Tuesday 7 December 2010

Reasons for alarm at the actions of the 'Secret Group'

I have had an email from somebody who seems to be quite well informed about what is going on with the new guidelines which are being drawn up. I am told that these new guidelines are not the only area of concern. There is still pressure from many sources, not least in the department for Education itself, for a system which will enable local authorities to identify every home educated child. It has been suggested that once these guidelines are finished, then the next step will be to negotiate with everybody to see how far it will be possible actually to change the law.

Something which a number of people have noticed is that Kelley Green, the home, a well known American home educator living in Canada, is very keen on compulsory registration. She does not call it that; she talks of a law about notification of intent, but it amounts to the same thing. She claims that this would be a good thing, if all home educators were legally obliged to tell the local authority that they are home educating. She says in her book, A Matter of Conscience;

'A notification-only law is not the same as registration. It is not a licensing scheme. It implies no power on the part of the state to refuse permission to home educate.
At the same time, the family would be notifying the state of its intent to maintain complete control and administration of the child’s education. This could, possibly, benefit home educators in several ways.
By making such an intent official, home-educated children could never be confused with those classified as “missing education,” or “excluded,” or “truant.” Those terms would be restricted to students whose relationship with public school has broken down, not those who have chosen to have no relationship with public school whatsoever'

It is no secret that Kelley Green has had quite a bit of contact with both Alison Sauer and Imran Shah and has been urging them to adopt this idea. I don't doubt that she means well by this, but as my correspondent points out, once they have been notified of the intention to home educate, local authorities ion this country are very unlikely simply to ignore the family in the future. In other words, this might work well enough in Canada, but there would be huge problems implementing such a scheme in this country. For one thing, it would have the result of criminalising any family which declined to send in such a notification.

I do not know whether this is why so many people are uneasy about the activities of Imran Shah, Alsion Sauer, Tania Berlow and so on. It really is strange that all those involved refuse resolutely to speak on any of the lists or forums. Even Tania seems to have become very shy lately. If the idea is that the law could be changed, perhaps by some Statutory Instrument requiring simple notification, then I can foresee trouble ahead.

15 comments:

  1. Kelly Green's views on notification are clarified in her blog post on 8th November 2010

    http://kellygreenandgold.wordpress.com/

    in which she concludes

    'No, I do not support a regulatory system demanding notification of intent to home educate for English home-educating families.'

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  2. I do not know whether this is why so many people are uneasy about the activities of Imran Shah, Alsion Sauer, Tania Berlow and so on. It really is strange that all those involved refuse resolutely to speak on any of the lists or forums. Even Tania seems to have become very shy lately. If the idea is that the law could be changed, perhaps by some Statutory Instrument requiring simple notification, then I can foresee trouble ahead.

    Yes something fishy is going on! for once Webb your right! anything done likes this always ends in failure people dont like things deals being done behind closed doors! lets have it out in the open then we can draw up battle lines! i hurt waiting for the fight ahead i want to get on with it!
    something is going on becuase M.Goves has not answered our question ti him about home education before he answer quick but now this question been with him since october! well over the 20 days he often answered with in a day! so something is going on!

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  3. "If the idea is that the law could be changed, perhaps by some Statutory Instrument requiring simple notification, then I can foresee trouble ahead."

    SIs can only be used to implement something defined by an Act, so the requirement to notify would need to be included in an Act before an SI could be used to regulate it.

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  4. "Something which a number of people have noticed is that Kelley Green,"

    BTW, you're misspelling Kelly's name.

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  5. Interesting post Simon - but I think you are stirring.

    Kelly does not support compulsory or voluntary notification or registration. Have you read her book? In her book she talks about what worked for Canada. She then poses the question Could it work for the UK She doesn't once say it should be actioned in the UK. I dont know who emailed you but I suspect they may be stirring too.

    I dont think that Tania Berlow has'become quiet' either, more like, she is fed up of flogging a dead horse. Why talk when poeple clearly dont want to listen?

    I wonder if the same feeling applies to all those who may be involved including MPs. They dont want to talk around in circles over and over.

    As I have said before, I'd like to know what is in the guidelines too, and I'd like to know what the real intentions of the government are. But I dont think suggesting foul play is going to help matters any.

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  6. "I dont think that Tania Berlow has'become quiet' either, more like, she is fed up of flogging a dead horse. Why talk when poeple clearly dont want to listen?"

    Combined with the fact that everyone else had stopped talking/asking questions about it too. Why would she continue talking about it?

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  7. C says-As I have said before, I'd like to know what is in the guidelines too, and I'd like to know what the real intentions of the government are. But I dont think suggesting foul play is going to help matters any.

    We all like to know what is in the so called guidlines if there ever come out!
    I dont think the government knows its intentions on home education to! it may attempt to make it up as it goes!

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  8. @Peter and Carol,
    I think the guidelines will come out at some point. Especially if it is true as Simon suggests, that the government are keen to increase HE regulation.
    I don't think the Government really know what they are doing, mainly because they don't know enough to do anything useful. My guess is that if they do try to register us in some capacity it will be because they are trying to do'something' rather than because they think it's essential.

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  9. C says-My guess is that if they do try to register us in some capacity it will be because they are trying to do'something' rather than because they think it's essential.

    depends what you mean by a register? school tells LA child started home education that could be the register!

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  10. I dont know, to me that sounds like notification.

    The school are notifying the LA that the child is no longer on their roll.
    It is then the LA's choice whether to keep an eye on the HE of the child and possibly put the child's name on a list of some sort- maybe even a register.

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  11. C says-I dont know, to me that sounds like notification.


    That is what goes on now child leaves school for home education school tell LA government can make out its started a register of home educators job done done! it wont tell the public this is what goes on now! the art of government is to make out your doing something everyone happy then!

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  12. Of course it goes on now!!
    A school has to tell the LA because the LA pays the school for the childs place and the LA obviously want to know if they need to pay for that place or not.
    I see nothing wrong or illogical in this, if a school didnt speak up and kept claiming money this would be wrong.
    Just because an LA is rightly notified, this doesnt then mean we are automatically 'registered'

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  13. C says-Just because an LA is rightly notified, this doesnt then mean we are automatically 'registered'

    you are registered your name goes into there computer if a school tells them! but before no one really called it a register this is the quick fix government is looking for look we got a register of home educators forgeting to tell the public that you always had a sort of register before it was just called paperwork then!
    your registed but you yuorself did not register the school did it for you!

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  14. I feel we will have to agree to disagree, there will always be different versions of the truth.

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  15. there will always be different versions of the truth.

    if a child leaves school to start home education school tell LA the LA puts children's name into the computer some people call it a register others call it paperwork or a record or a file!

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