Authorities cold calling?

[gentheyank]

I just found a note in my letter box saying that the local education authority lady called and I missed her. I was in but I didnt hear the door bell bc it was unplugged. I was annoyed that they cold called and didnt ring to make an appointment first. Is this usual? If she does it again, Im going to tell her Im busy whether I am or not and ask that she ring me to make an appointment. I rang her up and left a message with a receptionist saying that Im often out and if she doesnt make an appointment she'll likely miss me again. I also asked if it was usual for them to just cold call like that and the woman on the phone said that they have so many cases that if they phoned them all up to make appointments they wouldnt get anything done! I thought that made no sense at all. Cold calling makes me feel like they want to catch me off guard, ykwim? Am I taking this too personally? I am slightly annoyed. I find it very disrespectful. What are your thoughts?

They have no business cold calling at all.

I would send a letter - there will be a good template on the education otherwise site or one of the other home ed info sites - which says something along the lines of "I understand that you came to my house without an appointment. We do not receive cold callers. In future, please keep all communication with me in writing. Yours sincerely"

Only one of the home ed advice sites will have a better wording.

They have NO BUSINESS cold calling you. It's terribly rude. It assumes you'll be willing to see them face to face. And even if you are, in theory, willing to see a council employee face to face, it assumes that you are willing to see them face to face without any preparation time. Remember: the council employees are not on our side. THey just aren't - they have a different agenda, however friendly they are. So you have nothing to gain and everything to lose by seeing them (there's a good sarah fitz claridge article about the issues here )

you might find the 2007 Elective home education guidelines for LAs helpful?

You're right to be annoyed. They are hoping to catch you off guard and get invited in because you haven't had time to think about whether you want to meet with them, or to take advice on whether you are legally required to meet with them.

It's very unprofessional. It's also a waste of taxpayers' money that they are sending their staff trekking up and down the county on the off chance that they will find people in, when for the cost of a phone call they could have established whether and when you would be willing to meet them.

Well. my LA didn't exactly doorstep me but they did turn up the day before the arranged visit on the pretext that she had 'mislaid her diary'. I told her to bugger off and not assume that my head was buttoned up the back.

Well, anyone is entitled to come to the door any time they like. Whether or not you answer or let them in is another matter.

Like Saracen said, it's their time they're wasting. It would be better spent reading up on HE guidelines so that they don't waste anyone else's time.

Thank you. Anastaisia and oooomward your links were very helpful. Im going to put it in writing because I have a feeling that she may try to make me 'sweat' this out, as she hasnt returned my phone call.

hello gentheyank, do you know other HE folks in your area? wherever you are the LA have no business calling round, and you don't have to have them visit at all if you'd rather not. i personally won't deal with them on the phone, i'd say you want an appointment offering in writing, with plenty of notice. phone calls are ok for last minute changes, or even in the future if you trust them. i fail to see how driving round knocking on doors can be a more effective way of working than making appointments that people agree too! ho hum.

Tell them to piss off

I am happy to see our LA but they would get very short shrift if they turned up on the doorstep. Our LA bloke phoned last week and wanted this Monday and he got pretty short shrift at that, too! I arranged for late Feb on a day that suits me, not him.

It is an appalling waste of taxpayer's money, as has been said, for them to traipse around the county for what is probably miles, in the hope they might find someone in. Home edders are the busiest people I know and so that chance they are free is slight. If they don't know this they need to get more clued up!

I'd be very tempted to point all this out to them in writing. :)

My LA tried to do that when someone new came into the position (which was sad as we had such a nice relationship with the previous one). Put a note through the slot while we were out, and were quite shirty with DH when he called them back - wanting to know where we had been and such. DH gave them a very polite but steely cold response about how we had been at a museum event and how we have an in writing arrangement already with the LA about evidence which includes no cold calls as it was disrespectful to expect people to be in and willing to talk at a moments notice. I emphasised that in the annual report (I've found reports to be very good places to dealing with problem points with the LA).

Hope your LA behaves in the future!

Thanks a lot guys. I met with her on thursday to sign some 'consent forms' saying that I am ok with them being taken off the register and such. I do realise I didnt have to do it, and she did make out like it was necessary, but the forms werent like that. They asked why I decided to homeschool, what I intended to use to educate my kids with, all of which I gave no answer for. She was actually ok. I was told that Id be expected to meet with someone from ACE (alternative something something about education) but I dont think Im going to comply. She did say I could refuse to meet with them and I will probably do just that!

We are starting our HE journey! My 3 kiddos finished their last day thursday and we are just taking it slowly. We dont have time to meet up with all those sorts of people. lol.

Hi Gen,

The "consent forms" sound OK, if you didn't actually send in a deregistration letter for your children: you do need to tell the school formally in writing that your children are leaving to be HE so the form could be for that purpose. If you did send a dereg letter, then asking you to sign something additional is weird... was there anything dodgy on the consent form about being monitored by the council or anything else, or was it literally "yes I confirm I am home educating and I agree to my children being deregistered"?

It is strange that your LA is using the acronym ACE for one of their own departments. It could easily cause confusion with the well-known national charity "Advisory Centre for Education" which is often known as ACE.

Anyway, congratulations on having begun home education! Hope you all have an enjoyable time.