have been used to the kind of self-directed learning skills you need at university.

That wasn't my experience!!

I don't think home ed it should be banned but those who are home schooled should be disbarred from receiving any state benefits when they reach working age unless they pass 5 GCSEs at grade 5 or above.

How would an igcse look on a CV? I’m not sure how employers would feel about a HE individual compared to someone who has sat GCSE’s, A-levels etc in the same way as the majority, on the basis that they did all their work from home, and there’s far less regulation. When I went to school we had to sit an exam and be carefully watched by an adjudicator. We were all timed and that was how it was fair. Surely a child sitting an exam at home can google the answers? I’m not suggesting that a child can’t gain a basic education from be HE, but I struggle to see how they will assimilate to the outside world. Surely going into the workplace where there are usually strict rules, time constraints and someone outside of your family watching your performance is what you get from going to school outside of the home?

I also didn’t say that school sets a child up better than HE, but that’s its design. I do have my belief that the education system needs a big overhaul to be more holistic and a whole lot more inclusive, however. My own DC has SEN, and the education side of things gives me the most worry. But I also do not want to be forced into HE because the school system fails my child.