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What I've learned about Home Education
Sunday, March 12, 2023 by Sam McCormick | Uncategorized
People Electively Home Educate (EHE) their children for many reasons:
1. The child has had a bad experience at school such as bullying;
2. The school is unable to meet the needs of the child such as not making reasonable accommodations;
3. Suitable school placement cannot be found such as at transition phase;
4. It was their intention early on and the child has never attended a school establishment.
I've had a the same question asked of me many times, and so I thought I would put some information in one place for parents who fall into any of the first three categories. I realise that at the time that home education being considered there is already a considerable amount of stress going on due to what's happening at school and considering moving from school takes a massive adjustment, often mentally, professionally and financially. But home education can be a totally viable (and thoroughly enjoyable) option if you're open to making those adjustments.
So firstly, who can do it?
Well, if you child is at a mainstream school you have every right to tell the school you are removing your child. You do not ask their permission, you do not need to discuss it, you do not need to inform your Local Authority (LA - whoever you pay your council tax to). You send a letter/email to school only informing them of your choice quoting the relevant legislation - Template deregistration letter (England/Wales). You can do this even if your child has an EHCP
The process is a little different for those attending specialist schools - more information here.
I have done this myself with my eldest, Jamie. It was an extremely simple process. Just make sure you get either an email read receipt or written confirmation back from the school.
Now what?
Now it's over to you! You have full responsibility to deliver a full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude. How you do this is up to you. However,
You do not have to replicate school at home.
You do not have to follow the national curriculum (one of the first things we did was ditch languages because Jamie just didn't enjoy it).
You do not have to be a qualified teacher, or teaching assistant.
You do not have to feel isolated.
You do not have to do it alone.
But that's just a list of what not to do?
True. But the point is that EHE can look like whatever you want it to. I have worked with home educating families who prefer to timetable their time to ensure the subjects they're interested in are covered each week (admittedly these were older children with an idea of their future qualification paths). I have worked with home educated families who prefer to plan their formal work around all the groups they go to. I have worked with home educated families who like to use a tutor, or attend tutor groups. Where you fall in all this is up to you. You may feel your child needs structure - you may indeed need it yourself. You may also find that actually, you love the freedom of not following a fixed timetable.
How do we decide what subjects to follow?
The idea is that now you are free from the education system, you can follow your child's lead. If they really enjoy a certain subject you can study that - and this includes watching documentaries, reading magazines, going for visits. If they have an idea of what they'd like to do when they're older, you can find subject areas that explore and compliment that. If you don't really know, then initially stick with maths and English and work from there.
The beauty is, that you can allow your child to spend as much time as they want on the learning they want to do.
Isn't it lonely?
There are so many home ed groups locally that no one need get lonely - not your child nor you! There are education groups, physically active group, general interest groups and just regular social groups. Groups tend to be term time only and take advantage of the fact that most places are quiet when everyone else is in school. Which is great for those of you with anxious children (or who don't like busy places yourself!).
And what does it cost?
Well, that's kind of up to you. You can spend as much or as little as you like, but the cost falls to you. That said, there's also no school uniform, school trips or other school-related expenses to worry about. There are lots of free online resources available - BBC Bitesize, Oak National Academy and many GCSE resources for older children. There are also lots of low cost options - subscriptions to online interactive learning websites. When Jamie was at home, we had IXL, EdPlace and Mathswatch as annual subscriptions to cover maths, English & Science, and the total annual cost for these was about Β£25. When you get to that stage, we can point you in the direction of where to find these.
You can decide which groups to attend - there are free groups, and other more expensive options. You can attend only groups locally to keep transport costs down, or can travel the whole of the north east region. Again, these choices are yours depending on your circumstances and priorities.
But will I have to give up work?
Potentially, depending on the age of your child. But there are financial options available to many people, and even if you think you wouldn't - maybe you think your partner earns too much, or you own your home - you may still be entitled to some help, it's worth doing some investigating. Online tools such as Entitled To can be useful, or contact your local CAB.
From a childcare point of view if you're working from home, many groups allow you to drop off your child. You may be able to approach your employer to to more flexible with when the hours are worked so you can fit it around your child's needs. You may find parents in similar situations and between you find a way to juggle groups, social time and working.
There are options, though these will depend on individual circumstances.
And how do they get qualifications?
There are many paths to qualifications, if this is the route you wish to take. You can privately enter yourself into a local exam centre (self funded). You can attend local colleges as a part time student to study core subjects - either GCSE or Functional Skills. Or you can wait until they are old enough to explore vocational qualifications and apprenticeships. Many home ed students go on to do A Levels, go to university or study Open Univesity independently. Being home educated doesn't limit your options!
How do the LA then keep track of what we're doing?
They don't. They like to think they can, but they can't. You have an obligation to supply an annual report explaining how your child is receiving a suitable education. You do not need to speak with them on the phone. You do not need to meet with them. You do not need to invite them into your home. There are specific local groups that will help you navigate dealing with the elective home education officers (EHEO) - again, we can point you in the right direction once needed - and please do reach out for these because EHEOs can overstep their responsibilites with naive new home ed parents.
What's going on?
Saturday, June 25, 2022 by Sam McCormick | Uncategorized
Good afternoon everyone,
I just wanted to share a quick note to let you know about a few fundraising events we have going on; these are to help support our community activities through the summer holidays (to which you are welcome to book onto).
On Saturday 2nd July we will be hosting a sponsored STEM afternoon - where the children will be challenged to build the tallest marshmallow tower possible. Everyone is welcome to join us, and it will be held from 3-5pm at Spennymoor Youth & Community Centre. If you wish to reserve a place for your child, let me know and I'll get the sponsor form to you and full details. This is free to attend, and children are dropped off so you get a couple of hours to yourself! Brothers and sisters who don't have tuition with me are welcome to attend.
And on Monday 19th June, I will be hosting an online Parent's Support Evening with Gemma (my colleague) to help offer suggestions of ways to counter the "summer learning loss" that many children experience and share some wellbeing tips. We are selling tickets to this on a donation basis, with a suggested minimum donation of £10.
If you want any further details on anything, please just let me know.
Sam.
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Thursday, June 9, 2022 by Sam McCormick | Uncategorized
We are looking forward to welcoming you all to our new Learning Together group in Aycliffe. There is no requirement to attend all 6 of the weeks of the pilot project, but please let me know if you are not able to attend so I can free up extra spaces for others. The classes will be run by myself, and I have a teaching assistant Emma who will be supporting the group. We may also have additional volunteers some weeks. Please be assured all adults are qualified, experienced and have up to date DBS certificates.
On your first visit, please come through the main entrance that faces towards Tesco, the back entrance will be locked. We will aim to have someone waiting to walk everyone through to the room we are using, which is currently Meeting Room 1. In case there is no one about, to get to the room you walk past the reception and take the second corridor on your left which is signposted Meeting Rooms. The main entrance door will likely be locked when you return to collect your child, to ensure members of the public are unable to just walk into the building, and we will only release children to a known adult - if someone different will be collecting your child please let us know.
There are toilets in the main entrance area, and we would appreciate it if you would ensure your child has been to the toilet before starting (as best as possible, we know what kids are like!).
Video:
Children do not need to bring anything, however any homework, spellings, reading books etc are very welcome and will enable us to support your child in the best way possible. If your child doesn't bring their own work, we will provide resources we feel are suitable for their age and stage they are working at. You are welcome to send your child with their water bottle, to help keep them hydrated.
The sessions are drop off, meaning adults do not join us in the room, however, you are welcome to sit in the entrance if this reassures you or your child - please let us know in advance if you will be doing this.
My number, should you need to contact me is 07710 478583. In the event I don't answer (usually because I am working), please drop me a brief text message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
It would be appreciated if all parents could compete the following questionnaire before their child's first session: https://surveyheart.com/form/62a1e1ded2ae5a1463df240b
I sincerely hope I have covered everything. Sorry there is a lot of information - but I wanted it to all be in one place!
