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Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:23 pm
by kenyancowgirl
You are right Yamin in that once you have taken a child off roll, you have effectively relinquished the responsibility of the LA for any input to the educational experience for that child - and, as you say, most real home educators would have no problem being asked about it by the LA as they work hard to give a positive experience and are happy to share that, but, equally, once the child is off roll, they do not have to agree to any LA inspection.

The worry is that actually from a safeguarding point of view, notifying the LA of them going off roll in itself doesn't help. The LA becomes a rubber stamping exercise - if someone does take their child off roll the LA is absolved and just has to check that the child is being educated (often via a form filling exercise), at which point, I am not aware that they continue to check up. These children - often ones who really do need input, really can fall between the cracks - I know how many I used to work with where pretty much every agency had satisfied themselves that the family didn't want their support (despite really needing it). I know of families who were advised to take their child off roll and "home educate" to stop the Council taking the paretns to court for non attendance. Thes families were often barely literate themselves.

Ironically, as we had not removed our child from roll, we were fully inspected (akin to a mini Ofsted) about everything we were doing and had to show evidence of all of it!!

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 5:29 pm
by JamesDean
Our LA has a vulnerable learners dept which has increased in size dramatically over the last 12 months! They are responsible for placing off roll pupils in schools if this is the wish of the parents and child. We also have a 'children missing from education' section who schools report to if a child is taken off roll and no new school or home education details are provided.

These are of course not the home educators, but can be cases of forced marriage, jihadis etc. Safeguarding procedures have had to be tightened up hugely following recent well publicised cases.

JD

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 7:17 pm
by kenyancowgirl
Great to hear that changes are afoot - hopefully they will help stop the net slippers too!

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 11:41 pm
by timothylewin
Not a lot happens in year 6 apart from the social stuff that some posters mention on this particular topic; its all about the 11+ in most cases and the such like. I suppose Sats come into it as well for the scores for the new school in year 7 and the new teachers etc. A lot of our friends now home school their kids in Year 6 especially those attending the private schools, such a waste of school fees in this year. There is no legal reason to send a child to a school as I understand it. Maybe the shed loads of teachers on this site can correct this, without me asking them to :lol:

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 11:48 pm
by JamesDean
I'm not a teacher but ... https://www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

JD

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 9:03 am
by kenyancowgirl
timothylewin wrote:Not a lot happens in year 6 apart from the social stuff that some posters mention on this particular topic; its all about the 11+ in most cases and the such like. I suppose Sats come into it as well for the scores for the new school in year 7 and the new teachers etc. A lot of our friends now home school their kids in Year 6 especially those attending the private schools, such a waste of school fees in this year. There is no legal reason to send a child to a school as I understand it. Maybe the shed loads of teachers on this site can correct this, without me asking them to :lol:
...and yet again, you have shown a complete lack of awareness, understanding or care about a child's whole well-being...It is certainly not all about the 11+....around here maybe 20 percent of a year group (in a good year) elect to take the exam so the other 80% couldn't give a monkeys about the 11+ and are focused on their education desires and dreams. Of those that elect to take it, maybe 50% will pass. The vast majority are focusing on doing well for themselves, achieving in class, doing better in SATs etc but - far more importantly - creating lifelong friendships by learning how to interact and make and break friends, react to authority - learning how to be bored and create their own excitement - create a play, go on a residential...a whole raft of soft skills are learned.

I fully support a person's right to home school - and done properly it is a marvellously enlightening thing - what your "friends" are doing pulling their children out of private school to save money on the fees is not homeschooling.

Anyway, as you were.

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 10:01 am
by yoyo123
Year 6 certainly carry on working, there is a syllabus to get through. This may be taught in a creative way, but it is learning nevertheless.

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 2:41 pm
by ToadMum
kenyancowgirl wrote:
timothylewin wrote:Not a lot happens in year 6 apart from the social stuff that some posters mention on this particular topic; its all about the 11+ in most cases and the such like. I suppose Sats come into it as well for the scores for the new school in year 7 and the new teachers etc. A lot of our friends now home school their kids in Year 6 especially those attending the private schools, such a waste of school fees in this year. There is no legal reason to send a child to a school as I understand it. Maybe the shed loads of teachers on this site can correct this, without me asking them to :lol:
...and yet again, you have shown a complete lack of awareness, understanding or care about a child's whole well-being...It is certainly not all about the 11+....around here maybe 20 percent of a year group (in a good year) elect to take the exam so the other 80% couldn't give a monkeys about the 11+ and are focused on their education desires and dreams. Of those that elect to take it, maybe 50% will pass. The vast majority are focusing on doing well for themselves, achieving in class, doing better in SATs etc but - far more importantly - creating lifelong friendships by learning how to interact and make and break friends, react to authority - learning how to be bored and create their own excitement - create a play, go on a residential...a whole raft of soft skills are learned.

I fully support a person's right to home school - and done properly it is a marvellously enlightening thing - what your "friends" are doing pulling their children out of private school to save money on the fees is not homeschooling.

Anyway, as you were.
Yay, and think of all those networking opportunities mummy and daddy might be missing out on, just to save a few bob :lol:

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 3:03 pm
by PettswoodFiona
Why has this thread turned into an anti-independent schools thread? It seems unfair on the OP who was asking a fairly reasonable question. I know those who have homeschooled at the end of Y6 in both the independent sector and the state sector, in all cases it was about the needs of the child. For our daughter she had some gaps in her education and desires to do things we couldn't do in a classroom, she was already the odd one out as she wasn't going to the same senior school as most of the other girls in her class, some of who were forming cliques depending on which school they were going to, she also had a physical issue that required one to one intensive support to overcome it and it was a perfect opportunity to be able to focus on this. She went back for the end of year party as that wasn't on the school premises. For us, and most importantly our daughter, it was absolutely the right thing to do.

Re: Homeschooling

Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 3:10 pm
by kenyancowgirl
Nobody is attacking independent schools per se, we are simply responding to timothylewin's (who appears to be popping up all over the forum deliberately trying to stoke fires), crass comment, that, "A lot of our friends now home school their kids in Year 6 especially those attending the private schools, such a waste of school fees in this year."

As you can see from my comment: "done well it can be a marvellously enlightening thing".