Despite home educated children being at no greater safeguarding risk than other children, this research finds that media rhetoric is fueling calls for strict monitoring of those children, whilst self-perpetuating concerns in respect of their safeguarding. This in turn leads to unwarranted pressure on children’s social services resources and on home educating families, who face […]
Home Education and the Safeguarding Myth: Analysing the Facts Behind the Rhetoric.
Reports often describes home educated children as “invisible and isolated”, leading to safeguarding risks. This research finds home educated children to be disproportionately scrutinised, being approximately twice as likely to be referred to Social Services than school children and children under 5 years old. Despite this higher referral rate, this scrutiny is significantly less likely […]
Book Review – Naughty Auty by Jo Rohann
Naughty Auty is a delightful short story of an autistic little boy who could not cope with nursery school and who then finds happiness and contentment in home education. Naughty Auty is beautifully, but simplistically presented. The illustrations based on figures consistent with a young child’s first attempts at drawing people are charmingly attractive. This […]
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 […]
Home education and children’s social services (Part 2)
At its starkest, many people don’t understand home education, don’t understand why parents would not send the child to school, and some just do not know it is a legal and valid option. Increasingly, the narrative is that the home educated child is at increased educational or welfare risk. Increasingly, the societal message from […]
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 […]
Home Education: socialisation and groups
2020 and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic have forced the world to focus on a core element of being human- the need for human contact. We are social creatures. At no other point in our recent history have scientists had such a global and dramatic ability to study the many complex issues surrounding the […]
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 […]
Art collaboration
S p r i n g t i m e a r t & n a t u r e C o l l a b o r a t i o n This month it is all about collaboration. I have started adding to my children’s art work (with their permission) and it is […]
