Lessons to be learned from home schooling

Whitehaven News, 17th June 2009

CUMBRIAN parents who educate their children at home could face inspections under new plans to ensure youngsters do not fall through the net.

The signing of a compulsory register is among a series of recommendations the Government accepts following a review into home education.

It says it will help ensure that children are receiving a proper education and are safe and not open to abuse.

Cumbria’s Children’s Services already has a voluntary register in operation with 304 statutory school age youngsters currently on it. Nationally, there are 20,000 children registered voluntarily but the Government believes the real figure could be much more.

In Cumbria, voluntary arrangements in place between the local authority and home educating families include regular meetings to see what support can be given.

A Cumbria County Council spokesman said: “While not compulsory, we actively encourage home educators to register voluntarily. We have a support network involving liaison meetings and consultations with all parties.

“We have been recognised nationally for our support approach. Our aim is to enhance the life chances of every child in the county.”

Bridget Gait, of Hesket Newmarket, has been educating her two daughters at home for about 10 years.She has no objections to visits but has some reservations about trying to standardise the education provided by families at home.Mrs Gait said: “I would have no objection to someone coming to visit but if you are looking at judging the success of home education you can’t do it by having an average figure or to say a child can do something by a certain age because the home education community covers the whole range and types of children and backgrounds.“If you are inspecting in terms of a curve of average standards it could be difficult as what happens in home education is that a level can be much lower at one stage and then achievement could be very high at a later stage.”She also added that many families choose to home educate because the school system, in whatever way, does not work for their children.Mrs Gait also argues that it is important to have alternative models of education operating alongside the mainstream state system.“The country needs home education and people using different approaches,” she said. “If you look back in history at all sorts of developments, not just in terms of education, there are times when things go wrong and if you have other models outside of the standard model used by the state then you are in a better position because you have those alternatives working in practice.”