URGENT NEED to write to politicians, sign petitions and more…
“Home educating families have been repeatedly assured that this Bill would go no further
than mandatory registration of home educated children. The Bill goes considerably further
and if enacted, will destroy the very basis of home education: provision of an
individualised education to a child, suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude…”from ‘Education Otherwise’** (www.educationotherwise.org)
The new Schools Bill under consideration NOW in parliament seems innocent on the surface — in what the papers say, the education minister, even Prince Charles. But look at the detail and, for home education, it’s a wolf in sheep’s skin!
Here is a very good clip from UK Column (just 11 minutes) giving a run-down on the dangers the bill poses to those who, objecting to what the state schools have to offer, take their children out of mainstream education to home education them.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19vV5-u7HJByCC-IZmlTvkwEMIPqyBrhR/view?usp=sharing
Or click on the picture below (for the same link). (This takes you to another window where you need to click on the arrow for <play> — the first few seconds are still)
(The clip is from UKColumn.org on the 13th of June, at approx. 53:44 minutes: https://www.ukcolumn.org/ukcolumn-news/uk-column-news-13th-june-2022)
Government thinking behind the facade
To be clear on the slippery slope which would be introduced by this bill, consider the following exchanges in an Education Select Committee meeting 15th June 2021, in presence of OFSTED’s Amanda Spielman and Minister for Education Gavin Williamson:
“Should there be at least some element of standardisation in home education? For example, home educated children could be assessed once a year and there could be clear minimum expectations about what children should cover.” Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, 2021
Or Amanda Spielman, revealing her passion for control:
“More generally, throughout my time I have been pushing for a registration requirement for home-schooled children so that we know who they are, where they are and who is taking responsibility for their education. Without that it is impossible for anyone to monitor. It is a relatively difficult thing to establish in this country because we are permissive by default and always have been, not just in education. We do not have a national identity card requirement. People do not have to prove their right to exist every day or to access any service. However, I do think this is a particularly important one and I welcome the proposals that have been published…”
In Scotland, the Named Person Scheme, which was especially intrusive if not punitive for home educated children, was finally abolished after a Supreme Court challenge ruling against it. The comments of Supreme Court Judge Lady Hale following this ruling should be considered seriously in all countries:
“The first thing that a totalitarian regime tries to do is to get at the children, to distance them from the subversive, varied influences of their families, and indoctrinate them in their rulers’ view of the world. Within limits, families must be left to bring up their children in their own way.”
(from https://he-byte.uk/england/amanda-spielman-on-monitoring-and-civil-liberties/)
Further information
You can find further analyses of this at https://www.educationotherwise.org/the-schools-bill-briefing-paper/, with the links provided there to a more detailed document, which is also given in the window below, which you can read there or download.
A further link to an analysis by Dr Caroline Palmer is in the link below:
https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-schools-bill-57d7707264c2
THIS IS URGENT — let your MPs know you are firmly against reforms to Home Education introduced in the School Bill, that there is no evidence given for the urgent need to reform, that newspaper reports highlighting dangers and abuse of children in home education are isolated but highly inflated to fill headlines — in order to fulfil the government desire to have control of your child’s education. Whereas it should be you, the parent. It can be soundly argued that the health and safety of children are more in danger from attendance at state schools! Yet safeguarding is raised as an issue for this bill and the changes for home education.
A History of Protest and Petitions from Home Educators!
The government over the past two decades has been continually trying to regulate home education – hoping to wear down resistance! In 2009, a record number of petitions were launched nationally and handed in to MPs. See the entry, Mass Presentation of Home Education Petition to Parliament at https://northshropshe.wordpress.com/091208a/091208b/.
An excerpt from a 2009 report on the website, No Nationalisation of Our Kids: Taking a stand against Educational Bureaucrats at the above link:
“For many home educating families in England, the evening of Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 proved to be some of the most gripping TV they had ever watched. What was most surprising was this was not the final of the latest reality/audition ‘phone-in and vote’ construct but a late night session of Parliament TV! This was a record breaking event, with 74 MPs taking their turn to formally present Petitions from over 120 constituencies. The MPs were drwn from the three main parties and one independent member of the House. The Petitions and mass presentation was suggested by Beverley and Holderness MP Graham Stuart who is also a member of the Childrens, Schools and Families Select Committee.
The mass presentation broke the record for the number of petitions presented to Parliament on a single issue on any one day. The previous record was 44 petitions presented on 28 March 2006 against cuts and closures to community hospitals.”
We are fortunate to have the right to home education in the UK. We need to defend this right, as governments, by virtue of always wanting more control over our children and what they learn, will continually try to take it away.
About Education Otherwise
(from their website: www.educationotherwise.org)
Education Otherwise is the foremost Charity across England and Wales that promotes and supports the right of a parent or guardian to home educate their child should they wish to do so. We offer a targeted range of services and tailored information based on proprietary research. We also liaise and work directly with individuals, public and private organisations and Government bodies.
A key aim of Education Otherwise is to direct the narrative associated with home education and parental choice in order to promote the development of greater acceptance and understanding of the right of a parent or guardian to choose the best education for their child.
Our name comes from the Education Act, which states that parents are responsible for their children’s education, ‘either by regular attendance at school or otherwise’; the fact is that education is compulsory, but schooling is not.