Local authority monitoring of home education

One of the great bones of contention between local authorities and the home educating parents who live in their areas, is the extent to which parents can be expected to supply information to those charged with monitoring elective home education. I want to look at extracts from two actual documents submitted to a local authority which requested information about the education being provided to home educated children. Here is the first one, which was sent in by the parents of a fourteen year old girl;

" English
In English literature the focus this year has been very much on the twentieth century. Sophie has read a variety of novels, poetry and short stories by twentieth century writers in English; Evelyn Waugh, Vladimir Nabokov, Christopher Isherwood, Virginia Woolf, Robert Frost, E.M. Forster and James Joyce, to mention but a few. A favourite author is Terry Pratchett and Sophie attended a lecture by him. Visits to the theatre have also been largely limited to this period. The new RSC production of The Crucible was much enjoyed as was another production of this same play at the E15 Theatre School. Sophie saw the Beckett Centenary revival of Waiting for Godot at the Barbican. She has also seen Priestley’s An Inspector Calls and also When we are Married, by the same author, Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo and Suddenly last Summer by Tennessee Williams. In February this year she saw Peer Gynt, by Ibsen and the new production of The Dumb Waiter by Pinter. Studies in literature have of course not been limited to the English scene. Waiting for Godot led to an exploration of the Theatre of the Absurd, which in turn led naturally to Existentialism and the reading of Sartre and Camus. Where possible, studies in literature have been related to other areas of the curriculum. For instance The Crucible led to an examination of the phenomenon of McCarthyism and the Cold War in history. Reading Isherwood similarly led to Sophie’s seeing the new production of Cabaret in the West End. Over the course of the year Sophie has attended two week long drama courses at the E15 Theatre School. She has also acted at the Stratford Festival. Creative writing has not been neglected. Sophie has produced many poems, short stories and other material over the last year. She has joined a creative writing course associated with a local college and she attends this weekly. One of her sonnets and a couple of other pieces appeared in an anthology produced by this group. One of these poems also appeared in a magazine. She belongs to a reading group at the local library. "

This of course, is just the sort of thing that local authority officers love. It tells them what the child is doing and they can, in the course of conversation, draw the child out about her interests. They can be reasonably sure that this fourteen year old is working to at least the level which she would be were she to be at school and they can rest assured that here is a child who is receiving a full time education, suitable to her age and aptitude. Of course, the whole thing might be a tissue of lies, which is why they will want to visit the home and speak to the child. It shouldn't take long to see whether she really has done all the things listed in the report. It has to be said that such detailed reports are fairly rare. Far more common is something like this, sent by the parents of an eleven year old boy;

"Our approach to Zach's education is in the main opportunity based, child led and very flexible. It is impossible to provide a timetable or to specify in advance which activities we will shall be undertaking.
We work to keep a good balance between child led, informal learning and a more directed approach. In general, it is our aim to facilitate learning through Zach's interests rather than artificially to contrive situations to reach pre-determined outcomes. We are always vigilant for any gaps which should arise in our provision and ready, willing and able to make the necessary adjustments to fill them."

It goes on for four pages in this vein; I shall not weary the reader with the full text! Now, what's wrong with this picture, boys and girls? Well for one thing, it is quite impossible to say whether or not the child concerned is in fact receiving an education. He may be. On the other hand he may not be. Can he read? We are not told. Does he study history? Couldn't say. Will he sit GCSEs? No idea. This is quite a cunning move, because the local authority cannot really say that the child appears not to be receiving a full-time education suitable to his age and ability. This makes it hard for them to consider issuing a School Attendance Order. If the family continue to refuse a visit or give further information, then matters have reached an impasse.

This sort of waffle, frequently based upon an educational philosophy found on the Internet, is very common. It is infuriating for those monitoring the education because it does not really say anything at all. The child might, for all that anybody knows to the contrary, be a child prodigy. He may equally well be little better than a congenital idiot. One of the reasons that local authorities are irritated by documents like this is that it seems to be verging on bloody-mindedness to refuse to tell others what your child is capable of, what he is studying, how he is achieving. Why would anybody wish to conceal these things, either from a local authority officer or anybody else?

It is this which has been one of the driving forces behind the move to define a "suitable education". Local authorities wish for a rough guide which they can use to check if children are achieving well, falling badly behind, have special educational needs or just in need of a little extra help. Some people, and I am certainly one of them, cannot see why parents wish to be so secretive about their children's accomplishments.