Education Otherwise Campaigns
In the Autumn of 2006 Education Otherwise learned that the government was planning to launch a consultation on "light touch changes to monitoring". Hundreds of home educators contacted the DfES requesting to be kept informed of any further plans with regard to the consultation. We started new groups, signed petitions, worked to get home education mentioned favourably in the media and also contacted our MPs and councillors. A number of us made unprecedented efforts to meet and talk with our local authorities. We used the internet to keep in touch with what was happening.
Our efforts paid off, because the government switched course and abandoned plans to introduce more regulations, consulting instead on written guidelines for local authorities.
At the end of November 2007 we learned that there had been over 900 responses to the consultation on guidelines. Between 750 and 800 responses were from home educating families and home education support organisations. New guidelines reflect the strength of the home education community's response.
Education Otherwise also made a strong response to the Government's proposal to raise the school leaving age to 18. Initially, home education was not mentioned as a legal option, but following conversations with officials and Ministers, the Secretary of State Ed Balls finally confirmed with EO that home education was now officially recognised as a post 16 option in the Department's new publication Raising Expectations: staying in education and training post-16.
However, the struggle continues and we can continue the home education campaign in many ways to preserve our traditional freedom to home educate our children in the way we think best.
1. ContactPoint/Children Missing Education
STOP PRESS:
Education Otherwise has a joint meeting with DCSF Children Missing Education team and DCSF Elective Home Education Team on Tuesday April 1st.
The national database for children is going ahead despite fears over security following the loss of millions of Child Benefit discs. The Government is refusing to publish the full security investigation from Deloitte and instead has only released a 4 page summary.
If you receive Child Benefit, or if your child has ever been seen by a health professional, then the child's contact details will be fed into the database.
In addition the Government has put a new duty on local authorities to make arrangements to identify "children at risk of not receiving an education". Education Otherwise explains some of the probable consequences of these combined initiatives here in terms of home educators becoming known to the local authority.
2. Home Educating London Parents on Income Support
The Government wants to move lone parents off Income Support and on to Jobseeker's Allowance as the first step to meeting targets for lone parents entering the workplace. The Department of Work and Pensions undertook a consultation on this area last Autumn. Education Otherwise made a full response and encouraged individual home educators to add their voice. The resulting Government White Paper acknowledged that home educators were gravely concerned about the new proposals but as yet we have not received written confirmation that our benefits will be secure.
You can find more information here.
3. Reforms to GCSEs: What EO is Doing to Ensure That There is No Discrimination Against Home Educators
Traditional coursework is to be replaced by "controlled assessments" where the candidate completes projects under exam-type conditions (eg in the school library under the eye of the teacher).
EO has been flagging up this issue on the campaign site since last June and we are pleased that progress is finally being made. The Home Education team at DCSF Darlington are also aware of EO's concerns. You can find out more about controlled assesments here.
A meeting has now been arranged for Friday 4th April in London between Education Otherwise and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. EO and QCA will be exploring viable solutions for home educated candidates.
4. The Government's 10 Year Children's Plan: What EO is Doing to Ensure That Home Education Continues to be Represented in Government Talks
Education Otherwise has attended 2 rounds of talks with Government Ministers and officials under the banner headline of Time to Talk. EO members have talked to Ed Balls, Lord Adonis and Jim Knight and also made the civil servant Directors of DCSF aware of our concerns.
Members have signed up for the DCSF Parents' Panels.
EO has also attended Cabinet Office seminars on regulatory reform and consultation practice and we continue to liaise with the director of BERR.
5. SEN and Disability: What EO is Doing to Protect the Legal Right of Home Educating Parents with Disabled Children and Children with Special Educational Needs
Education Otherwise has a Disability Group which responds to Government consultations on behalf of families with disabled and special needs children. These consultations span various different Government departments including Children Schools and Families and also Health.
EO also represents members' interests at Government seminars such as the Westminster Forum on SEN and personalised learning on Tuesday 18th March with MP John Bercow who led the recent Government review into speech and language therapy services.
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