The Government has submitted its response to the Education Committee’s report ‘Strengthening Home Education’, which report in fact sought to undermine the primacy of the parent in choosing the education for the child. The Government’s response is in the main measured, however it makes clear that it intends to introduce registration under the pretext of […]
Kit’ has arrived!
We are pleased to announce that we have presented our first ‘Kit’ awards to Local Authority Officers and Departments for excellence when working with and supporting families who have elected to home educate. This is an exciting development for many reasons, one of which is that almost 60% of all Authorities participated. Whilst there is […]
Message from the President
It is with much pride and excitement that I write to introduce our new team of Trustees and supporting Associate Trustees. As was widely publicised, we made the decision to implement a very detailed selection process to attract additional officers from a wide spectrum of society, each with a diverse set of skills and personalities. […]
Open letter to the Education Committee
Dear Mr Halfon MP, The Education Committee report on home education came out on 28th July 2021 and recommends exactly what the committee chair told us it would at the very start of his inquiry. There are a number of disturbing recommendations which range from a call to arms for compulsory registration through to […]
Get the Kit! – The Education Otherwise award for excellence
What is ‘Kit’ The ‘kit’ award is based on an education officer we call ‘Kit’, because we believe that every education officer who comes into contact with home educating parents should be like Kit. Kit could be any man or woman in the role, but what makes Kit stand out, is that home educating families […]
CALL FOR ADDITIONAL TRUSTEES (UPDATED WITH DEADLINE)
UPDATE: Applications close on Friday 2nd July at 4pm Dear member, It would be difficult to overlook the fact that the number of children who have been and continue to experience some form of home education has increased significantly over the past 18 months. This has meant that the demands on Education Otherwise have increased […]
Elective Home Educating Parents in Portsmouth: Perceptions of local Authority
Extracts from the full report Background The Education Act 1996 s7 places a duty upon a parent of a child of compulsory school age to ‘cause their child’ to receive suitable education. ‘Suitable education’ means ‘efficient full-time education suitable to (the child’s) age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs (the […]
Home educators challenge Portsmouth City Council
Today, a home educating mum in Portsmouth has taken one step further toward challenging Portsmouth City Council’s (PCC) draconian and unlawful attitude toward home educating families. What is this about? PCC has the highest number of S437 notices (in proportion to home educated children) issued of any local authority in England […]
The Big Ask: HE children talk
Education Otherwise would like to announce that home educated young people are AWESOME. No news there you might think, but these young people just demonstrate that so well, that we feel it needs repeating. The Children’s Commissioner for England provided Education Otherwise with a welcome opportunity to arrange for a group of 7 […]
Education Select Committee: an opportunity for closing the divide.
On 23rd March 2021 we took part in an evidence session with members of the Education Select Committee. The committee is examining home education and the way forward. Education Otherwise believes that members of the committee are uniquely placed to initiate the reframing of the current divisive public body narrative in respect of home […]
