Petition Against Home Ed Register

[Isawthesigns]

Now It Is Evident The Goverment Is Committed To A Register Of Children Not In School Which Will Be Followed By Assessments And Monitoring

Please Sign And Share The Petition Help Us Defend Our Right To HE Without State Interference

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/594065?fbclid=IwAR0o70ZNS9miOu6k8l769Kcu9XJnFbkAYggnqkbHzaknueGt39nnQrbhZTo

not suitable for the age and ability of the child.

Unfortunately you can't judge that as home educated children often learn at different paces.

Exactly but that’s the criteria LEAs use.

There is already a register, my son was on it and we had regular updates.
l wish more people would educate themselves on home schooling, some of the nonsense on here is so ridiculous. As a society we are conditioned to think the out dated assembly line learning the school provides is the only way.
Home schooling is nothing like the fiasco during coronavirus, people have such a limited way of looking at it, education does not only have to take place between the four walls of a classroom.

@Moonface123

There is already a register, my son was on it and we had regular updates. l wish more people would educate themselves on home schooling, some of the nonsense on here is so ridiculous. As a society we are conditioned to think the out dated assembly line learning the school provides is the only way. Home schooling is nothing like the fiasco during coronavirus, people have such a limited way of looking at it, education does not only have to take place between the four walls of a classroom.

No there isn’t. Your son may be known to the LA but many are not, my own dc included

l wish more people would educate themselves on home schooling, some of the nonsense on here is so ridiculous.

Home education is different for every family and child, so in what way would you like people to educate themselves?

Those who go to forest schools, have tutors, visit museums and home ed groups are homeschooling.

Those who stay home all day, occasionally look through a few workbooks and allow their children to play games are also homeschooling.

[quote RedCake]@Lockdownbear I think there are two separate issues. Safeguarding to be held by Health from birth for all children.

HE register and monitoring to be properly developed to be beneficial to all HEders. I would like to see free exams, courses available for parents on how to plan and deliver lessons, review progress etc. Practical sessions funded e.g science and DT. Access to school on-line resources such as MathsWatch etc

The proposed register does neither of the two things.[/quote]
Excellent post RedCake

@Thesearmsofmine
Our LA has a register. Any family that decides to homeschool their children are placed on the register, they have access to a whole raft of resources should they choose to use them, including parent support groups.

[quote Soontobe60]@Thesearmsofmine
Our LA has a register. Any family that decides to homeschool their children are placed on the register, they have access to a whole raft of resources should they choose to use them, including parent support groups.[/quote]
If you are in England there is no requirement to register a child as home educated. If a child is removed from school then the school has a duty to advise the LA but for those who have never attended school there is no requirement to advise the LA unless you want to do so for any reason.

It's interesting that various posters on this thread have different ideas about what a register could be used for. To me, that proves that the government haven't thought it out at all, and I do question their motives.

Surely they should start by identifying a perceived problem, then establish whether it actually is a problem, then look at a range of solutions and assess each candidate to see how well it would address the problem? Instead, we are just presented with a tool (a register) and are expected to GUESS why we might want it. I really feel like I'm watching the home shopping channel here. It makes me wonder whose pockets are being lined.

Don't we have better uses for taxpayers' money than to create some nebulous register and trust that once we have it, a worthy use will be found for it? I can think of much better ways to spend a big pile of cash. If we are worried about safeguarding, for example, how about spending money to reduce the workloads of social workers so they can actually intervene effectively with the children already known to them? It isn't as if SWs are sitting around twiddling their thumbs. Or if we are concerned about education, we could invest this money in the horribly underfunded SEN system, where we know it will make a difference.

It's rather bizarre that we are being asked not, "What shall we do about such-and-such well-evidenced problem?" but instead, "Shall we have a register?"

Of course there should be a register. Invisible children are a safeguarding risk.

So do we need to think about registering preschoolers before they start school? If children receive a benefit from being listed why don’t they need that before school age? Are all the 0-5s dangerously invisible? What about the 16 pluses are they “safe”?

I honestly just don’t get it. Is the concern safeguarding or education? And how does a register address either concern?

Preschoolers would be registered with a health visitor, they're responsible for children aged 0 to 5

So why not just keep going with the health visitors list, it’s already there so will surely be the cheapest option? Does it work to keep children safe?

I home Ed and support there being a register. It’s been great to see so many here saying that as I often feel like a minority in a minority

As above in my experience it’s the middle class ant-vaxxers who think the state is after then for their ‘alternative’ life choices who object. The endless claims that they shouldn’t have to provide evidence of home ed because their child is traumatised by school and doesn’t want to hold a pen. That’s fine as a point to be working from but you can’t just accept your kid is never going to write. Get paints, chalks, inspire them.
If you are educating your child that is going to leave some evidence. Collect it. Put it in a folder.
My child has never been to school so is ‘unregistered’ (although we make no secret of it the drs etc know)
The only person who has ever come to check up on her home Ed is a young lad who had a terrible experience of being ‘unschooled’ (ie allowed to play video games 24/7 and do fuck all) he registered himself for school at 13
He came to check on us and asked my kid right in front of me if she was happy being home ed. Literally no one else has ever bothered.

Tbh as a home edder I often find other home edders embarrassing. I rarely go to home ed groups unless i organise them myself because of the amount of parents who refuse to discipline their little terror even if they are attacking the other children is unbelievable and my quiet gentle kid doesn’t deserve to be repeatedly attacked. I know I’m not alone in experiencing this as a local family with adult kids who were home ed told me it’s been like that throughout their experience too. They used to come home covered in bruises and bite marks.

The amount of posts coming up now about home edding so they don’t have to vaccinate their kids to go to school make me even more anxious for the future

Fortunately my kid is thriving and 5 mins of chat with her will enable anyone to see she is bright, curious and eager to learn.
She has a big world that isn’t just our house, lots of adults and children who she engages with and learns from, opinions she didn’t get from me, I feel confident it’s the right choice for us but I have met a lot of kids who needed more intervention!

It's not just about identifying children who are being abused. What about those whose parents have chosen home ed but are not in fact doing much actual educating? Children are full humans too (obviously) and their right to education is in fact a human right, enshrined in law. Your 'right' to do what you want around their education is not. A register like this would not create issues for those parents who are doing fine with home ed and would be a safety net for those children who are currently having their right to an education denied them

@DockOTheBay

Preschoolers would be registered with a health visitor, they're responsible for children aged 0 to 5

Health visitor involvement is voluntary- parents can refuse it.

@SomePosters that's really interesting. One of the things that put me off home schooling were some of the homeschoolers! Ioved in that world locally for a while and when my child loved preschool we tried school and its been great for them (I realise it isnt for all). We still meet up with some of our friends that homeschool and some of the things you say are evident! (I am aware that's there are lots like you too ! Sounds like you're doing an amazing job )

@5zeds

So why not just keep going with the health visitors list, it’s already there so will surely be the cheapest option? Does it work to keep children safe?

HVs are mainly from a nursing background. I don't know that they have the experience to check a child is receiving appropriate education. It's also different checking for signs of neglect or abuse in older children, they'd need to be a bit more subtle than strip them and weight them 😉 Milestone checks are a bit more difficult too when a child gets to 8 or 9.

I think they hand over to school nurses but that only works for kids in school.

The school nurse also covers home educated children too, i received letters regarding my own children regarding the school nurse and also the flu vaccination as my GP surgery are aware we home ed but my DC remain unknown to the LA and we have had no contact in all the years I have home educated.

@Saracen and @5zeds your posts explain very well why this proposal is pointless. The consultation was vague and the outcome has no firm objectives underpinning it.

A lot of discussion on this thread is about what individuals would like to happen and every single poster is agreed that it’s a good idea to do something, different ideas but something. Not one person has said they want a costly, ineffective register.

I’ve signed the petition so the government can have another think about how it could better address some of the issues.

What are the issues as you see them?

1. Get schools properly funded so that it is accessible to all. Cut waiting times and simplify the EHCP system. Pay for SEN from a central budget not school or LEA budget.

1. Safeguarding for all children. Don’t muddle this with education. I think it comes under SS or healthcare.

1. Fund medical tuition properly.

1. Overhaul the system for fining parents.

1. Give support to those that choose HE. Free exams, access to resources etc. Recognise that the best outcome for some children will not be to work to the same timelines as the majority.

Yes, I understand all the above - but my point was, what do you suggest to ensure that people delivering HE do so to a certain standard? And how can the children receiving HE be registered to show they’re in receipt of that form of education?

I think it’s about progress, some years can show huge advances and others are flat. A standard for one child might not ever be achievable for another. A child might be able to speak and write many languages or be a highly skilled musician but unable to pass GCSE maths. The reason some children are HE is because they don’t fit neatly into the school standard and attempting to do so is detrimental to their education and wellbeing.

The monitoring can only happen once the thing that is being monitored has been quantified.

More to say back later @SirChenjins

@SirChenjins

Yes, I understand all the above - but my point was, what do you suggest to ensure that people delivering HE do so to a certain standard? And how can the children receiving HE be registered to show they’re in receipt of that form of education?

Rather than a set standard, it should be about the progress of the individual child. Home educating allows a personalised education to suit the ability of the child and any checks should reflect that.

I don’t think there is going to be a way that pleases everybody. Some hone educators will never be happy about any form of checks and some people will always think that home education shouldn’t be allowed at all.