Home Education A Feasibility Study

The Prevalence of Home Education

in England: A Feasibility Study

Vicky Hopwood, Louise O’Neill,Gabriela Castro and Beth Hodgson
York Consulting LtdResearch Report RR827RESEARCH

Read this report here

 http://www.freedomforchildrentogrow.org/update.htm

UK is accused of failing children

The
UK has been accused of failing its children, as it comes bottom of a league table for child well-being across 21 industrial countries. The Unicef report looked at 40 indicators including poverty, relationships with parents and health. The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and
Finland head the list. Children’s charities have condemned the findings. The government says it has made progress on child well-being through several initiatives. The
UK rated highly for education but was in the bottom third for all of the other categories. A spokesman for the
UK government said its initiatives in areas such as poverty, pregnancy rates, teenage smoking, drinking and risky sexual behaviour had helped improve children’s welfare. Unicef – the United Nations’ children’s organisation – says the report, titled Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Wellbeing in Rich Countries, is the first study of childhood across the world’s industrialised nations. Unicef
UK executive director David Bull said all the countries had weaknesses that needed to be addressed. “By comparing the performance of countries we see what is possible with a commitment to supporting every child to fulfil his or her full potential,” he said. The Children’s Society has launched a website to coincide with the report, www.mylife.uk.com, which allows children to answer a series of surveys about their lives. The society’s chief executive Bob Reitemeier said: “We simply cannot ignore these shocking findings. “Unicef’s report is a wake-up call to the fact that, despite being a rich country, the
UK is failing children and young people in a number of crucial ways.” The Children’s Commissioner for
England, Professor Al Aynsley-Green, said he was not surprised by the report’s findings. “It’s very much in line with what children and young people are telling me about their lives today, and I think the shocking conclusion is that as a nation we have been failing our children and young people.” ‘Failed generation’ Colette Marshall, UK director of Save the Children, said it was “shameful” to see the
UK at the bottom of the table. “This report shows clearly that despite the
UK’s wealth, we are failing to give children the best possible start in life,” she said. “The
UK government is not investing enough in the wellbeing of children, especially to combat poverty and deprivation.” Shadow Chancellor George Osborne accused Chancellor Gordon Brown of having “failed this generation of children”. “After 10 years of his welfare and education policies, our children today have the lowest wellbeing in the developed world,” said Mr Osborne. A government spokesman said it regarded the improvement of the life of British children as a matter of particular importance. “Nobody can dispute that improving children’s well-being is a real priority for this government,” she said. “We recognise that Unicef does vital work in this area. But in many cases the data used is several years old and does not reflect more recent improvements in the
UK, such as the continuing fall in the teenage pregnancy rate or in the proportion of children living in workless households. “We are working hard to improve all children’s life chances and the report confirms that children’s educational attainment at 15 in the
UK compares well with many other EU countries.”

 

 

NEW NATIONAL CAMPAIGN WEBSITE LAUNCHED

 EO LAUNCH THEIR NEW SITE – IT HOLDS EVERYTHING NEEDED TO RUN AN ACTIVE CAMPAIGN

A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR HOME EDUCATION 

‘Freedom for Children to Grow’ 

By now many of you will be aware that the DfES are planning to hold a consultation wrapped around home education. The DfES has not released an official title for the consultation and the launch date also appears to have been delayed. This gives us a window of opportunity to inform ourselves as to exactly what might be planned and to act to protect our historic freedoms. Forewarned is forearmed EO has been aware that this consultation was in the pipe line since being asked to attend a meeting with DfES on December 19^th last year. At that meeting EO found out that the consultation will is probably going to look at the following three areas, there may be more. 

Compulsory registration of all home educators.  

A definition of “suitable” education [ as per 1996 Education Act Section 7 ] which may move away from what home educators regard as “suitable to the child” and shade into age- specific standards and a broad and balanced curriculum.  

Monitoring of standards and formally introducing measures of “progress” and “educational outcomes”  

If this goes any further than the consultation stage then this has the ability to have a big impact on all home educators. EO is aware that there are questions being asked as to what EO intends to do faced with the threat of this consultation. Education Otherwise are taking this very seriously and during the last few weeks have been building a ‘Campaign’ website, which will enable as many home educators as possible to be kept up to date with any important outcomes or changes. It will also enable all home educators to take an active part in our national campaign. 

EO is thrilled with the new site which will be the hub of the national home education campaign ‘Freedom for Children to Grow’  

http://www.freedomf orchildrentogrow .org/index. htm 

This site is now live and ready to use as a resource for all home educators. It is not exclusively for EO members it has been designed to be a useful tool for anyone who home educates. We are hoping that it will help anyone wanting to be involved in an active campaign to do so. Everyone can play a very important role in the campaign and can add their voices and a wealth of experience to the cause. There has already been a great deal of behind the scenes action taking place. EO now has an active Campaign Team who is hoping to have lots of requests from home educators to join the Campaign.

You can mail the team here he1campaignteam@ yahoo.co.uk  

There are also Regional Workshops being organised so that home educators can meet with members of the EO Government Policy Team and find out what the results of this consultation may mean to them and how they can actively participate. The new website is a wonderful resource where home educators can now read letters written and communications to press that EO has already penned since learning about the consultation.  

You may also wish to read the Briefing Paper written by the EO Government Policy Group and published on January 17^th you can find it here http://tinyurl. com/3bog2o  

It is very informative and gives a comprehensive background of events leading up to this consultation. 

We would love to hear your comments about the new site, which has been built entirely by EO volunteers who have been working hard to make sure that the site was live by the time EO held its AGM. We made it! We hope you will find the new site both user friendly and informative.