|
Written
by Clare Murton (1999).
Yes.
The 1996 Education Act states in Section 7:
"The parent of every
child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient
full-time education suitable ;
a) to his age, ability, and aptitude, and
b) to any special educational needs he may have,
either by regular attendance at school or otherwise."
'Compulsory school age', is the
age when children must receive an education, not when they must
attend school. This is from the age of 5yrs until 16yrs.
(Different LEA areas have different
policies for starting children at school, but education is not
compulsory until 5 yrs. In some instances it may be the term after
their 5th birthday that a child starts school. There will now
be one official school leaving date in June of each year. Children
will have to receive an education until that date, even if they
have reached 16yrs before then.)
Back to question
list.
Many people have an image of isolated
children, without friends, sitting at a desk in the spare room
at home with a parent. This is very far from the lifestyle of
most home educated children. Home educated children have more
opportunity than most school going counterparts to be part of
the real community and mix with many people of varying ages and
backgrounds. Home education is probably a misnomer in this sense,
because most home educating families take full advantage of the
educational opportunities in everyday community life, rather than
spending a majority of time inside the home. On the other hand,
school children spend many hours in a school room, with one adult
and 30 other people of the same age.
Many families have the chance
to meet with other home ed families in their area, to attend home
ed support group meetings and to join them in attending 'schools'
programmes at museums, science parks etc.. Children may also be
part of groups such as Woodcraft Folk, Scouts, Drama Groups, Music
groups. They may attend after-school-hours classes, such as ballet,
chess, swimming, other sports. They may have many school-going
friends in the neighbourhood with whom they meet after school,
weekends and school holidays (and usually on teacher training
days when home ed parents often become child minders!)
There is a common misconception,
that children need to mix with large numbers of other children
of similar age to develop proper social skills. It is a consequence
of our education system that this usually happens, not a necessity
that schooling is there to fulfill. Before mass schooling, children
were neither social misfits or socially inadequate, yet they would
rarely find themselves in a school type social circle.
Research findings consistently
report superior social skills, social maturity and emotional development
of home educated children compared with their school-going peers.
Back to question
list.
No.
There are no requirements for the people teaching children from
home to have any academic or other qualifications. I would suggest
that the qualifications most necessary are:-
A keen interest in the child/rens education and welfare,
Respect for ones child/ren and their own decisions about their
education,
A willingness to try things you haven't done before,
Resourcefulness,
A willingness to ask questions and not be afraid of feeling foolish
for not already knowing the answer yourself!
Back to question
list.
You don't have to.
But, that is not to say that you can't if the child wishes to
learn it. This is the most important factor. These days all the
information that teachers pass on to children is readily available
outside of schools for parents and children to access. The progress
in information technology since compulsory education began, makes
acquiring this knowledge much easier. This is not to say that
if you do not have access to a computer at home, then you can't
home educate. Computers are becoming more widely available in
libraries and open learning centres. Also it is important to remember
that they are not the only source of information. Parents need
to be facilitators, available to help their children access the
information they want. Sometimes parents will need to, or choose
to, learn alongside their children.
Back to question
list.
No.
As in independent schools, there are no requirements to follow
any particular curriculum or indeed any set curriculum at all.
Home education has the advantage of being able to follow a particular
child's interests. In this way during the early years it is easy
to cover a wide variety of 'subjects areas' by studying one or
two topic areas, which also encourages basic literacy and numeracy
skills. Experience shows that if young children are not formally
taught at all, they can still learn as much or more than they
would in school, if they have varied life experiences, a stimulating
environment and an adult around who is willing to answer umpteen
questions, or help to find the answers.
It is as well to remember that
the National Curriculum is just one group of people's idea about
what is suitable content for a child's learning. It happens to
be compulsory (presently) in state schools, but the variation
of possible curricula is endless. Children who have never been
to school or have been out of school for a long period, retain
or regain the natural pre school inquisitiveness that determines
what and when they learn. If children choose to take formal exams
when they are older they may then wish to or need to follow a
particular curriculum. Experience shows that home educated children
readily adapt to the imposed curriculum for courses that they
have chosen to follow.
Back to question
list.
The primary responsibility for
providing a child with an education lies with the parents/guardians
of the child. If the parents choose to provide the education without
using schools, they are responsible for making sure that the education
the child receives is 'suitable' as stated in the 1996 Education
Act, Section 7. The Act does not define 'suitable' but some guidance
may be taken from a judgement at Worcester Crown Court (1981 Harrison
& Harrison v Stephenson), that an 'efficient' system of education
is one which "achieves that which it sets out to achieve", a "suitable"
education as one which is such as "to prepare children for life
in a modern civilised society and to enable them to achieve their
full potential".
The Education Act does confer
a duty upon the LEA to intervene 'if it appears ... that a child
of compulsory school age in their area is not receiving suitable
education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise'.
If this happens, the LEA have duties laid out in the Act to present
a School Attendance Order. At any time during the procedure the
parents may ask for the order to be revoked because they are now
(or always were) providing a 'suitable' education 'otherwise'.
Some LEAs choose to take on extra
duties to those defined in the Education Act 1996, with the intention
of 'monitoring' the provision of home education in some way. Although
there is no legal requirement for parents to comply with these
activities, the judge in the Phillips v Brown case (1980) said
that the LEA should be allowed in that case to make informal enquiries,
even though he acknowledged that the parents had no legal duty
to respond. He also concluded that it may well be seen as reason
to believe a 'suitable' education is not taking place, if parents
did not respond.
When parents do agree to contact
with the LEA, there is no legal guidance as to how that contact
should proceed. However, the LEA have no right of entry to a family
home, no right to see or test the children, no right to ask for
samples of work. Of course a family may agree to any or all of
these but do not have to. The venue, frequency, length and format
of visits should be agreed between the family and the LEA, as
there is no legal requirement set for any of these points.
Home educated children are not
obliged to take any kind of tests or exams. However many of them
choose to, often earlier than they would in school so that they
can spread the load over several years rather than taking lots
of exams in one year. Many home educated children go on to further
education institutions/universities.
Back to question
list.
No.
Home education has the benefit of children being able to study
what they want, when they want, which is more likely to be productive
than forced learning. Some people imagine that left with this
free choice, children will not choose to work, but on the contrary,
given autonomy over their learning, children often study for very
long periods and in greater depth than parents would impose.
Back to question
list.
Every sort.
There is sometimes a belief that only rich people and 'hippies'
would choose to home educate. The truth is far from that. Education
Otherwise, which is the longest established and largest support
group for home educating families in the UK, has a very diverse
membership. There are members from all social classes, in varying
financial situations and with very different family make up and
philosophies. The only thing that these families are guaranteed
to have in common is a belief that at this particular time in
their lives, home education is the best educational choice for
their children.
Many people choose to home educate
for philosophical reasons that they have had time to consider.
Others turn to home education when the school system is failing
them, academically, socially, emotionally or otherwise. In particular
in the late 1990s, bullying in schools is an oft unresolved problem
that leads parents to withdraw their children to the relative
safety of their community and home. These parents are often pleasantly
rewarded when they find that their children 'flourish' in the
home education situation.
Back to question
list.
The first thing to understand
is that there is no financial support from the government. You
will be considered to have turned down your place in the state
system and be 'privately' educating, so all costs are borne by
the family. The good news is that in general it only needs to
cost as much as you want it to.
Many families who are withdrawing
children from school, feel at first a need to be quite structured
in their approach and will go out and spend lots of money on books
and materials. Try and resist this urge. As time goes on, families
realise that there are very many free and inexpensive resources
available. This is where contact with long-standing home educators
is useful for picking up hints and ideas. Libraries are of course
a great resource and the fact that you don't have to follow the
NC means that you will be able to get hold of books that aren't
being covered in the local schools, as well as being able to use
the libraries when they are not busy. Librarians are usually very
happy to help home educating families to locate appropriate books,
CDs etc.
Some families choose to employ
tutors to cover certain subjects that they feel less confident
about. This can add considerably to your costs. I would suggest
that you consider the necessity of studying that particular subject
at that time carefully, have more confidence in your own and your
children's ability to tackle it without an 'expert' and ask around
in the local home ed community about sharing skills. Save precious
financial resources for absolute necessities.
Also there are many free resources
available on the Internet. With technology becoming less expensive
and often available through libraries and cyber cafes, this is
becoming a valuable source of learning. Home educating families
become very resourceful and share their resources and information
with others, so again local support groups are invaluable.
Back to question
list.
Yes.
However, there is no denying that it can be more difficult than
for those children who are in school, not academically but for
reasons of practical arrangements and finance.
- You can choose a 'do-it-yourself'
approach and send for the syllabus from an examination centre,
arrange to have coursework monitored by an accredited person
(if the course involves coursework - some such as IGCSE have
alternatives without coursework) and arrange to sit the exam
at a local exam centre. All of this will have to be paid for
and done in plenty of time.
- You may choose a correspondence
course where these things will be dealt with for you.
- You may choose to employ a
tutor who can then monitor coursework, and arrange to sit the
exam locally at an approved centre as an external candidate.
- Some parents manage to get
children admitted to further education colleges pre 16yrs of
age and this is left to the discretion of college Principals
who will give first priority for places to over 16s.
It is sensible to speak to other
home ed families in your area who have travelled this path before.
Many parents are concerned about whether they will be able to
guide their children adequately through subject matter that they
are not familiar with. In some cases it may be very difficult
and outside help such as tutors may be needed. However, much of
the time families will find that if they have the appropriate
materials, a sufficiently motivated and interested child will
be able to manage these courses and exams without 'expert' help.
Back to question
list.
As there are no official records
kept, there is no accurate number available. Estimates, which
I imagine are very conservative, vary between 5000 and 10,000
children being home educated. This does not account for children
not attending school due to long term illness, pregnancy, exclusion,
or being part of a travellers community. The figure would probably
be nearer to 90,000 if these children were accounted for.
Back to question
list.
If your child is not yet school
age, or has finished primary school and not registered yet at
secondary school or you have just moved area and not registered
at a school yet, then you simply start to home educate.
If however your child is a registered
pupil at a school, then you must write to the proprietor of the
school, informing (him) of your intention to withdraw your child
from school and saying that you wish the child's name to be deleted
from the register. It is important that it is the proprietor,
who may be the Head or the Board of Governors or in some cases
the LEA, who receive this letter, so do check first or address
it appropriately. It would be courteous to send the Head a copy.
It is wise to hand deliver or ask for confirmation of receipt
of the letter and of removal of the name from the register. The
proprietor then has a legal duty to inform the LEA within 10 school
days, of the withdrawal of said child from the register.
The LEA may then get in touch
with you to ask about your provision for the child's education.
Again it is very useful at this stage to have the support and
backing of a home education support group who can make you aware
of all of your rights and duties. You do not have to seek permission
to home educate or to present any plans for your education beforehand.
Once you have sent the letter telling the proprietor when you
are withdrawing the child, you can commence home education immediately.
Back to question
list.
You simply go ahead with your
plans. A child who is not yet 5yrs is not officially registered
as a pupil even if you have put them onto a waiting list. It is
courteous and will cause less problems later, to take the child's
name from the waiting list. You have no need to seek permission
or tell anyone of your plans though some parents choose to contact
the LEA if they want the input of an Education Advisor.
Back to question
list.
This varies tremendously from
family to family, but on the whole, children who are home educated,
especially those who have never been to school or have been out
for some time, are usually well self-motivated. The difference
is that they do not have to sit for hours on end studying things
that do not interest them or that they find too difficult. They
can study what interests them and take time off if things are
getting on top of them. Natural enthusiasm for learning that starts
pre school, is not squelched by rigid timetables, enforced subjects,
limited teaching style, peer pressure etc.
We all have different learning
styles and in the home education situation a child can choose
the style that suits them best and so are more likely to be motivated
and do well, than those who have styles imposed externally. Children
who hold a large part of the responsibility for their own education
usually take that responsibility seriously, even from a very young
age. Children can get together with other home educating children
to study areas of common interest, with mutual support rather
than a competitive non-sharing attitude.
Sometimes when children first
come out of school, especially if they have had difficult experiences
in school, don't want to do any sort of formal work to begin with.
This can be quite a worrying time for parents, especially if they
are anticipating a visit from the LEA. Experience shows that trying
to force these children to work is rarely fruitful and left alone
they usually take 6 to 12 months to adjust to the relative freedom
of home education and realise that learning nothing is very boring.
Waiting for this to happen can be hard, but a reasonable LEA officer
will be aware that the whole family needs time to adjust.
Back to question
list.
Yes.
There are no restraints on teaching a child with special educational
needs at home, other than those the family already experience
outside of the education arena. It is perfectly possible and legal
to home educate, even when a 'Statement' has been applied.
If your child is in a mainstream
school, the procedure for commencing home education is as for
any other child (see
question above).
If your child attends a Special
School, you would be wise to take advice from one of the home
education support groups before withdrawing him/her from school.
When withdrawing you will need permission from the LEA.There are
many children with special needs being educated at home and the
support groups may have advisors with experience in specific areas.
Back to question
list.
Yes. Though the amount of UK research
is limited, numerous studies have been done, particularly in USA.
The most recent research in the UK was undertaken by Alan Thomas.
Details of his book can be found on our Books
page.
Back to question
list.
See the Further Reading list (EO
Information Leaflets) or contact one of the support groups such
as Education Otherwise.
I believe that the best place
to learn about home education is at meetings with other home educating
families. Ask support groups about meetings in your area.
Back to question
list.
|
Frequently Asked Questions