Excellent essay! The remarkable aspect of this whole discussion is that state controlled education is assumed by many as the default... rather than, as has been the case historically, the exception to the norm. It is as if all that stands between children plummeting into an abyss of ignorance and dullness is a platoon of nameless government bureaucrats and their clipboards.
I think it was G.K. Chesterton (though I can't find the quote??) who remarked on the redundancy of State education. 'twas something like: You [who argue for it] are like the fool who stands in the rain, under an umbrella, to water the flowers.
Thank you Joel! That’s a great quote, wherever it comes from. I always think it’s rather telling that people think home education couldn’t possibly work, because the parents have only been to… school! If the school system doesn’t create parents who could educate their own children, what on earth is so essential about it?
In Australia we are required to register as home educating by the time a child turns six. Each state has different stipulations to be adhered to, where we live in Victoria it is probably the most relaxed with no testing or benchmarks required, though a plan of how we plan to address the key areas of the Australian curriculum is required as a once off. We don't receive any benefits from the government as elective homeschoolers in Australia (that I am aware of anyway!) Last time I checked it costs the government $20K to school one child per year and yet there is no financial support provided to homeschooling families. I wonder does the UK provide any support or plan to if they succeed in setting up a register?
Nope, in the UK home educators get nothing and as far as I’ve seen there’s no plan to change this. In a way I don’t mind, because I can see that a handout to home educators could easily be abused. On the other hand, in the UK schools receive about £7,000 per pupil, and when a pupil is taken out of school the school no longer gets that money. Now I spend nowhere near £7k on homeschool resources for my children, so if the govt gave me, say, £500, it would be a huge help to me and a saving for them! One solution I wondered about is whether parents could be allowed to include allowable education spending on their tax return as a tax deductible cost. No need for a home ed register, because it could be open to all parents - thousands of parents whose children are in school pay for tutoring, for example. In areas where the local schools are of a poor quality parents are virtually obliged to shoulder the financial burden of tutoring. If I could claim books, classes, subscriptions, and potentially educational day trips as tax deductible I think that would be a big help and a gesture of support from the government.
You read my mind Catherine! I know $500 for books or stationary/art supplies would make a world of difference to my family. I wholeheartedly agree that tax deductions make the most sense. We are literally saving you money government, you're welcome!
That's interesting that you get no financial support in Australia. In NZ we have to fill out an exemption form in order to home educate which is done once per child and then after that you just need to sign that you're still homeschooling each year in order to get a small educational allowance. I know many parents dislike this system, but it doesn't bother me that much. From my perspective the exemption form is really just checking whether the parents have put reasonable thought into their child's education, regardless of what kind of home educating philosophy they have. I feel like it's a useful exercise for a first time home educating parent. Possibly gets a bit annoying if you're filling it out for child number six though!
Oh you glorious kiwis are always steps ahead of us Aussies! This sounds much simpler, fairer and more supportive than our current system, which I know in other Australian states is much more complex and policed.
I hope you’d consider writing an op-ed about this in a widely- read publication? These well-thought out points, particularly making a distinction between home-ed and truancy, need to be understood by our lawmakers and the general public.
I would love these sorts of arguments to be more widely read. There’s a noticeable absence of comment from home educators in the media though, isn’t there? I get the impression that homeschooling is generally not seen in a favourable light and therefore opinions from home educators are not especially welcomed. I’ll do my best!
Yes that’s so true - the voices are often/ usually from people outside the situation. I’d love to see this in the Times or Guardian, but if they aren’t amenable, maybe UnHerd?
I think the other challenge is that many home educators in the UK want to keep their heads down and avoid notice for many of the reasons raised here. Unfortunately, while it’s worked up until now, it’s no longer going to be a viable strategy if Labour get their way. The more well thought out and measured voices speaking publicly, the better.
A great article Catherine, I agree with you. It is interesting, isn’t it, that the government doesn’t for one minute seem to consider why absenteeism is so high... Could it perhaps be because a) school is no longer enjoyable for our children due to the restrictive curriculum that focuses relentlessly (and too early) on the three Rs and performance in tests over everything else, leading to anxiety? And b) because our education system is incredibly inflexible and stuck in the (Victorian) past, for example, assuming that education only occurs in school between 9am to 3pm? And that parents are increasingly recognising these two facts and choosing to keep their children at home more, especially when schools are struggling with teacher absence and strikes (because, let’s face it, it’s not enjoyable for teachers either anymore).
No of course not, it can’t possibly be the government’s fault... It can’t possibly mean that we need to take an honest, hard look at education as we know it; that ministers need to actually listen to experts in education and scientific studies to overhaul the system and make it fit for the twenty first century... And restore a love of learning that occurs naturally in children but is sadly too often extinguished in the current system.
I do think it’s really sad the way that school often turns work and learning into ‘something that has to be done’ rather than something that is wonderful and rewarding to do for its own sake. And on your point about why absenteeism is so high, I heard an education expert recently point out that during the pandemic, schools were desperate to close and assured parents it would be absolutely fine. The huge numbers of parents now allowing their children to miss more than the occasional day seem to have got the message loud and clear!
I agree with you. A compulsory register of home educators is not going to solve attendance problems in any way. It often seems that EHE officers in councils don’t really understand home education and a register would likely cause problems. Every so often I do hear of families where I think 😬 maybe some oversight would be useful in this case but then would they sign up to it anyway? And in some cases they are known so 🤷🏼♀️.
Yes, I’m certainly with you that not all home educators are perfect, just like no school is. But a register just doesn’t really seem to me to be a clear solution to that problem and like you I feel it would probably do more harm than good.
Really interesting and well researched post. I wish the majority of our MPs and councillors were only as dedicated to the wellbeing of children both in school and out of were as well informed. I have huge doubts as to the help this bill and register will do to help either home ed families or kids who need help inside of the school system. For me it seems that the money would certainly be better spent in the departments who already work in these areas such as social services, mental health and actually schools!
Thank you Laura. Totally agree the money would be better spent elsewhere. There are sectors - social services for example - absolutely crying out for more funding. Why spend the money on a whole new project that won’t actually solve any of the problems it aims to?
We used to go to school, so I filled our council's registry form after I deregistered. It was trivial to fill out and they were perfectly happy with it.
A person in my local home ed WhatsApp group found it difficult to fill out, however. I suspect ND on the mum's part. I am two minds about this; a parent who struggles to fill out such a basic form probably isn't going to be a competent teacher. However ND mums often have ND kids that can't cope in the traditional school system. I have first hand experience on how difficult this is, so even if Mum is incompetent, it still might be better for the child to be home educated than educated at school.
There is a certain subset of kids who do better at school than at home. I am not sure many of such kids are actually home educated. Perhaps it would catch some of these kids, but I'm not sure what criteria would be used. The new guidance specifically allows unschooling and like you say, there's no required curriculum. So how do you define educational neglect if nothing in particular is required of education? Registry in itself doesn't currently do anything.
Yes, you do a good job there of highlighting one of the many fine distinctions that the sledgehammer of a register wouldn’t actually get close to dealing with. At the moment there’s no required curriculum, but the introduction of a register would surely be a precursor to specified minimum standards, because otherwise, as you say, how do you define neglect (or just good enough/not good enough) on a case-by-case basis?
Very well put, Catherine. The conflation of issues is very concerning - children who are persistently absent from school are known but not supported, yet home educated children who are happily learning must be 'discovered' to be safe? I am most concerned how any register will disproportionately affect parents/families who are marginalised in some way. I expect that families who may be subjected to school attendance orders will not be families with a lot of social capital. Those of us who do have that social privilege need to be watchful and use our privileges as best we can to ensure other families aren't silently disproportionately affected, rather than sitting by and feeling 'safe.'
I was going to write a longish reply but you've covered everything I would have done and probably better...
As Malatela touched on there are certainly many children with SEN in question here and some of them, from my anecdotal observations, look like they're doing damn all at home! (drawing, baking, playing board games) I think there is a definite issue that inspectors* are comparing what these kids are doing to what they might achieve in a well-adapted school system, and not taking into account that the well-adapted school system is NOT what was on offer and that that child is probably achieving more and will have a healthier outcome than they would if the status quo had been maintained.
Oh and I have zero confidence that it will be done competently. My LA know perfectly well my son lives here and is not going to school, he's never been registered with a school but he had funded preschool. Preschool reported that his onward destination was home ed. LA wrote about applying for primary, I wrote back and said no thanks, we're home educating. Heard nothing for six years. Letters recently about applying for secondary which I have so far ignored. Other parents in this LA have deregistered and had the LA contact them the same day!
* I know they are called "advisors" but let's be honest here
Yes, one thing I didn’t put in the post was that there are plenty of home educators who would actually rather *not* home educate, but the school options available to them have virtually forced them down the home ed route. If there was better investment in the right places I think there would be plenty of parents who’d be delighted to have their child in school.
Thank you Elizabeth! I’d love these arguments to get a wider hearing. As I mentioned in another comment, there doesn’t seem to be much space for home ed voices in the media, unless I’m reading the wrong things!
As a home-educating mother, I would welcome a clear distinction between ‘children not in school’ but who are on the school roll and home-educated children . The discrimination that can be experienced by home-educated children is often the result of being classed wrongly - as children not in school’. This is detrimental and unnecessary.
Everyone who thinks they know something about home education should read this.
More especially, those of us who think we already know quite a lot about the subject because we are educate our children, should also read it carefully since we will need to rehearse the arguments.
By reading this we Home educators should be reminded that the coming incursion of the state in to our private lives will likely be highly detrimental to the well-being and education of those children about whom we naturally care most: our own.
But for those of us who are middle class articulate and relatively afferent, we should also be reminded how much of a terrible burden these new regulations will likely be for the tens of thousands of families who struggle to home educate because of the failure of the state education system and into which they will likely be thrust back.
I wonder if it is time for us home educators to organise.
"If a parent chooses not to send their child to school and chooses not to give them a good education at home, that child needs help"
What is a 'good education?
I know someone who refuses to teach his two sons any academic subjects. He lives in the Welsh valleys and takes them rock climbing, hill walking, fishing, camping, hunting, anything outdoors.
My friend has a background in banks and quit his London job decades ago to learn to fly hand-gliders, which he then started to teach, which led him to travel the world doing just that.
You don't need academia to do these amazing things.
Excellent essay! The remarkable aspect of this whole discussion is that state controlled education is assumed by many as the default... rather than, as has been the case historically, the exception to the norm. It is as if all that stands between children plummeting into an abyss of ignorance and dullness is a platoon of nameless government bureaucrats and their clipboards.
I think it was G.K. Chesterton (though I can't find the quote??) who remarked on the redundancy of State education. 'twas something like: You [who argue for it] are like the fool who stands in the rain, under an umbrella, to water the flowers.
Thank you Joel! That’s a great quote, wherever it comes from. I always think it’s rather telling that people think home education couldn’t possibly work, because the parents have only been to… school! If the school system doesn’t create parents who could educate their own children, what on earth is so essential about it?
In Australia we are required to register as home educating by the time a child turns six. Each state has different stipulations to be adhered to, where we live in Victoria it is probably the most relaxed with no testing or benchmarks required, though a plan of how we plan to address the key areas of the Australian curriculum is required as a once off. We don't receive any benefits from the government as elective homeschoolers in Australia (that I am aware of anyway!) Last time I checked it costs the government $20K to school one child per year and yet there is no financial support provided to homeschooling families. I wonder does the UK provide any support or plan to if they succeed in setting up a register?
Nope, in the UK home educators get nothing and as far as I’ve seen there’s no plan to change this. In a way I don’t mind, because I can see that a handout to home educators could easily be abused. On the other hand, in the UK schools receive about £7,000 per pupil, and when a pupil is taken out of school the school no longer gets that money. Now I spend nowhere near £7k on homeschool resources for my children, so if the govt gave me, say, £500, it would be a huge help to me and a saving for them! One solution I wondered about is whether parents could be allowed to include allowable education spending on their tax return as a tax deductible cost. No need for a home ed register, because it could be open to all parents - thousands of parents whose children are in school pay for tutoring, for example. In areas where the local schools are of a poor quality parents are virtually obliged to shoulder the financial burden of tutoring. If I could claim books, classes, subscriptions, and potentially educational day trips as tax deductible I think that would be a big help and a gesture of support from the government.
You read my mind Catherine! I know $500 for books or stationary/art supplies would make a world of difference to my family. I wholeheartedly agree that tax deductions make the most sense. We are literally saving you money government, you're welcome!
That's interesting that you get no financial support in Australia. In NZ we have to fill out an exemption form in order to home educate which is done once per child and then after that you just need to sign that you're still homeschooling each year in order to get a small educational allowance. I know many parents dislike this system, but it doesn't bother me that much. From my perspective the exemption form is really just checking whether the parents have put reasonable thought into their child's education, regardless of what kind of home educating philosophy they have. I feel like it's a useful exercise for a first time home educating parent. Possibly gets a bit annoying if you're filling it out for child number six though!
Oh you glorious kiwis are always steps ahead of us Aussies! This sounds much simpler, fairer and more supportive than our current system, which I know in other Australian states is much more complex and policed.
I hope you’d consider writing an op-ed about this in a widely- read publication? These well-thought out points, particularly making a distinction between home-ed and truancy, need to be understood by our lawmakers and the general public.
I would love these sorts of arguments to be more widely read. There’s a noticeable absence of comment from home educators in the media though, isn’t there? I get the impression that homeschooling is generally not seen in a favourable light and therefore opinions from home educators are not especially welcomed. I’ll do my best!
Yes that’s so true - the voices are often/ usually from people outside the situation. I’d love to see this in the Times or Guardian, but if they aren’t amenable, maybe UnHerd?
Unheard is a good idea Kerri, thanks - watch this space…!
I think the other challenge is that many home educators in the UK want to keep their heads down and avoid notice for many of the reasons raised here. Unfortunately, while it’s worked up until now, it’s no longer going to be a viable strategy if Labour get their way. The more well thought out and measured voices speaking publicly, the better.
Agree with Kerri! Please submit it to The Times!
Haha I’ll see what I can do!
A great article Catherine, I agree with you. It is interesting, isn’t it, that the government doesn’t for one minute seem to consider why absenteeism is so high... Could it perhaps be because a) school is no longer enjoyable for our children due to the restrictive curriculum that focuses relentlessly (and too early) on the three Rs and performance in tests over everything else, leading to anxiety? And b) because our education system is incredibly inflexible and stuck in the (Victorian) past, for example, assuming that education only occurs in school between 9am to 3pm? And that parents are increasingly recognising these two facts and choosing to keep their children at home more, especially when schools are struggling with teacher absence and strikes (because, let’s face it, it’s not enjoyable for teachers either anymore).
No of course not, it can’t possibly be the government’s fault... It can’t possibly mean that we need to take an honest, hard look at education as we know it; that ministers need to actually listen to experts in education and scientific studies to overhaul the system and make it fit for the twenty first century... And restore a love of learning that occurs naturally in children but is sadly too often extinguished in the current system.
I do think it’s really sad the way that school often turns work and learning into ‘something that has to be done’ rather than something that is wonderful and rewarding to do for its own sake. And on your point about why absenteeism is so high, I heard an education expert recently point out that during the pandemic, schools were desperate to close and assured parents it would be absolutely fine. The huge numbers of parents now allowing their children to miss more than the occasional day seem to have got the message loud and clear!
I agree with you. A compulsory register of home educators is not going to solve attendance problems in any way. It often seems that EHE officers in councils don’t really understand home education and a register would likely cause problems. Every so often I do hear of families where I think 😬 maybe some oversight would be useful in this case but then would they sign up to it anyway? And in some cases they are known so 🤷🏼♀️.
Yes, I’m certainly with you that not all home educators are perfect, just like no school is. But a register just doesn’t really seem to me to be a clear solution to that problem and like you I feel it would probably do more harm than good.
This is exactly my opinion, in a nutshell! I really appreciated this piece and will share it.
I’m so pleased to hear that Robin, and thank you for sharing.
Really interesting and well researched post. I wish the majority of our MPs and councillors were only as dedicated to the wellbeing of children both in school and out of were as well informed. I have huge doubts as to the help this bill and register will do to help either home ed families or kids who need help inside of the school system. For me it seems that the money would certainly be better spent in the departments who already work in these areas such as social services, mental health and actually schools!
Thank you Laura. Totally agree the money would be better spent elsewhere. There are sectors - social services for example - absolutely crying out for more funding. Why spend the money on a whole new project that won’t actually solve any of the problems it aims to?
We used to go to school, so I filled our council's registry form after I deregistered. It was trivial to fill out and they were perfectly happy with it.
A person in my local home ed WhatsApp group found it difficult to fill out, however. I suspect ND on the mum's part. I am two minds about this; a parent who struggles to fill out such a basic form probably isn't going to be a competent teacher. However ND mums often have ND kids that can't cope in the traditional school system. I have first hand experience on how difficult this is, so even if Mum is incompetent, it still might be better for the child to be home educated than educated at school.
There is a certain subset of kids who do better at school than at home. I am not sure many of such kids are actually home educated. Perhaps it would catch some of these kids, but I'm not sure what criteria would be used. The new guidance specifically allows unschooling and like you say, there's no required curriculum. So how do you define educational neglect if nothing in particular is required of education? Registry in itself doesn't currently do anything.
Yes, you do a good job there of highlighting one of the many fine distinctions that the sledgehammer of a register wouldn’t actually get close to dealing with. At the moment there’s no required curriculum, but the introduction of a register would surely be a precursor to specified minimum standards, because otherwise, as you say, how do you define neglect (or just good enough/not good enough) on a case-by-case basis?
A well-thought out post, clearly argued. I agree with you!
Thank you!
I love this, I agree with everything said!
Thank you so much Dimitriya, so pleased you liked it.
Very well put, Catherine. The conflation of issues is very concerning - children who are persistently absent from school are known but not supported, yet home educated children who are happily learning must be 'discovered' to be safe? I am most concerned how any register will disproportionately affect parents/families who are marginalised in some way. I expect that families who may be subjected to school attendance orders will not be families with a lot of social capital. Those of us who do have that social privilege need to be watchful and use our privileges as best we can to ensure other families aren't silently disproportionately affected, rather than sitting by and feeling 'safe.'
I was going to write a longish reply but you've covered everything I would have done and probably better...
As Malatela touched on there are certainly many children with SEN in question here and some of them, from my anecdotal observations, look like they're doing damn all at home! (drawing, baking, playing board games) I think there is a definite issue that inspectors* are comparing what these kids are doing to what they might achieve in a well-adapted school system, and not taking into account that the well-adapted school system is NOT what was on offer and that that child is probably achieving more and will have a healthier outcome than they would if the status quo had been maintained.
Oh and I have zero confidence that it will be done competently. My LA know perfectly well my son lives here and is not going to school, he's never been registered with a school but he had funded preschool. Preschool reported that his onward destination was home ed. LA wrote about applying for primary, I wrote back and said no thanks, we're home educating. Heard nothing for six years. Letters recently about applying for secondary which I have so far ignored. Other parents in this LA have deregistered and had the LA contact them the same day!
* I know they are called "advisors" but let's be honest here
Yes, one thing I didn’t put in the post was that there are plenty of home educators who would actually rather *not* home educate, but the school options available to them have virtually forced them down the home ed route. If there was better investment in the right places I think there would be plenty of parents who’d be delighted to have their child in school.
Brilliantly put Catherine! You raise all the points for us home educators that everyone should hear!
Thank you Elizabeth! I’d love these arguments to get a wider hearing. As I mentioned in another comment, there doesn’t seem to be much space for home ed voices in the media, unless I’m reading the wrong things!
I totally agree!
This will be a hot topic now that Starlins Labour Party has come to power, even though only 20% of the population actually voted for them.
As a home-educating mother, I would welcome a clear distinction between ‘children not in school’ but who are on the school roll and home-educated children . The discrimination that can be experienced by home-educated children is often the result of being classed wrongly - as children not in school’. This is detrimental and unnecessary.
Would a register address this issue?
Exceptional post.
Everyone who thinks they know something about home education should read this.
More especially, those of us who think we already know quite a lot about the subject because we are educate our children, should also read it carefully since we will need to rehearse the arguments.
By reading this we Home educators should be reminded that the coming incursion of the state in to our private lives will likely be highly detrimental to the well-being and education of those children about whom we naturally care most: our own.
But for those of us who are middle class articulate and relatively afferent, we should also be reminded how much of a terrible burden these new regulations will likely be for the tens of thousands of families who struggle to home educate because of the failure of the state education system and into which they will likely be thrust back.
I wonder if it is time for us home educators to organise.
"If a parent chooses not to send their child to school and chooses not to give them a good education at home, that child needs help"
What is a 'good education?
I know someone who refuses to teach his two sons any academic subjects. He lives in the Welsh valleys and takes them rock climbing, hill walking, fishing, camping, hunting, anything outdoors.
My friend has a background in banks and quit his London job decades ago to learn to fly hand-gliders, which he then started to teach, which led him to travel the world doing just that.
You don't need academia to do these amazing things.