School’s out of the question (From Echo)

School’s out of the question

10:20pm Tuesday 19th January 2010 in News By Sophie Edwards

Story time – Michelle teaches her children, Kate and Jonathon, at home

CONCERNS about bullying, poor care for children with special needs and a limited and irrelevant curriculum are just some of the reasons why an increasing number of families are choosing to educate their children at home.

However, new Government rules to toughen-up regulation around home schooling could make it difficult for children to opt out of school in the future.

Home educators in Essex are furious about the plans, currently going through Parliament. They want to explain why home schooling is so important, and shatter the misconceptions which surround parents teaching their children.

Michelle Cook, 32, is a teach-at-home mum to her six-year-old daughter Kate. No two days are the same for the pair, who combine learning with regular visits to the library, walks in parks and nature reserves, as well as meeting other home-educated youngsters for play time.

For Michelle, who lives in Church Road, Basildon, keeping Kate at home seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

She said: “I had been teaching Kate since she was a baby, so it just seemed natural to keep going. This way, Kate can learn at her own pace and what she wants.

“We tend to look at things she gets interested in. Last year she was fascinated by space.

“We wrote stories about it, and learnt some maths as well.

“We even got some geography involved, by looking at the locations of space stations like Nasa.

“I teach her reading and writing, but I don't think there’s anything else she categorically has to know. If she’s interested, then we’ll explore it together.”

The mum, who also has a two-year-old son, Jonathon, said one of the main misconceptions about home educating was that youngsters who don’t go to school have no social life.

She said: “Kate has ballet once a week, she goes to Rainbows as well, and is part of a wildlife explorers’ club.

“She’s also got lots of friends, and we’ve got a good network of other home-educating families who we meet regularly.

“She is always interacting with adults and other children. She’s a very happy, sociable child.”

However, if new Government proposals are brought in, home education would have to change.

Under the new rules, parents will have to register their child once a year with their local council, and provide a statement of what and how they intend to teach their children over the coming year.

Inspectors would then visit once a year to make sure this plan is being followed, as well as have one-to-one interviews with the children.

This comes after an independent report, produced earlier this year by child protection expert Graham Badman, claimed home education could be being used as a cover for child abuse.

Home educators have dismissed the report as a rush-job, and said the new rules would go against everything home education stands for. Petitions have been sent to MPs, including David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West.

Michelle added: “These proposals are so extreme. Wanting to interview the child on their own is ridiculous. What will it achieve? If they are being abused, they’re not going to tell a complete stranger.

“If they’re so worried about children being abused out of school, then they’d have to start interviewing school children in the holidays as well.”

Ann Newstead, 39, spokeswoman for Education Otherwise, a charity set up to support home educators, said: “Obviously child abuse can happen, but that is in disturbed families and in most cases they are already known to agencies in the system.

“Home educating is on the increase, partly because more people are beginning to realise it is a legal option. Most people think you have to send your children to school, but you don’t.”

Ann, from Bromley in Kent, said many parents opt for home schooling because their children have special educational needs. She started home schooling after one of her four sons was so badly bullied at school he started self-harming.

Headteacher Terry Flitman, from Wickford Junior School, in Market Road, Wickford, said none of his pupils had been taken out of school to be home educated.

He said: “Some children find the school environment very difficult to deal with, some children don’t come in for medical reasons, or it can be something has gone wrong in a school.

“Most parents can teach their child to read and write, but part of school is also about developing social skills, negotiating, play, and taking part in all the things that happen as part of a school day. I worry about some children educated at home not getting that, and becoming isolated.”

He also said the Government’s proposed changes were a good thing.

He said: “At the moment, a person can say they are going to educate their child at home and there is no way of checking.

“One hopes these new rules will actually make sure every child is getting an education.”