Notes from 11KBW Webinar about the Portsmouth JR

These are my notes from the webinar hosted by Paul Greatorex (who stood for PCC) and James Cornwell (who stood for the Secretary of State).

As these are notes, they are written in note form.

The presentation was split into four sections:

1. The Law
2. The Case
3. The Implications
4. Q&A session

1. The Law

1996 Education Act: s7, s9, s13, s436 and s437.

2002 Ed Act: s175

Case Law: 

Talmud Torah 1985 - definition of "suitable" education is if it equips a child for life in their community.

Tandy 1998 - suitability is determined by education not resources

Tweedy and Pritchard 1963 - if the LA doesn't see a child, it may trigger NTS

Phillips vs Brown 1980 - LA allowed to ask for information.  If no information is given, LA may trigger NTS.

Children Missing Education Documents

EHEDGLA 2019

EHEDGP 2019

2. The Case

Portsmouth changed their policy, blaming it on the 2019 guidance, to say that a report alone is unlikely to be sufficient.

The Claimant's reports were very detailed, but PCC didn't believe them.

PCC wanted to know the reading and writing levels of the children.

The case was NO challenge to LA's assessment of suitability.

The case was NO challenged based on the change of policy from previous years.

[my paraphrase] After providing work samples for 4 or 5 years in a row, then the LA may simply accept a report.

[My comment] ie samples of work must be provided in most cases.

All LAs are acting lawfully if they ask for more than just a report.

3. Implications

There's nothing wrong with LAs requesting evidence as part of the initial informal request.

LAs can ask for corroborative evidence, eg work samples or to meet the child.

4. Q&As

Dismisses the suggestion that work is the IP of the child.

SEN - doesn't prevent HE.

Different educational philosophies should be no problem, but they recommend a timetable etc

You are NOT in breach of s7 if you knowingly send your child to a school that is in special measures.  Apparently the age/ability/aptitude bit only applies if you do not send your child to school, not if you do.

LAs are not legally entitled to endter the home nor see the child.

If an LA writes unlawful policy, the first set is to complain through the LA's complaints process, then next step would be to take it to JR.

They didn't answer my question about section 6.12 of EHEDGLA which states "Of course, the local authority should give reasonable weight to information provided by parents, on its own merits. For example, an authority should not dismiss information provided by parents simply because it is not in a particular form preferred by the authority".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I have more time, I might come back to this to link to the relevant docs etc.

Portsmouth JR - Part 2

Yesterday I started my read-through of this report of the JR, and today I will be continuing.
It's probably worth your while reading my previous summary, so you are aware of the facts of the case.

H Discussion
This is the meaty part of the report.  This is when we get away from the facts, and look at the arguments and reasoning behind the decisions that have been made.  It is from Paragraph 65 onwards.

There are four grounds that have been brought before the court:

1. The LA puts the burden of proof on the HErs which is inconsistent with the statutory guidance.
2. The LA will not accept just a report, even if there are  no grounds for concern, and will proceed directly to NTS.
3. The LA has a policy of issuing NTS without specifying the areas of concern.
4. The LA has a policy of issuing NTS with no concerns and without suggesting the education is unsuitable.

Ground 1:

The LA puts the burden of proof on the HErs when they should be making "informal enquiries".  Once a NTS has been served, then the burden falls on parents to satisfy the LA and not before.

"Mr Wolfe draws particular attention to the second bullet point in paragraph 5.4 of the Secretary of State's Elective Home Education guidance for local authorities. This bullet point says that where there were no previous concerns about the education being provided and no reason to think that it has changed, the local authority's annual contact with the parents would often be "very brief"."

Unsurprisingly, the laywers (or solicitors - I can never remember the difference.  I'm going to use the term "lawyer" and if it's wrong, it's wrong) for both the LA and the Secretary of State take issue with this.  The LA's lawyer claims that thinking this way "misconstrues and overcomplicates what is intended to be a simple and straightforward process."!!  Personally, I think "innocent until proven guilty" is quite a simple process myself, but that's just me...

The government's lawyer quotes section 7 of Ed Act, and the judge then says in paragraph 70 "The parent is not the ultimate arbiter of whether, for example, the education being received by the child is suitable."

I would like to read a full transcript of the dialogue as to how the judge came up with this conclusion.  Given the parent is responsible, according to s7, and have a duty to ensure the education a child is given is suitable - how can they not be able to determine or be trusted to know when that is the case?  Seems arse-backwards to me (to use a phrase my mum says).

Paragraph 72 says 

"Section 436A(2) provides that, in exercising those functions, the local authority must have regard to any guidance given from time to time by the Secretary of State. I note that there is nothing in this subsection that restricts the duty to guidance that is specifically categorised as statutory in nature."

i.e. the judge is saying that because the guidance doesn't limit what LAs can ask for, they can whatever they want of parents and parents have to comply.  

Paragraphs 84-86:

"As the correspondence between the defendant and the claimant make plain, the defendant began its enquiries with an open mind. It was only when faced with what it regarded as insufficient material from the claimant that the informal inquiries continued, leading to the impasse which then meant it appeared to the defendant that the children were not receiving a suitable education at home. As Mr Cornwell submits, the threshold at this point is a low one. It merely requires the defendant to take a view, as matters then stand, challengeable only on public law grounds.

The four paragraphs of "clarification" which the defendant inserted in its guidance in late 2020, and subsequently removed, have no material bearing on ground 1. Insofar as the language used indicates that, at the informal inquiries stage, a parent may have the task of providing evidence that shows a suitable education is being provided, the clarification accurately describe the statutory scheme, as explained by the Secretary of State's guidance. The same is true of the paragraph under "definition of suitable education", added in late 2020, which is to the same effect.

Ground 1 accordingly fails."

These paragraphs basically say that the HEr did not give enough information to the LA, therefore it's their own fault they were served NTS and SAO.  The judge also says that whilst the "clarification" the LA used has no bearing on Ground 1, it is accurate and lawful.

Grounds 2 & 3

The LA will not accept just a report, even if there are  no grounds for concern, and will proceed directly to NTS.
The LA has a policy of issuing NTS without specifying the areas of concern.

Despite the evidence to the contrary, (I don't think I've mentioned yet, but 40% of the home educators in Portsmouth have been issued with NTS, compared to under 2% on average in other LAs), the judge says "I do not consider it is a fair analysis of the defendant's position".

Paragraph 89 says 

"The real ambit of ground 2 is that the claimant says the defendant has adopted a rigid stance, whereby it will reject reports provided by parents, in deciding whether a child is receiving suitable education at home. This amounts to an unlawful fettering of the defendant's discretion: R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Ex p Venables  [1997] 3 All ER 97" 

This contains lots of legalese, that I'll try and unpick (mainly because I've had to look up the meanings myself). 'Ambit' means 'line in the sand'. 'Fettering Discretion' means 'rather than exercising discretion, it fetters [binds] itself to someone else's views/policies'. 

Then the judge linked to the transcript of the conviction of Venebles and Thompson - the killers of Jamie Bulger in 1993. I don't know why that has been linked, and tbh, I don't particularly want to read about the case, and the various appeals by the defendants.  It was bad enough reading/hearing about it in the news.  I was only 11yo myself at the time of the murder, and I can still remember the details.  So, I haven't read it, which in turn means I don't know why it is included.

Paragraph 91:

"Although it is true that, in his email of September 2020, Mr McIntyre said to the claimant that a "report alone, however detailed, is in my view, not going to be enough to enable us to be confident that suitable education is taking place", the defendant's actual position, repeated throughout the correspondence, is that "a written report alone, however detailed it may be, is unlikely to be sufficient to enable the Council to determine that suitable education is taking place" (see eg. the Chief Executive's letter of 20 January 2021; my emphasis).

 "

So because Portsmouth LA's policy uses the word "unlikely" it means there is the slimmest of possibilities that a report alone will be accepted, and therefore it isn't unlawful - according to the judge.

Paragraphs 92 and 93 basically say that because the LA's policy uses words like "might", "example" and "not an exhaustive list", the fact that it is asking for things that the government's policy specifically says are not required is not a problem at all. 

Most worrying is Paragraph 94:

"

As can readily be seen, in the present case the defendant did not reject the claimant's reports because they were not in a particular form. The defendant's concerns were substantive ones. Despite the length of the claimant's reports, they were wholly assertive in nature. They contained nothing by way of actual work produced by the children. To take the example of work on To Kill a Mockingbird, which featured in submissions at the hearing, there was no material showing the degree of comprehension of the appellant's daughter concerning the novel; merely a series of statements from the claimant."

So the judge is saying that because the reports did not include examples of the children's work, the word of the parents' cannot be trusted.  They are simply a series of words by the HEr and the presumption that the parents are lying about their children's activities and education is just.

To say that again, the judge is saying that parents cannot be trusted.

I have no words, other than disgust, tbh.  If a parent is going to lie about this, they can easily fake 'work' by the children - whether it be searching on the internet, or writing things in their own handwriting.  It's all bollox.

Paragraph 95 doesn't help the situation: "The affidavit, produced by the claimant and her husband, takes matters no further. It does not change the nature of the reports, to which the affidavit refers."
i.e. The judge is saying that it doesn't matter if the parents produce a legal document stating everything they have said is true, it (and they) still cannot be trusted.

Paragraph 96 says: "In any event, the defendant's policy properly takes account of the 2019 guidance documents of the Secretary of State; and there is no challenge to the lawfulness of these"
I don't know to which the "these" refers to in the previous sentence?  If it means the lawfulness of the 2019 guidance, fine.  However, if it means the lawfulness of Portsmouth LA's policy, then I think this was a big gap in the case, and should have been included.

In Paragraph 98, the judge quotes the DfE guidance: "2.12. However, many home-educating families do some of these, at least, by choice. Furthermore, is likely to be much easier for you to show that the education provided is suitable if attention has been paid to the breadth of the curriculum and its content, and the concepts of progress and assessment in relation to your child's ability."

The judge is basically saying that "paying attention to" isn't enough.  You have to be able to document - which is more than what the guidance says.  I don't think this is lawful, despite what the judge says.  [Note: I repeat that I am not a lawyer, nor am I giving legal advice.]

Paragraph 99 goes further, and says that the LA "could" (which we know that LAs will take to mean "should") meet the child and/or examine the child's work.  What about the rights of the child?  What if they don't want their intellectual property shared?  What if they have been traumatised at school, or have some other issue that means that when they meet new people in authority, they freeze? Or maybe they are defiant, or simply refuse to be a dancing monkey?

Paragraph 101 is telling.  Despite saying repeatedly in different ways that parents cannot be trusted, the judge says "I see no reason not to take the defendant at its word." Parents cannot be trusted, but the LA always can. <eyeroll>
The judge says "The fact that, in the present case, the claimant's report has not been sufficient" - I'm not convinced that has been proved tbh.  The fact is that the LA has claimed it is not sufficient, not that it actually is not sufficient. - my mistake, the LA can always be trusted.  Silly me...
The judge also uses the term "home-schooled".  I would have hoped that a judge in a home education case would have least learnt the basic terminology, but again, I'm clearly in the wrong for thinking that.

Still in paragraph 101, the judge says "Once a local authority has satisfied itself, by reference to the Secretary of State's guidance, that suitable education is actually being received by a child who is being home-schooled, a subsequent inquiry in respect of the same parent and child might be satisfactorily answered by production of a report along the lines of that produced by the claimant."

So, going back to the facts of this case, the HEr has previously given reports that were accepted and the child's education deemed suitable.  Then, in 2020 the HEr gave a subsequent report "along the lines of that produced by the claimant" (given it was the report produced by the claimant) and this was not accepted.  Why not, given the judges statement above?  

Paragraph 102 says "Finally under these grounds, I address the contention of the claimant that she is under no legal duty to respond to the initial or informal inquiries of the defendant."
Where was this claimed or contended?  It's not in this document, that's for sure.  The HEr has said that she has no legal duty to respond in the way the LA wishes - and that is true - but it is clear from the facts of the case that she has responded and repeatedly so!

Paragraph 103: "Grounds 2 and 3 accordingly fail."

Ground 4
The LA has a policy of issuing NTS with no concerns and without suggesting the education is unsuitable.
(Paragraphs 104 & 105)

This is a short section, because it seems the judge has got bored by now and cba.

Paragraph 105:

"Much of this has already been covered in the earlier grounds.  I find that the defendant does not have a policy of issuing an NTS in circumstances where it has no concerns.  The allegation of inconsistency with the legal framework and statutory guidance is unparticularised. It is in, any event, wrong for the reasons given in respect of Ground 1."

 Conclusion

"Each of the claimant's grounds fails."

That's it.  That is literally all it says in the conclusion section and we are at the end of the document.

So, my thoughts and musings...

• The judge seems to have no understanding of home education or learning without school.
• Portsmouth's policy is so clearly over the line, yet the judge seems to have judged whether or not the HEr has adhered to the LA's policy rather than the lawfulness of the policy itself.
• There seem to be some obvious contradictions, that the judge has either overlooked or not understood.
• The bias of the judge towards the LA and against the parents is astounding - though this case is about home education, that alone (ie that parents can't be trusted) should send shockwaves through all families and it could have huge ramifications.

What can/should be do?

Firstly, we should send our love and support to the home educators in Portsmouth.  They have worked so hard, and well done to this family in particular for standing up and fighting.  No doubt they'll be in for some stick from some quarters, but it was a very brave thing to do and the right thing to do.

Then, at the moment, we shouldn't change what we're doing.  I know some unschoolers are panicking and thinking that they need to monitor and evidence every little thing - if that's what you want to do, go ahead, but please do it for yourself and not with the intention of giving it to the LA.  At least, not yet.

My prefered path is one of civil resistance or disobedience.  Keep giving brief reports etc as is our right.  Do respond when the LA contacts you, but they should accept the information how you provide it (rather than demanding how it should be provided).  Hold out for as long as you can.  For some people this may be when they issue a SAO; at this point, overload the LA with information, dated (even with random dates - how can the LA prove anything??) and shuffled.  Make the LA work for their money. For other brave souls, it may be when they get taken to court, or beyond. Don't let me tell you what to do - do what is right for your own family.

I'm going to end this post by linking to a list of 198 Methods of Non-Violent Action - just in case it is useful for anyone...

 

Portsmouth Judicial Review - Readthrough Part 1

 Yesterday we had the bad news that the home educators in Portsmouth had lost the Judicial Review.

A lot of people are now panicking about what this means, especially for unschoolers, but at the moment we need to be patient, let Portsmouth HErs regroup and talk to their solicitor in order to determine whether there are any next steps and what they mean.

In the meantime, I thought I'd do a readthrough of the report in case it is helpful to anyone.

(Note: I am not a lawyer.  I have not studied law.  This is not legal advice or assertions, but my own thoughts and feelings, which may be wrong if I haven't understood the nuances.) 

THIS is the link to the full 105 paragraphs of the report.  It is split into 

• A Introduction; 
• B Permission and Hearing; 
• C Statutory Framework; 
• D Secretary of State's Guidance 
• (1) Children Missing Education 2016; 
• (2) Elective Home Education Guidance to Local Authorities 2019;
• (3) Elective Home Education Parents 2019;
• E Defendant's Policy Guidance;
• F Case Law;
• G The Facts of the Present Case;
• H Discussion;
• Conclusion.

The Claiment is Christina Goodread (Portsmouth Home Educator).  Though she alone is named in this JR, she isn't the sole person to whom Portsmouth LA have acted unlawfully.  I wouldn't want any readers to mistakenly think that this is a case from one woman who has simply not been reasonable.

The Defendant is Portsmouth City Council (ie the LA).

And the Secretary of State is the Intervener - someone called to be neutral and give clarity about the situation.  [This may be one of those times I'm wrong.  Here's a link to a definition of an Intervener.]
What is interesting about the definition I've linked to, is that the Intervener shouldn't have a direct interest in the lawsuit (though they may have interest in the outcome).  I don't think the Secretary of State is neutral nor the best person for this role, but back to the text.

A Introduction

Basically, Portsmouth HErs are saying that their children are being suitably educated and Portsmouth LA are imposing an unlawful burden on them, because the LA's policy on EHE is unlawful.

B Permission and Hearing

I don't really understand this section tbh.  Something was refused, even though permission was at one point granted, because the claimant's reasoning had changed.
Then there's a section thanking the Secretary of State for getting involved.

C Statutory Framework

Long list of laws from the Education Act.  
Worth reading through them, if you haven't before, but there's no need for me to comment on it.

D Secretary of State's Guidance

This is a long list of quotes from the various guidances.  If you want to see my thoughts on each of them have a read of the following:
Response to EHE Guidance (LAs) 2019
Comparing HE Guidance for LAs and Parents

CME vs EHE Guidance

E Defendant's Policy Guidance

This is where it starts to get interesting for me, as I haven't read through Portsmouth's policy document before.

Paragraph 35: So, despite listing everything that is not required for HErs to do, Portsmouth LA says

"Furthermore, it is likely to be much easier for a parent to show that the education provided is suitable if attention has been paid to the breadth of the curriculum and its content, and the concepts of progress and assessment in relation to your child's ability."

So, the law and the guidance say you don't have to do this, but tough shit, we're going to make you do it anyway. As a reminder, this is the list that HErs are not required to do:

There are no legal requirements for you as parents educating a child at home to do any of the following:

• acquire specific qualifications for the task
• have premises equipped to any particular standard
• aim for the child to acquire any specific qualifications
• teach the National Curriculum
• provide a 'broad and balanced' curriculum
• make detailed lesson plans in advance
• give formal lessons
• mark work done by the child
• formally assess progress, or set development objectives
• reproduce school type peer group socialisation
• match school-based, age-specific standards
  

Paragraph 36: Then in 2020, the LA added a section into its policy document, stating that the education should be "Broad", "Balanced", "Relevant" and "Differentiated".  That there should be a "curriculum" of some description being used.  All of which are unlawful and go against the guidance.

There is also a list of reasons given as examples of why an education may be deemed unsuitable, including "There is no or very limited examples of work submitted.", "There is no or very limited detail of how the child's progress is being monitored or examples of work to demonstrate relevant progression", and "There is no clear academic or time structure."  Again, all of which are unlawful and go against the guidance.

Paragraph 37: The LA has then 'clarified' by stating " a written report alone, however detailed it may be, should not be relied on in order to satisfy the council that suitable education is taking place." i.e. parents cannot be trusted to tell the truth.  We will not accept a written, signed document.

Paragraph 38:

"The defendant subsequently removed the "clarification", on the basis that it considered the passage was causing unnecessary confusion."

F Case Law
This paragraph goes through a previous example of case law: Phillips vs Brown 1980.  
This is the case where it says that if you don't give any evidence to the LA, they are in their right to assume that education is not taking place.

G The Facts of the Present Case
(Paragraphs 42-64)

• 17 July 2020 the LA wrote to the HEr
• 26 July2020 the HEr gave a report.
  "There followed a description, by reference to subjects, of what she said the children had been doing."
• 7 Aug 2020 LA asked for more detail.
  "1. What progress/achievements has your child made this academic year? How has this been monitored and recorded? Can you provide supporting evidence of this?
  2. Can you provide any supporting documents of completed educational subjects covering this academic year? Is this marked and dated?
  3. Can you provide dated reports, assessments or feedback from the online resources which are being used?" 
• 8 Aug 2020 HEr replied that education was suitable, and LA shouldn't be monitoring.  She gave more detail, but said work was not marked nor dated.
• 3 Sept 2020 LA says that a report alone isn't suffient.
  "This was because "for every example of a parent whose child is receiving education and performing exactly as described in the report, there will be another example of where this is not the case"."
• [Musings: I would like to know how many fake reports Porstmouth have ever had?]
• 6 Sept 2020 HEr asks specifically for the LA's concerns.
• 10 Sept 2020 LA emailed stating "concerns centred "around evidence of ability to read and write to a level suitable to age, aptitude and ability for example and indeed evidence of the programme being described, taking place"."
• 15 Sept 2020 HEr gives yet more info, stating the children are working above their school-peers-ages in various subjects and have progressed over the year.
• 29 Sept 2020 LA says that isn't good enoughand issues Notice to satisfy (NTS).
• 9 Oct 2020 HEr makes official complaint about their treatment (Stage 1).
• 2 Nov 2020 LA says due to rise in numbers HEing there have been more unsuitable education. 
  "Cases where the parents concerned meet the defendant, demonstrating suitability of education and sharing examples "usually provide a much more comprehensive picture, which in turn enables the view to be reached more swiftly and easily". "
• 4 Nov 2020 HEr wrote "To whom to it may concern" letter again setting out "a list of some of the examples of completed subjects [the children] have done as per your request" with even more detail. Complaint rises to Stage 2.
• 25 Nov 2020 LA served notice to issue School Attendance Order (SAO).
• 1 Dec 2020 HEr provides yet more information and an affidavit signed by herself and her husband.
• 14 Dec 2020 LA serves SAO.
• 16 Dec 2020 LA responds to Stage 2 Complaint
  " it could confirm it had no evidence of any safeguarding concerns regarding the claimant's family."
  "The defendant's officers had been "clear that a written report alone, however detailed it may be, is unlikely to be sufficient to enable the council to determine that suitable education is taking place"."
• 17 Dec 2020 Complaint rises to Stage 3.
• 11 Jan 2021 LA tells HEr there has been failure to comply with SAO and they will start legal proceedings.
• 18 Jan 2021 Letter of action from Portsmouth Home Education Group.
• 20 Jan 2021 LA responds to Stage 3 complaint reiterating that a written report alone is not sufficent because too many parents lie [Musings' paraphrase].
• 25 Jan 2021 LA refusd to revoke SAO.
• 22 Feb 2021 Present claim issued.

H Discussion

At this point I'm going to stop, and I'll write my thoughts about the discussion in a separate blog post (Link to Part 2).

I hope that this has been clear enough for you to see why Portsmouth HErs are right to take this to JR and fight the LA.  It is appalling how this woman, and other HErs in Portsmouth have been treated.

#FairHearing4HomeEd #EducationalFreedom #WeStandWithPortsmouthHErs

Yesterday by Amanda Tru

This is the last book in my A-Z Challenge (yes, I'm aware it is only Y, but I'm trying not to buy more books until I have finished all the ones I already have, lol).

The blurb says: 

Her yesterday was five years ago. What will her tomorrow bring?

When HANNAH KRAEGER saves a family injured in a car accident, she has no idea she has changed events in the past. Waking the next morning, Hannah discovers her yesterday was really five years ago.

Each trip Hannah takes through time changes the timeline and her own life. With help from DR. SETH MCALLISTER, Hannah must unravel the mystery of why she time travels and who she actually is before the strange ability costs her future, the man she loves, and even her life.

What I found interesting about this time travel book is that the time travel is not instantaneous.  What I mean, is that when Hannah finds herself back in time, the timeline she left continues so to those around her it looks like she has run away or left.  It also means that she ages at the correct rate for her personal timeline, rather than living life in the past, coming back to the present/future and have aged for no reason to her friends and family.

This book is a sweet romance with a time travel twist. I'm not sure whether to class it as Fantasy or SciFi since the time travel is not because of a machine but because of divine intervention - so I've labelled it as both on the side. >>>

I did enjoy this book.  I liked trying to work out how the stories of the different characters interacted.  I liked seeing whether the romance between Hannah and Seth would blossom and how it was impacted due to her changing things in the past.  It's a nice book.

Gov Response to Strengthening HE Report

The Government's response to the Strengthening Elective Home Education Report has been published on 3rd November 2021.  It can be found HERE.

[My read-through of the original report is over 5 posts starting HERE]

I am doing a quick skim read of the document, and highlighting certain sections.
If it appears I have missed out chunks it's because there is a lot that is to do with school rather than EHE.

In summary (my paraphrase):

• The current definition of 'suitable' education is enough.
• Government is committed to a register.
• There should be a meeting for parents considering HE.
• Govenment will consider including EHE in Safeguarding.
• Ofsted already does enough.
• More research would be good, but there are problems to overcome.
• Access to exams are the parents' problem.

Page 2 Paragraph 8:

The Department remains of the view that a centralised definition of ‘suitable’ education would not be in the interests of home educating children, families or local authorities. Each individual assessment of whether education being provided is deemed ‘suitable’ must rest on a balance of relevant factors depending on the circumstances of each child.

However, this may be an area the Department considers further when it next reviews its 2019 EHE guidance for local authorities and parents, which may need to take account of the outcome of the impending judicial review between Portsmouth City Council and an EHE parent.

 Page 2 Paragraph 9:

The Government remains committed to a form of local authority administered statutory registration to identify children not in school. This would likely encompass children who are electively home educated and those who are missing education

Page 4 Paragraph 13:

We would already expect a similar approach to take place when dealing with parents considering withdrawing pupils to home educate. We advise that local authorities, schools, and other key professionals work together to coordinate a meeting with parents considering EHE to ensure they are making a fully informed choice that considers the best interest of the child.

[Musings - surely this only applies before deregistration?  Once you've handed in the dereg letter, you are no longer "considering" but have decided.]

 Page 5 Paragraph 22:

EHE expectations on local authorities, other parts of the sector and parents was not part of the scope of the Children Not In School consultation and as such would not be included in the government response.

Page 6 Paragraph 25:

The Department continues to review all key statutory guidance regularly. We will consider including EHE in Working Together to Safeguard Children at the next review point.

Page 6 Paragraphs 26 & 27:

26. Ofsted already assess a local authority’s EHE work as part of normal inspections of Children’s Social Care services. Specifically, an inspection would request the following information: The information the local authority uses to monitor the welfare of electively home educated children, in particular those children who are electively home educated and are either on a child protection plan, education, health and care (EHC) plan or are a child in need. If available, please provide the policy on elective home education. (2.04)

27. Furthermore, in the ‘Evaluating the educational progress of children in care and care leavers’ section of the Ofsted framework for inspections it states that the Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) will analyse data and information about elective home-educated children and children missing education. 

 Page 6 Paragraph 29:

As outlined in the response to Recommendation 1, we already provide guidance and outline good practice on what we would expect when assessing suitable education. We have no plans to stipulate specifically how a local authority assesses the suitability of home education, as ‘suitable’ education assessment needs to consider a range of relevant factors depending on the circumstances of each child.

Page 7 Paragraph 30:

Paragraph 9.4 of the Department’s EHE guidance for local authorities already details eight factors for local authorities to consider when determining whether education is ‘suitable’. Components as to how the term ‘suitable’ should be seen by local authorities.

Page 7 Paragraph 32:

The Department is committed to helping children and young people achieve the best outcomes in life, so they can realise their potential. While we can see the value of longitudinal research into outcomes of EHE children, we also recognise the challenges in undertaking such research given a lack of data on which households undertake EHE and approaches to involved. This includes the absence of requirements for formal assessments at set points, which are typically used to measure the outcomes of children attending school. 

Page 8 Paragraphs 34 & 35:

34. Many schools, colleges and other examination centres accept private candidates for examinations. The decision to accept private candidates is a matter for the individual centres to decide in light of their specific circumstances and the needs of the students concerned. The Department encourages all available exam centres to consider supporting private candidates and we have worked closely with the sector to ensure that there are enough centres available to support private candidates to take exams, with JCQ publishing a list of available centres to assist students in finding a suitable centre ahead of the entry deadline, first for the exceptional 2021 summer TAGs, and now on an ongoing basis.

35. The Department’s guidance on EHE highlights that parents/carers who home educate will need to assume full financial responsibility for their child’s education. This includes paying for the cost of entering their child for examinations. Some local authorities may provide financial or other assistance to home-educating families for public examinations, but this is discretionary. 

 

The Wave at Hanging Rock by Gregg Dunnett

 

The Wave at Hanging Rock is my W in my A-Z Challenge.

The blurb says:

Natalie, a young doctor, sees her perfect life shattered when her husband is lost at sea. Everyone believes it’s a tragic accident. But a mysterious phone call prompts her to think otherwise. She sets out on a search for the truth.

Jesse, a schoolboy, is moved half way around the world when his father is blown up in a science experiment gone wrong. 

Two seemingly unconnected tales. But how they come together will have you turning the pages late into the night. And the twist at the end will leave you reeling.

This is a really good book.  It is a bit of a slow burner to begin with, and you randomly flip between each story, but there is enough going on in each of the separate stories to keep you wanting to know what will happen next. 

It is a psychological drama and a mystery and is very cleverly written.  I enjoy it when I'm reading a book, and I think a character is particularly clever (as opposed to having a lot of qualifications, if that difference makes sense?).  I'm keeping this review shorter than usual because I don't want to give anything away.

Definitely recommend it.

The Vine Witch by Luanne G Smith

 

I have to be honest, I thought this was going to be a kids' book, but I was wrong.  The very start of the book is odd, because the protagonist is in the body of a toad who as to eat it's own shedded skin in order to defeat the magic that has cursed it.

The blurb says:

A young witch emerges from a curse to find her world upended in this gripping fantasy set in turn-of-the-century France.

For centuries, the vineyards at Château Renard have depended on the talent of their vine witches, whose spells help create the world-renowned wine of the Chanceaux Valley. Then the skill of divining harvests fell into ruin when sorcière Elena Boureanu was blindsided by a curse. Now, after breaking the spell that confined her to the shallows of a marshland and weakened her magic, Elena is struggling to return to her former life. And the vineyard she was destined to inherit is now in the possession of a handsome stranger.

Vigneron Jean-Paul Martel naively favors science over superstition, and he certainly doesn’t endorse the locals’ belief in witches. But Elena knows a hex when she sees one, and the vineyard is covered in them. To stay on and help the vines recover, she’ll have to hide her true identity, along with her plans for revenge against whoever stole seven winters of her life. And she won’t rest until she can defy the evil powers that are still a threat to herself, Jean-Paul, and the ancient vine-witch legacy in the rolling hills of the Chanceaux Valley.

I did enjoy this book.  It is written really well, and though I wouldn't say I'm particularly interested in historical France, nor wine-making, nor even this type of fantasy (modern fairy tales), it kept my interest, and I wanted to know what happened next.  There is even a twist at the end of the book that I didn't see coming.

This book is the start of a series, but I read and enjoyed it as a standalone.

 

And another month goes by...

 I'm reminded of the song from Come From Away that sings "And then another, and then another, and then..."

TLDR: 

So this past month, we have had covid in the house, we have had a dance festival, we have had uncertainty around DD1's surgery, we have had exhaustion from school, we have had good days out over half term, we have eaten too much and not exercised enough, though I have exercised some.  I have watched a fair bit of TV and not read much (which tbh hasn't helped my MH much) because I know how far behind I am of the reviews of books that I have read over the summer, and I'm behind on my paid work too.  

Positives:

DD1 came 3rd in her Tap Solo at the dance festival.

DD1 & DD2 came 1st in their Caberet Group dance at the festival.

I have gone on some runs when I've not seen my PT, and am s...l...o...w...l...y increasing in speed.  Still nearly an hour to run (and walk) 5Km, but under an hour nonetheless.

I have watched my first Christmas film of the season.

Despite being fully booked and not advertising at all, I am still getting enquiries about maths tuition.

My house is slowly becoming more organised.

I am trying to catch up on reviews a couple at a time.

Ugly Girl by Mary E Twomey

 Ugly Girl is U in my A-Z of Fiction Titles challenge.

Having read a few of Mary E Twomey's books before, and indeed having just finished reading Taste, I knew I would get engrossed by this book almost immediately, so took a little while (maybe a week, lol) before delving in and starting this series.

Rosie is an ordinary girl.  She lived with her Aunt after her parents died in a car crash when she was small, and her best friend Judah was the only person to look past her spots, scars and hunched back.  Living the best life she can, she goes to college by day and enjoys being a pool shark in the evening.
One evening, however, Rosie loses her beloved necklace, and all of a sudden her world begins to change.  No longer is she ugly and ignored, but she gets kidnapped and taken far away.

The blurb says:

When a grizzled stranger crashes into her life and lifts the concealment that has marred her face since childhood, Rosie Avalon leaves everything she knows behind. Pulled into a realm teeming with magical creatures, Rosie must navigate this new, broken world while avoiding capture by the evil queen, who knows there’s more to Rosie than meets the eye.

Bastien is an Untouchable, feared and shunned by all but a handful of elite warriors. His realm has been ravaged by the evil queen’s reign, but he will stop at nothing to save the land he loves, even if it means pushing Rosie past her breaking point.

Thrust into a quest that threatens to destroy her family, Rosie’s path is clear: she must sacrifice all she holds dear to save a world on the brink of collapse, and hope she doesn’t lose herself along the way.

This 14 book series is split into three parts Books 1-7, 8-11, and 12-14, and it is possible to read one part and take a break before reading the next, however, I wouldn't suggest starting midway through (eg at book 8) without having read the earlier books.

These books are set in between Common (ie Earth) and Avalon (another dimension, where there is magic and magical creatures).  Rosie learns that, though her Aunt is her Aunt, her parents are not dead, but live in Avalon, and her mother is the evil queen, Morgan Le Fae.  There is romance, intrigue, battle, a fair bit of feminism too.  Having read Taste immediately before, some of the magical powers I have seen before, but it's to a lesser or greater degree and doesn't really impact the story.

I did really like these books - you'd be unsurprised to know that I read all 14 straight off, without a break, then had to take a break afterwards as I allowed time for me to grieve leaving their world and reconnecting with my own.

And another month goes by...

So, I'm still seeing my PT twice a week.  My weight was still going up, and I almost hit 100kilos, which I've never been before.  But, I am still decreasing my size, and have even dropped a bra size when I got measured recently.

As sexy as I look in a bra and a pair of shorts (not!), I am pleased that even *I* can see that my back-fat is going, and I now have a waist again.

Both my girls are now in school, as DD2 recently started year 7.  She does enjoy it, but is very tired.  Having gone from needing 10-12 hours sleep a night, to having to leave the house at 7.30am, return near 5, then rush straight to dance lessons and often doesn't get home aain until 9.30 or 10pm, is a bit of a shock for her.

As schools have gone back, I'm tutoring again now.  My days have changed this year, so I work Tuesday mornings, Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons.  I don't have much free time, though, as I'm still involved with Home Education locally, nationally and politically.  (Ok, I don't know if 'politically' makes any sense in that sentence, but the rhythm made me feel like it needed a third thing there.)

I am trying to read too, but that has slowed somewhat.  As I don't need to wait at dance in the evenings anymore, I don't have as much time to read.  Also, in the few gaps I've had during the day, I have had a bit of a TV binge, watching non-kids TV during the day! Very exciting.  I have recently watched Sex Eduction, Love on the Spectrum, Motherland, and I was getting into Making a Murderer, until my husband joined me one day, and now I'm 'not allowed' to watch it without him.  Yet, since then, we haven't watched it together at all, so if he's not careful I'm going to continue watching it and just not tell him, lol.

And yes, I am aware that I haven't caught up with the book reviews I said I would write a month ago.  Despite everything I've written here (and this feels like a lot to me), I've even more things going on.

DD1 has been having mini absence seizures/blackouts for a while, though she didn't tell me that they had become frequent until last October.  I told her to keep a diary in case it was related to what she had been eating or time of the month or anything like that, and we made an appointment to see the GP.  Fast forward to February, and we were referred to hospital to see a neurologist and to have an EEG.  As part of this, they gave DD1 a general health check and discovered she had a heart murmur.  Not a big surprise or concern as my husband had one when he was little, but they referred us for an ECG.  And another.  And an echo.  And a heart consultant who told use they would be bringing in the big-guns from a nearby city to look at her heart, because she has a hole in her heart.  As you can imagine, this was a bit of a shock, given she was 13yo at the time, fit as a fiddle, loads of dance, and zero symptoms (breathlessness, fatigue, palpatations or enlargement of the heart).

Anyway, we saw the big-gun heart consultant, who did another ECG and echo (which incidentally, is really interesting, as the computor automatically colours the blood blue and red depending on whether the blood has been oxygenised or not).  She confirmed that the hole in the heart is nothing to do with the mini blackouts DD1 had been having, and because the EEG was clear, they (the hospital) are not following that up at the moment.  However, DD1 does not have a hole in her heart - she has two plus a leaky valve! (It's a partial AVSD for anyone who wants to google it.) Due to where the holes are located, they cannot go up the leg/groin to close it, but she will need open heart surgery.  But, it isn't urgent, because she has no other symptoms, so don't worry about it too much.  It's a fairly straightforward procedure, etc etc, and just has to be done before she becomes an adult, as if left unfixed, it could cause massive problems when she's in her 20s and 30s.

Then over the summer we had a virtual consulatation with a surgeon, who said they expected surgery to be in October!  DD1 would have to be in hospital for at least a week, at least a month off school, at least 3 months off dancing.  All of a sudden this became very real!  Due to dance festivals finally starting up again (and the enxt one being in October) we have asked for the surgery to be postponed until the summer term, but we will follow the guidance of the consultant.  Meanwhile, DD1 has had even more hospital appointments, and had to wear a 24hr heart monitor, and been asked to participate in research before/after surgery, so my suspician is that it will be sooner, rather than later.

Oh, and we have got a second dog, Luna.

A-Z Challenge 2021 Fiction Authors

So here is my new A-Z Challenge by authors, and this time I won't be filling in the letters that I'm missing.

A - Meadowlark by Melanie Abrams

B - Brainrush by Richard Bard

C - Exodus by Andreas Christensen

D - Thicker Than Blood by C J Darlington

E - When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

F - The Singapore Grip by T G Farrell

G - The American Gods Quartet by Neil Gaiman

H - The Last Safe Place by Ninie Hammon

I - The Messiah Conspiracy by Ian C P Irvine

J - Hidden by Megg Jensen

K - Earth - Last Santuary by Christian Kallias

L - Heaven by Mur Lafferty

M - The Wedding List by Autumn MacArthur

N - A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

O - Daygo's Fury by John F O'Sullivan

P - Mr Rook by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

R - Where the Shadows Lie by Michael Ridpath

S - The Phoenix Conspiracy by Richard L Sanders

T - Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

V - The Time Traveller's Almanac by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer

W - Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb

Y - To Fear the Dawn by Sean Young

Z - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafron

(Note: If it turns out that some of these listed either are non-fiction or I have previously read them and forgot whilst making this list, I will change them for books I haven't yet read.)

Where has the time gone???

I can't believe it's nearly a month since I last posted anything on this blog!  I've got lots to say, but want to post it all separately, so I'll give a quick overview now, and hopefully will find some time in the not-to-distant future to actually write properly.

This past month, it was my 16th wedding anniversary, (did I tell you in July that my hair is no longer purple?  It's red now), I went to Back To the 80s & 90s Festival by myself and had a fab time, I finished reading all the books on my A-Z Challenge list, plus the rest of the Ugly Girl series, I went to London twice with the family to see 2 different shows, I've started going out with friends again in an evening, DD2 had her 11th birthday yesterday, and today was her first day of Summer School (transition week) before starting secondary in September.  I am officially not home educating any more!  I have some new tutees and some old ones lined up for me to start tutoring again.  I am still involved in HE politics, despite it being the summer holidays.  And I'm still seeing my PT.  I know I didn't update you guys with my last set of progress photos (even I can see a difference now compared to how I looked when I started!), but I'm due to take my next set this coming weekend.  I'll also be taking new measurements, and will have a look to see if I am finally starting to lose weight.  Since I started with her in April, I have only put on weight, so it will be good to see if that finally starts to change!  And, as I finished my A-Z of fiction titles I need to set myself a new challenge (based on the books I already have on my kindle that I haven't read yet).  As, on my kindle, I can only sort by Recent, Title or Author, I suppose I'm going to go back to Fiction Authors.  Unlike last time, however, I will not be buying any books to fill-in the letters I'm missing.

Strengthening Home Education - Part 5

If you haven't already read it, please click HERE to see Part 1 of my read-through. 
And HERE is the original report. 

"100. In this chapter we consider outcomes, assessments and exams for children receiving EHE. During the inquiry, we heard about a lack of robust data on the outcomes for them as a group"

Same old refrain (and this is a clickable link, if you haven't watched it or got the message yet): RESEARCH EXISTS! 

"The difficulties faced by private exam candidates during the covid-19 pandemic shone a light on the pre-existing inequity they face in accessing public examinations." 

This was a real and impactful problem that was faced by home educators.  And as much as I cannot say research exists specifically about this, I can say that research is ongoing in this area!! And if you are, or know, a home educator who was impacted by exam cancellations due to covid, please encourage them to take part by clicking HERE.

What do we know about outcomes?

The first section is about the lack of data, especially longitudinal research, about home education.  This is to be expected, because it's not really been as popular as home education is now.  With the internet, anything can be learned anywhere - you are not restricted to learning only what your local library has in stock, nor restricted to old skool mailing lists for getting in touch with other home educators.  As such, most home education research of this type is US-based.  If you follow my FB page (and if you don't, why not?? it's HERE) you will see that I do share various research projects.  Not all of them are applicable to everyone, but if you can do a short interview, or a series of interviews, in order to create the data that the government is demanding, doing it with an impartial researcher is better than selling your soul to the LA.

"106. Little is known about the educational or other outcomes for the EHE cohort. Despite this, there was resistance to the idea of applying the kinds of standardised assessment used in schools to EHE."

Well, duh! If people are choosing to educate their children otherwise than at school, why would they want to force their child through all the same hoops as schooled children?  The beauty of home education is the freedom and flexibility.  Home education is not, and should not, be simply a recreation of school-at-home - and I think that's true even if you do decide to purchase a school-at-home style curriculum or package. 

"All EHE children should have the opportunity to take GCSEs, A-Levels and vocational exams as appropriate."

Yes as appropriate or desired!  Have access to, not that they should be compulsory.

 The next section is all about exams, specifically the massive impact that Covid has been.  A part from an erroneous "with a register in place it [would solve the world's problems]", this section is a good summary of various issues faced by home educators.

"124. The Government must place a duty on every local authority to ensure that homeeducated children and young people have fair access to centres where they can sit accredited public examinations, with the Government meeting the entry costs for those exams. The Department for Education must also work to establish the appropriate level of entitlement, to which examinations the entitlement will apply, and the additional funding the Department will commit to support this."

 

Now we are on to the final section in the main body of the document... 

Conclusions and Recommendations

• They want a more specific definition of aa 'suitable' education.
• They want a statutory register.

"8. When a pupil is excluded from school for more than five non-consecutive days in a school year, the pupil and their parents or carers should be given access to an independent advocate to help them navigate the process."

This is a school problem, not an EHE one.

 "10. Schools should publish their permanent and fixed term exclusion rates by year group every term, including providing information about pupils with SEND and looked-after children. Schools should also publish data on the number of pupils who have left the school."

This is a school problem, not an EHE one.

"13. In light of the evidence we heard on children with SEND, the Department must reconsider the potential for creating an independent, neutral role, allocated to every parent or carer with a child when a request is made for a needs assessment, which has the responsibility for co-ordinating all statutory SEND processes including the annual review, similar to the role of the Independent Reviewing Officer for looked-after children."

How is this different to the Named Person scheme that Scotland tried, and failed, to implement?

Elective Home Education: Local Authorities and support

• More specific definition of 'suitable' education
• Clearer expectations on LAs and Parents with regards to EHE.
• DfE should track and publish SAOs at a national level on an annual basis. 
• Ofsted should have a role in quality assuring Local Authorities.
• LAs must have the ability to see a child in person.
• Contact with EHE family is at least annual.
• LAs should ask to see samples of work.
• LAs should "assess" [note, how this didn't use 'monitor' here] children's progress from one year to the next.
• DfE to provide clear set of criteria against which suitability of education can be assessed.
• DfE should commission and roll out a national training package for all EHEOs.

Outcomes, assessment and exams for children receiving EHE

• There should be more research done examining the life chances and social outcomes of EHE children.
• Government should act on the issue of inequitable access to exams for EHE children.
• Removing barriers of cost and distance to exam entry would help.

And that's the end of the main document.  At this point, I'm only on p46/67 but it's all appendices and things left.  I'll give it a quick skim through....

Not much interesting of note there, other than the list of published submissions: There are only 488 listed submissions, even though the ECS stated it received over 900.  And I know plenty of people who wanted to be published, have not been included at all, including leading academics.

My personal submission is there - it is one of the anonymous "Member of the Public", yet when you click through, my name is clearly displayed at the top!
Have a nosey through the list and see if you can see any names you recognise. 😀

Strengthening Home Education - Part 4

If you haven't already read it, please click HERE to see Part 1 of my read-through. 
And HERE is the original report.

Section 3 is entitled "Elective Home Education: Local Authorities and Support".

Local Authority Powers

"64. We note that the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel plans to carry out some work on EHE, focussing specifically on children who are vulnerable to safeguarding risks if they are not at school, and analysing “the extent to which elective home education has been a factor in the serious harm or death of a child.”103 We hope that this work will serve to better inform policymakers, and inject some light into a heated debate."

Conveniently forgetting that EHE has NEVER been a contributory factor in any SCR, and not only that, EHE was wrongly quoted in over 10 SCRs when the child had no connection to home education at all!  Most worryingly about this, there was no process for getting the SCRs reviewed and corrected!

Don't forget: RESEARCH EXISTS! 

"The Local Government Association told us there was “no mechanism” for a council to insist on speaking to a home-educated child without a specific safeguarding concern."

And, in the absence of any concern, why should a random from the council insist on speaking with a specific child?  Why is the assumption that an adult should have the right to speak to someone just because they want to? And if that is a right that adults should have - please can someone get my David Beckham's address so I can invite myself round and demand to speak to him, even "without a specific safeguarding concern"?

I wanted to include a gratuitous picture here of Mr Beckham topless.
However, I couldn't find one due to copyright, so this is the best I could do - 
a photo of a window sticker from pixabay.com 

"On the other hand, HEAS found that the present legal framework provided the “correct balance beween [sic] the rights of home educators and the duties of the authorities.”"

...which is absolutely right.  Powers are already there when they are needed, they do not need to be changed.

"We believe there should be a mechanism for local authorities to speak with a child receiving EHE in order to assess whether the duty to provide a suitable education is being met."

Does the LA or the ESC or the DfE meet with every single schooled child?  Or do they determine the basis of the education from reports produced by the school?  Education and welfare should not be conflated - which is what the current ESC continually does,

"” In Ofsted’s view, local authorities should have powers to visit the child’s home to make assessments of home education but that those powers should be limited to ensure that they can only be used when there are “reasonable concerns” about the suitability of the home education, and not used “routinely.”"

i.e. even Ofsted says that EHE children shouldn't be before an EHEO as matter of routine; only where there are reasonable concerns - i.e. the current guidance.

Government consultation and guidance

This next section is a lot of bollocks and conjecture.  Basically, the ESC seems to think that forcing HErs to jump to the tune of the LA will improve relationships, and that defining a 'suitable education' will be beneficial - clearly they do not understand the nuance within home education.

Tracking SAOs, however, will be a good thing for the DfE to do; especially if they publish the results.

Visibility of EHE in wider guidance

"74. We heard that EHE was invisible in key guidance on keeping children and young people safe. For example, Working Together to Safeguard Children, the statutory guidance on inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, does not mention home education."

 Or could it be that it doesn't mention EHE because EHE is not a concern?  I've not read it, admittedly, but does the Working Together to Safeguard Children document mention veganism, because some children are vegans, or perhaps it mentions pink clothes, because some children wear pink clothes?

The potential role for inspection

In this section, there was 1 paragraph that summarised "Of the hundreds of written submissions that we received from home educating families and the organisations that support them, many strongly rejected the inspection of individual families." Yet, there were 7 following paragraphs detailing why there should be inspection.  Given that we no over 75% of the published submissions reject any more interference by LAs, why is there disproportionate amount of space given to the minority within this report?

"88. The Department must assign Ofsted a role in quality assuring the delivery of local authority support for EHE and adherence to EHE guidance. This will require the creation of an inspection framework, based on the clarified guidance for local authorities and EHE families that we also expect the Department to produce."

Will this mean that home educating families can complain to Ofsted when a LA steps out of line?  
It  says in the 2019 Guidance that LAs should tell home educators when there is an upcoming inspection by Ofsted so that they can have their say.  I'm still collating the responses from my FOI requests atm, but the vast majority of LAs have never given evidence from home educators into an Ofsted inspection, and of those that say they have, I think they misunderstood (based on ongoing conversations) and thought I was asking about whether Ofsted has asked to view the EHE department - a totally different thing!

"By contrast, home educators emphasised to us that the fact of being home-educated did not constitute a safeguarding risk. However, ..." 

Home education is not a safe guarding risk.  That is 100% true. However, the ESC likes to ignore facts and rather make up biased opinions in order to grab themselves more power.

"91. The Department must clarify and strengthen the expectation in its 2019 guidance that local authorities make contact with parents on at least an annual basis, so that local authorities have the ability to see a child in person (at a venue of the family’s choosing) in situations where this is necessary to establish the suitability of the education they are receiving. The Department must make any necessary statutory changes to enable this, and make clear that:

• annual contact with an EHE family is a minimum expectation;

• local authorities should be asking to see examples of children’s work and parents should not reasonably refuse this;

• local authorities should be assessing children’s progress from one year to the next, especially in areas such as literacy and numeracy which are essential to access future educational opportunities and employment. By the time children are at the age when they would leave compulsory schooling, they should be able to demonstrate the same baseline numeracy and literacy skills that we expect from their schooled peers. While children with SEND may follow different paths, it is vital that they too have the right support provided so that they can flourish.

92. The Department should provide local authorities with a set of clear criteria against which suitability of education can be assessed, taking into account the full range of pedagogical approaches taken in EHE, as well as the age, ability and aptitude of individual children, including where they may have SEND."

This is quite frankly horrifying.

Annual Contact - only if it is contact (like a report of a phone call [or visit for those who want them]) rather than specifying it must be a visit.

Examples of children's work - how does this work for children who do not produce written work?  Maybe the child reads a lot and has great discussions and in depth conversations? How wil this work for unschoolers who often do not produce formal written work?
And what about the rights of the child?  What if they don't want to share their work?  What if they are a perfectionist and don't want others to see their mistakes? Or what if they had a bad experience at school, and whilst they are happy to produce written work, they do not want it shared?

Assessing progress annually - again, this doesn't make sense and does not take account of all the differing types of home education.  My eldest, DD1, taught herself to read aged 3.  Once she had mastered that skill (solving the puzzle of shapes on a page), she decided she didn't like reading.  She could read, but chose not to.  Now she is in secondary school (her choosing) and can read and write with the best of them.  Would it be deemed that she hadn't progressed, because I couldn't produce a list of books that she had read each year?  When in fact, she could read. On the other side of the HE coin, I know children who couldn't read until they were 10+.  They had no need nor any desire to, but learnt plenty in other ways - visually, audibly, orally, hands-on etc etc. Once they had internalised the need and motivation to learn to read, they got on with it.  Without the stigma of not being able to ready by XX age, the child had nothing to hold them back.  In these cases, it isn't uncommon for the child to develop a love of reading, and reading various 'hard' literary texts.
Similarly in numeracy, children do not learn in straight lines.  They do not learn this one year, that the next, but learning is messy, flows from one topic to another and sometimes covers old ground, sometimes learns things anew.  Expecting children to progress by following some arbitrary standards defined by age (which though they haven't said it, is what will be up ahead if we're not careful) is not realistic of how people learn.

More consistent support from local authorities, including for children with SEND

Most of this section is good in that it emphasises that there is no consistency across LAs.  Unfortunately, my concern is that the ESC will bring all LAs down to the lowest standard <cough>Portsmouth<cough> rather than getting all LAs to behave like their better counterparts.

"The Association of Elective Home Education Professionals told us in their submission that from Autumn 2021 Birkbeck College would be offering essential training for local authority EHE professionals."

Who are the AEHEP?  Read my previous blog post to find out what we don't know about them.  Despite them talking to the DfE lots, having input with the HE Inquiry, and setting up meetings for various EHEOs, the AEHEP is not a professional association.  Again, I am in the middle of collating responses from FOIs I have done regarding the AEHEP, and despite repeatedly being told the AEHEP has incurred "no costs except staff time" the number of man-hours x£25/hr means there is in fact a big cost associated with this club.

"99. Given the rise in EHE numbers and lack of consistent support from local authorities, the Department should commission and roll out a national training package for all local authority officers with responsibility for EHE—developed with a wide range of stakeholders—so that those officers have a thorough and consistent understanding of the duties of and guidance for local authorities. That package should explain the various EHE approaches—possibly in the form of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). All local authority officers with responsibility for EHE must be expected to complete that training as part of their job."

This training MUST be produced with collaboration with national Home Education organisations.  The fact that they are suggesting Mr. Monk's training to be "essential" is dangerous and erodes the little faith that home educators have with the ESC and local LAs.

So, that's the end of Part 4.  Part 5 will be looking at outcomes and assessment for EHE kids.

Taste by Mary E Twomey

Another book by Mary E Twomey, and another series that I got hooked on - this time I read all 9 books in under a week!

Taste follows the life of October Grace.  She works as a nurse in a prison, lives with OCD and an obsession with cleaning, and has a dysfunctional relationship with her hoarding mother.  Out of the blue, her mother announces her engagement to an English gentleman, Ezra, and October and her brother Ollie prepare to meet the man willing to take on their mother.  In Ezra's house, October cannot cope with her mother's charade, and runs to the bathroom to wash her hands again.  Whilst there, October accidentally overhears Ezra's family talking about her, specifically whether she is the one they've been looking for...

The blurb says:

Just when correctional nurse October Grace has a handle on her stressful job and taking care of her mentally ill mother, a shifter king and a potential vampire mate plunge her into a foreign land that’s on the brink of starvation. Now, with a ticking clock and a target on her back, October takes up the mantle of becoming one of the rare Omens who can bring hope to a dying world.

Mason and Von remain by her side to shield the national treasure while she sacrifices herself to reap the souls that will feed the nations of Terraway. As the death toll rises daily, October finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat world where fairytale creatures run wild… and every day is a new bloody battle.

Given that I bought and read the whole series, it's obviously I liked it, so I'll start this review by saying what I didn't like: the chapter titles.  Such a small thing, I know, but I found they gave away what was about to happen, so I had to train myself to not read them as I was going through this book.

This book as a fantasy, so there are many fantastical creatures in addition to the humans: vampires, shape-shifters, mermen, Goblins, and reverse centaurs amongst them.  It is set between Terraway and Earth (or Topside), and only a few people from each Terraway country can port between the two.  Unfortunately, Terraway is in the grip of the evil Sama, who despite being banished to an undisclosed island, still manages to cause terror in the nations through starvation and famine.  Terraway needs to stop its scorching suns, so that their food can grow, but because a magical stone has been hidden Topside, the only way to keep the heat of the suns in check is for Omens to reap a soul for Topside for each nation, every day.  Until now, only Ezra's daughter Mariang has been able to reap souls, but fortunately for Terraway, October is about to be awakened...

It is YA.  There is copious amounts of kissing and snogging between October and almost all the male characters, but no sex scenes.  The closest to a sex scene is the occasional spicy dream that October has, but even these would be suitable for a teen to read. In the later books there is reference to rape (though the specifics are not described) and as has been hinted, October is polyamorous.  

I like the way Mary E Twomey writes about the psychological side of October's personality, the impact of her neglectful mother, the impact of growing up not knowing her father, and essentially being parented by her older brother and sister.  Despite all the trauma and underprivilege of growing up in a trailer park, October has made it on her own two feet. And because some of the characters are English, I liked how Twomey includes English dialect (though to me, they are just normal words, lol) - who doesn't use 'hence' in a sentence?? The only minor criticism here is the use of "mates" and "knickers".  Whilst an English person would call someone "mate" or refer to their "mates", you wouldn't actually say to a group of friends "hey mates", rather in this circumstance you'd say "hey guys" (where guy refers to male and female friends).  Similarly, "knickers" are specifically female underwear, a bloke would wear "pants" (though I do understand the confusion with Americans calling trousers, pants) or depending on the type of pants, you'd call them Boxers or Y-Fronts. 

Taste was T in my A-Z of Fiction Titles.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, my U is also by Mary E Twomey (Ugly Girl) and is also the start of a series.  I am forcing myself to take at least a week's break from reading so I can bet back to the real world a bit and do all the stuff I've been neglecting, before I dive headfirst into yet another absorbing word.

Strengthening Home Education Report - Part 3

If you haven't already read it, please click HERE to see Part 1 of my read-through.
And HERE is the original report (all 67 pages!).

This, Part 3, starts on p12 of the report: What do we know abut children who are home-educated?

And I'm going to start again with my refrain of RESEARCH EXISTS!

Elective Home Education: what data do we have?

I have to confess, I'm getting tired now. Sitting here, reading this bumf, isn't fun.  I am trying to pick out the key points, but much of it adds to the rage.  As such, if you want to rage, I suggest you read it yourself then take yourself to the gym or pound the streets with your anger.  I, however, may be a bit more succinct as I'm fed up of repeating myself.  There is so much conjecture and opinion in this document, without evidence behind it (yet there is research in the opposite direction that has mysteriously been overlooked), if I don't pick out bits and pieces, I'm going to end up reproducing the whole document.  That's no fun for me, and less fun for you who not only reads the doc, but my words in between.

So, data.  

“the Department does not collect statistics on the number of children in home education”

This makes sense because the state is not responsible for these children, their parents are. 
If the majority of children being deregistered come from a minority of schools, look into those schools.  Seven schools had more that 30 children deregistered in the year 2017-18? Something is seriously amiss at those schools.  As much as I'm for home education, I'm not anti-school, and any school that is losing that number of children suggests there is something deeper going on.  Don't mess around with HE, sort the schools out first!
The report goes on to say that there was an uptake of deregistrations due to covid - no shit sherlock!  If schools are going to fine parents (as was threatened at the start of the pandemic) for keeping their children off school for health reasons (either of the child themselves or close family members), of course the alternative is deregistration!  This is actually a sign of the parents putting their children/family life first - and it should be applauded.
The report uses the ADCE numbers, which are not to be trusted.  There has been a wider response using FOI data that gives the true number at 25% increase, not 38%.
From paragraph25: "It is vital that the OSA returns to home education as a topic in future surveys." No, the Office of the Schools Adjudicator should be looking at the schools; there is enough within them that need fixing!

"Without more robust data, commentators such as Fraser Nelson have raised concerns about a possible 20,000 pupils who “seem to have vanished from the school roll”"

Schools have a legal obligation of reporting deregistrations to the LA.  If there are 20,000 pupils who have vanished from the school roll, that is a fault of the schools.

 "However, she [Amanda Spielman] added that some had chosen to keep their children at home, and that “not every parent is equipped to be a teacher”—an issue which could “seriously derail the catch-up effort,” especially as children who had not yet returned to school were “disproportionately” those with “various kinds of problem or need”."

Firstly, there is a big misunderstanding of what home education is, if she thinks that every parent should be aa teacher.  Home education is learning outside of school, and learning does not stop at age 18. If a parent home educates their children, they only need be facilitators of that education.  They are not required to have learnt everything themselves so they can regurgitate it.  Nor is there any wrongdoing if the parent ends up learning alongside their children.
Secondly, I don't think there should be any "catch-up effort".  Maybe it's justifiable for children who are in exam years, but other than that, it's a waste of time and effort and I would go so far to say that it would have a negative impact on children's lives.  
Imagine you attend a school where Romans are taught in Yr7, but you missed much of the content due to the pandemic.  How is that going to stop you learning about WW2 for GCSE history years later?  Or if it is needed, why can't you learn it at the point it is needed?  Why are you suggesting that children need to be filled with more information that is ultimately going to be forgotten about anyway?  Why should children stay afterschool later, or have summer schools or evening classes to catch up?  All children across the country were (and are) affected by the pandemic.  Nobody is left behind because of it.
Thirdly, there may be many reasons why those with "various kinds of problem or need" may not have returned to school.  It could be because covid19 is still here and schools are not yet safe enough for those who are immunocompromised (or their family members).  Or it could be that parents realised that children learn loads without school and after a 'practice' during lockdown, they have decided to fully embrace home education.  Maybe they have realised that without school, their children are happier and have less mental health issues?  
A statutory register for children in EHE

"The Department’s own guidance states that there is “considerable evidence” that many of those children are not receiving a suitable education, and “increasing concern that some children educated at home may not be in safe environments.”"

Evidence please.   
Just because the EHE DGfLAs states "there is considerable evidence that many of these children are not receiving a suitable education. There is a less well evidenced but increasing concern that some children educated at home may not be in safe environments" does not mean it is true.  Indeed, in that document, there is no evidence given.  Clearly, if you say something enough to the government they start believing it's true.  That does explain some of the goings-on politically recently...

(Here is my readthrough of the aforementioned guidance from April 2019)

"Many written submissions to the inquiry from home educating families and the organisations that support them rejected the idea of a register" 

Actually over 75% of all published submissions are against having a register, however, they have only quoted a section from HEAS, but lots of quotes from people who are for a register.  Is the ESC actually listening to home educators??

Summary of published submissions
to the HE Inquiry, so far.
Analysed by the EHE Alliance.

"37. On 8 June 2021, Baroness Berridge, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, responded to a Parliamentary Question that the Government’s guidance to local authorities on EHE would be “reviewed again in due course”. She added that: We remain committed to a registration system for children who are not in school. Further details on a proposed registration system will be in the government response to the Children Not in School consultation, which we intend to publish in due course."

I actually participated in the CNIS consultation.  It was kicked off in the January with Channel 4's Dispatches program , in the April I compared the new EHE guidance to the CME guidance, in the June of 2019 I was invited to attend an oral session which I shared here, and finally did a multi-part readthrough of the CME document in Nov 2020.

"The Committee heard from home educators that home-educated children are not ‘invisible’"

Actually, it was Graham Stuart MP, previous chair of the ESC, who said that home educated children were "peculiarly visible". 

"and that safeguarding has failed children who were already known to local authorities."

Yes! There are zero SCRs where HE is a contributory factor. 

"39. The Committee’s view remains that a statutory register, serving to more consistently identify children outside of school, is absolutely necessary. This would aim not to remove freedoms from those who are providing an effective education for their families, but to better target support to those who need it. The register should have a national reach but be administered locally. Rather than only targeting EHE children, it must cover all those who do not receive their principal education in a mainstream school. It may well be that the Government announces a statutory register ahead of this report being published. In any case, it must adhere to the principles we outline."

Bold and italics to emphasise that they didn't care about any submissions that they have received, the ESC had already decided they want a register and aim to bringing it in regardless.

 Inclusion, Off-rolling and Unregistered Schools 

I haven't looked yet, but this whole section is going to be stuff that has nothing to do with HE, but the ESC are using as "proof" they need to register and monitor HErs.  There's no need to fix schools, they'll just go after those parents who are doing their legal duty by providing an efficient education for their children.

Again, the paragraph about SEND and HE not being a "positive choice" fails to distinguish between those who realise  after they have already started that HE is a better solution for their children than schools, and those who are struggling and want their children to return to a school where they can get the support they need.

They have also made a note of the report that led to the Dispatches program I shared above, and are using this to try and justify a register.

"48. Throughout the inquiry, home educators and the organisations that support them told us that the problems of off-rolling, exclusion and illegal schools were not problems of EHE. Indeed, we were told that EHE was “a casualty and not a cause of these unacceptable practices”"

 And that is because off-rolling is an action by a school, so is clearly the school that needs to be dealt with.  Suppose I started stabbing people, should the solution be to take a register of everyone or to remove the knife from my hand?

I will continue with this series tomorrow (as I have to ferry my girls to their activities tonight).  The next section will be Part 4 (link HERE) and looks at the support given by LAs.