On 16/12/09 15:05, "Rachel Dolling"
>
> > Hi
> > I was hoping that someone might be able to help me. I work in Bristol
> and
> have a family who have moved to Hampshire. Mum would not give us any
> details
> i.e address, district or what education she was providing for her child.
> She
> was home educating in Bristol. I was wondering if mum has been in contact
> with
> you? She will not answer her phone anymore after putting the phone down on
> us,
> on several occasions.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> >
> > Rachel Doling
> > Children Missing Education
> > Bristol Education Welfare
> > CYPS
> > Tel: 0117 3533686
> > Tel:0117 3532749
The general opinion among the home educating parents who have read this email is that at the very least, the officer who sent it has a frightful cheek. I cannot help but wonder though, what motives they imagine this woman has in trying to track down this parent.
In the first place, local authorities have a duty to identify children in their area who are missing from education. They certainly have no duty to try and identify children in other parts of the country! In other words, once this family are known to have moved out of Bristol, the local authority there is in the clear. They can close their file and let somebody else worry about whether children in this family are in fact receiving a suitable education. Th fact that Rachel Doling, the local authority officer who sent this email, is not adopting this strictly legalistic interpretation of the situation, suggests to me that she is actually concerned about the child in question.
Of course, it may be sheer busybodying, but if so it is hard to see what she gets from it. I get the impression that she is genuinely worried about this child and that she is trying to alert as many people as possible to the fact that there is something wrong about the situation. She must have been pretty desperate to email a bunch of home educators and expect that they would treat her enquiry seriously!
It seems plain that this mother has done a moonlight flit, leaving no forwarding address and moved to a completely different part of the country without leaving any forwarding address. This in itself is a very odd thing to do and makes one wonder what is going on. She evidently is very keen not to be seen by anybody from the local authority or even provide any information. This is a little strange too.
Of course, this is not the Soviet Union and our citizens are free to move where they will, without telling "the authorities". Even so, there is something distinctly odd about moving like this from one end of the country to the other without leaving any details. My guess is that Rachel Doling has cause to be worried about this child that she is not sharing with others, reasons that she feels the family need to be seen. I doubt that it is just an overzealous employee of a local authority making a fuss for the sake of it.
In which case, it's a shame the authorities have gone out of their way to make themselves enemies of home educators. There are of course, good and bad local authorities. Living right on a border, I'm a member of groups covered by different authorities, and certainly in one neighbouring LA I see there is a lot of respect and cooperation going on. Not so much in the others. I suspect this is largely down to the approach of the individual that works for the LA in that area though. Needless to say though, the behaviour of the DCSF continues to cause much damage to relationships even in the good LA area.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think you may be right that there's more to this case than meets the eye, I don't think that in itself it's strange not to want to 'be seen by' anyone from the local authority. Why would anyone want that?
Also, surely if there are genuine concerns for the welfare of a child it is not that difficult to locate them? I find it hard to believe anyone can disappear off the face of the earth as far as the government is concerned these days, particularly with a child in tow. They don't pay council tax, income tax, claim any kind of benefits, own a car, drive a car or visit a doctor, for example? Seems unlikely to me.
Hmm, don't know. I am surprised that an EWO thought she would get cooperation by such an email (the group concerned must be one neighbouring us) but perhaps as you say there is a real cause for concern...although as the above poster says one would think that there would be a more full proof method of tracking down the missing - but I suppose that this the reasoning behind Contact Point. It is one of those stories where we will probably never know more!
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the problem.
ReplyDeleteWhen we left one area, where we were known to the LA, to live in another area (not known), we didn't leave a forwarding address with anyone except our friends. Why would we have done?
How is not leaving a forwarding address 'doing a moonlight flit'? We paid for the PO to redirect our mail. Our friends and family knew wehere we were. Why on earth would we have contacted the LA about moving house?
Mrs Anon
Exactly - so is this completely over zealous EWO who doesn't have enough to do...or is there a real concern about the family? We can only speculate, and probably will never know.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is a simple one. When a mother refuses to provide any informatiuon at all about her child's education, it is impossible to know whether the child is receiving an education. It might simply be that the mother is a bloody minded individual who does not like being asked questions. At worst, it could be something a good deal more sinister. It looks to me from the message that this woman has taken off during enquiries. I would not be surprised if she has moved as a result of the questions being asked. this would really be worrying.
ReplyDeleteOf course you would not notify the local authority if you were moving Mrs. Anon, neither would I. But it would not be hard to get a forwarding address from where I had moved from. I would not put the phone down on the local authroity officers. The fact that they know she has moved is in itself curious. I was known to Essex LA, but they would not have known for a year or so if I moved. I am guessing that the people in Bristol have actually been knocking on the door and been told by the neightbours that she has moved. Obviously the woman herself has not told them; she won't even speak to them. The fact that they have been on the doorstep like this suggests to me that they are worried about this child. I am intrigued by what other home educators have been saying about this case. all feel that she is being stalked and persecuted by Bristol. None have mentioned that here is a child who might not be receiving an education or in a worst case, but actually be in danger. The concerns expressed are all for the rights of the parent and no concern is shown for the child.
>>But it would not be hard to get a forwarding address from where I had moved from.<<
ReplyDeleteAh, you left your address with neighbours? We didn't. We didn't know them well enough.
>>I would not put the phone down on the local authroity officers.<<
I personally think that would be very silly and would always advise co-operation. But we don't know the circumstances, do we? It could be some over-zealous official who was incorrectly demanding a home visit. Perhaps the mother had had enough. I can just about imagine putting the phone down in some circumstances.
>>The fact that they know she has moved is in itself curious. I was known to Essex LA, but they would not have known for a year or so if I moved. I am guessing that the people in Bristol have actually been knocking on the door and been told by the neightbours that she has moved.<<<
That actually happened to us. After we moved, 'some fool from the council' as you always describe them ;-) went to interrogate our neighbours who only had a rough idea of where we'd gone. They tracked us down using the phone book, I presume. Someone from our new county came a'calling with a letter which she handed to my son on our doorstep. But they had no reason to be concerned about a lack of education since for about 8 years' prior to that we'd had visits or sent in detailed reports which were always received with thanks and a letter sent to us confirming we'd been providing a 'good' education.
Agan, they had NO DARK REASON to try and track us down, no suspicious circumstances. They just wanted to confirm dd was still home educated. After I sent a letter confirming that, we never heard from the new LA again.
>>>Obviously the woman herself has not told them; she won't even speak to them. The fact that they have been on the doorstep like this suggests to me that they are worried about this child.<<<
No, it doesn't. As I've just explained. It just means they're being nosey and want to fill in a box on a form. At best. At worst, they really are persecuting her.
>>> I am intrigued by what other home educators have been saying about this case. all feel that she is being stalked and persecuted by Bristol. <<<
I wouldn't know but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility.
>>None have mentioned that here is a child who might not be receiving an education or in a worst case, but actually be in danger. The concerns expressed are all for the rights of the parent and no concern is shown for the child.
<<<
If there was genuine concern, I can't help thinking heavier guns would have been employed. Social workers, police etc
Mrs Anon
One does not need to be Sherlock Holmes to work out some of the details here. The mother won't speak to them and puts the phone down when they ring up. She refuses to give information about the education which is being provided. That being so, she is unlikley to have given the local authority her mobile number in the first place. (We know it is a mobile, because although she has moved, they are still ringing her). How did they get her number in the first place? Chances are that she has deregistered her kid from a school and that the school passed it on. Most home educated children who come to the notice of local authorities become known via this route.
ReplyDeleteThe local authority are concerned enough about this family to approach a home education group, even though they must know that the chances of finding her in this way are vanishingly small. This sounds to me as though the mother and child have vanished completely and none of the usual methods of finding them are working.
tell me, what do people suppose the motive is for the behaviousr of this local authority officer? Does it not sound as though she is really concerned? Why should she pursue the matter otherwise? Most people, when they move, leave some sort of forwarding address so that those who are now living in their old flat or house can send on letters to them.
>>>>>>>>tell me, what do people suppose the motive is for the behaviousr of this local authority officer? <<<<<<
ReplyDeleteI don't know what People think because I've not read any discussions about this. I would imagine that the mother has annoyed them by not discussing her educational provision with the LA. I know several people who have made that decision (no contact.) It bothers me A LOT because there are 'fools from the council' who believe this to be proof of no education being provided when in my aquaintances' cases, that is not true at all. In fact, all are providing, as far as I am able to tell, VERY good educations to their children, including but not limited to, several IGCSE's.
>>>>>Does it not sound as though she is really concerned?<<<
I don't know. Some people are just officious, gossippy, power-hungry, spiteful etc. She may, like you seem to have, have an over-active imagination, imagining the worst scenario possible. She may not be, but it is possible.
>>> Why should she pursue the matter otherwise? <<<
Because she has a duty to try to find her, even if there are no concerns, as in our own case?
>>>>>Most people, when they move, leave some sort of forwarding address so that those who are now living in their old flat or house can send on letters to them.<<<<
Do they? I didn't know that. Seriously, we've always paid the dosh to the PO to redirect all our mail for a year every time we've moved. That way, we don't have to depend on the kind-heartedness of a stranger to forward our mail.
Are you seriously suggesting that it is a cause for suspicion that we've always done this instead of leaving addressess with neighbours?
Weird.
Mrs Anon