Shena Deuchars and Heidi de Wet in Swindon continue to stamp their authority on Education Otherwise. They have recently revealed, which will come as little or no surprise to those familiar with the organisation, that two thirds of EO's expenditure has been going on an office in Sheffield. This is now to be closed, marking the complete triumph of the new trustees in Swindon over the old clique in Sheffield.
Many people have noticed in recent years that Education Otherwise, once noted for being a friendly organisation devoted to helping parents who have chosen to educate their own children, has turned into some sort of aggressive political group, very ready to savage its own volunteers and members and cast them aside if they asked too many questions. It had been noticed that this trend really began around 2007. That this has not been popular with members can perhaps be seen by the fact that membership numbers are down 60% on what they were in 2006. One would have expected the Badman review to drive up membership, but this did not happen. Since the bulk of Education Otherwise's money comes from subscriptions from its members, this means that the organisation is in serious financial difficulties; it is spending far more than it is earning. This is not of course a situation which can continue. It is thought that there will be an attempt to recruit volunteers and try not to have paid staff. Of course, there may well be other reasons for the fall in membership numbers; I look at one possible explanation below.
The question is, has Education otherwise reached the end of the line now? Sometimes, groups which were once very valued and useful, fade away and decline for no other reason than that their time is over. There is no doubt that EO was a tremendous help to parents in the past and that it once had a role to play, particularly when home education was a fringe activity of which few were aware. Now that it is a well known option for parents, perhaps organisations like this have less of a part to play. If one wished to find out about the legalities and practicalities of home education in the early 1990s, then Education otherwise was an invaluable resource. Now, with so much information freely available on the Internet, there is less reason to pay an annual subscription. There are various Intrent lists, such as EO's own list which is free to non-members, for those who wish to ask questions and solicit support.
I used to belong to EO myself, but in recent years simply could not see the point in maintaining my membership. I have an idea that many others feel the same way, which might account in part for the fall in membership. I think that this year will prove crucial for the organisation. The full extent of the financial crisis which has engulfed Education Otherwise is now dawning on the new trustees and I think that the next AGM should be interesting. The rumour circulating is that certain individuals in the north of England were running EO in such a way as to help their own positions, rather than for the ultimate benefit of the membership. Surprise has been expressed at some of the claims for 'expenses' which have come to light. No doubt we shall be hearing more about this sort of thing in the near future. It will also be interesting to see if any of the new trustees decide to pay themselves for the work which they are doing. Many people thought that this was a bit of a slippery slope when the practice began a few years ago.
Showing posts with label Shena Deuchars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shena Deuchars. Show all posts
Friday, 14 January 2011
Monday, 3 January 2011
Education Otherwise
About a month ago those running the Education Otherwise list, which is an Internet meeting place popular with home educating parents in Britain, announced that it would close down on December 17th. It is not necessary to be a member of Education Otherwise to belong to this list and a number of people were upset at the news. The announcement of this closure came shortly after the Annual General Meeting of Education otherwise, at which a number of trustees felt that they had to stand down. A new group took control, among them Shena Deuchars and Heidi de Wet. Until this AGM, Education Otherwise had been largely controlled by trustees in the north of England, notably Fiona Nicholson and Annette Taberner.
I rather assumed that closing down the EO list was part of a scorched earth policy by the old trustees, a way of stopping too many people knowing about any power struggles or problems between the different factions of the trustees. I said here that if the list continued past the December 17th deadline, it would indicate that the new faction of the trustees based in Swindon, where Shena Deuchars lives, would have triumphed over the Sheffield group, where Fiona Nicholson and Annette Taberner are based. Lo and behold, the list is still running and both Fiona and Annette have now resigned. This seems to be a conclusive victory for Swindon. This is particularly so because both Shena Deuchars's daughter and Heidi de Wet's husband have been appointed as trustees in Fiona and Annette's place. A glorious victory indeed for the Swindon mob!
Some though are wondering if this will prove to be a Pyrrhic Victory. In September, the accounts for 2009 were finally sent to the Charity Commission. They were horribly late. The Charity Commission are so busy these days chasing after independent schools in order to try and revoke their charitable status, that they don't always have time for their basic work. The accounts which were sent to them in September were not signed, either by the accountant or the trustees. Sure, Celia McDonagh's name is printed there as Secretary, but she has not signed and dated them. Were they approved by the trustees? If so when? In particular, were they approved by a quorate meeting of the trustees? The accountant has not countersigned them either, which is unusual. Anybody glancing through these accounts will find much to mull over, which is perhaps why Shena Deuchar seems keen to have another Annual General Meeting so soon after the last one. We are told that;
'information is coming to light about EO's financial status and legal compliance that suggests EO is in a difficult position at present.'
This sounds like code for, 'Shit, you wouldn't believe what's been going on over the last few years!' I shall be watching further developments eagerly. The sudden and unexpected resignation of both Fiona Nicholson and Annette Taberner might well tie in with the calling of another AGM so soon after the last one. There is widespread and gloomy speculation that there will be startling revelations at the next Annual general meeting such as might make it difficult for Education Otherwise to continue in its present form.
I rather assumed that closing down the EO list was part of a scorched earth policy by the old trustees, a way of stopping too many people knowing about any power struggles or problems between the different factions of the trustees. I said here that if the list continued past the December 17th deadline, it would indicate that the new faction of the trustees based in Swindon, where Shena Deuchars lives, would have triumphed over the Sheffield group, where Fiona Nicholson and Annette Taberner are based. Lo and behold, the list is still running and both Fiona and Annette have now resigned. This seems to be a conclusive victory for Swindon. This is particularly so because both Shena Deuchars's daughter and Heidi de Wet's husband have been appointed as trustees in Fiona and Annette's place. A glorious victory indeed for the Swindon mob!
Some though are wondering if this will prove to be a Pyrrhic Victory. In September, the accounts for 2009 were finally sent to the Charity Commission. They were horribly late. The Charity Commission are so busy these days chasing after independent schools in order to try and revoke their charitable status, that they don't always have time for their basic work. The accounts which were sent to them in September were not signed, either by the accountant or the trustees. Sure, Celia McDonagh's name is printed there as Secretary, but she has not signed and dated them. Were they approved by the trustees? If so when? In particular, were they approved by a quorate meeting of the trustees? The accountant has not countersigned them either, which is unusual. Anybody glancing through these accounts will find much to mull over, which is perhaps why Shena Deuchar seems keen to have another Annual General Meeting so soon after the last one. We are told that;
'information is coming to light about EO's financial status and legal compliance that suggests EO is in a difficult position at present.'
This sounds like code for, 'Shit, you wouldn't believe what's been going on over the last few years!' I shall be watching further developments eagerly. The sudden and unexpected resignation of both Fiona Nicholson and Annette Taberner might well tie in with the calling of another AGM so soon after the last one. There is widespread and gloomy speculation that there will be startling revelations at the next Annual general meeting such as might make it difficult for Education Otherwise to continue in its present form.
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
The new trustees at Education Otherwise
Following the Annual General Meeting of education Otherwise, a new set of trustees are in charge. I thought that it might be helpful to provide a little information about them, in order that people could be able to have some idea of the direction which the charity might take in the future.
Fiona Nicholson is still in. She was one of the group who more or less seized control of Education Otherwise three years ago. Fiona lives in Sheffield with her seventeen year-old autonomously educated son, who has never been to school or college. It will be remembered that she provided much innocent amusement during the select committee hearing last October, when she found herself quite unable to decide whether or not she was in favour of the compulsory registration of home educated children. Still, actions speak louder than words and it was observed that Fiona never felt any inclination to notify her own local authority of her intention to home educate her son, only taking this step when the child's father was threatening to do it for her. Annette Taberner, another of the old trustees who has not resigned, also lives in Sheffield and with Fiona is part of the Northern mafia who have exercised such influence on EO for years. For a while, it was thought that Fiona's best friend in Education Otherwise was Ann Newstead, but they do not seem to be as chummy as once they were. This is rumoured to be because Fiona did not share Ann's gung-ho approach to chucking EOs money around on expensive litigation and various other profligate activities which are not really in keeping with the charity's aims. Both Ann Newstead and her husband Alexander Roarke are no longer trustees. Fiona is a great fan of the Molesworth and William books, which must surely show that she is fundamentally sound.
Shena Deuchars is a copy editor who lives in Swindon. Her daughter managed to get a place at Exeter University to study law without having any GCSEs or A levels. The whole thing was achieved by Open University courses, which is encouraging for others. Shena is a very honest and decent person who cannot fail to have a wholesome effect upon EO.
Celia McDonagh remains as a trustee. This surprised some people, who thought that she would resign along with Jo Berry. She was very involved with the Jo Berry business, allegedly passing on emails to her about internal matters at Education Otherwise. This led to threats of libel action and her resignation was demanded. She was forced out at an Extraordinary General meeting in 2006, but returned a short time later.
Some people expected that the trustees who had presided over what looked like the decline and fall of Education Otherwise would stand down en masse, but this has not happened. In fact after the AGM on Saturday, seven of the existing trustees are still around. It remains to be seen whether the reforming zeal of people like Shena Deuchars and Heidi de Wet will be able to change the organisation and bring it back to life.
There has been some talk about the accounts not being approved at the AGM, but this does not really signify. After all, they have already gone to the Charity Commission. There were discrepancies between the amounts listed in the 2008 and 2009 accounts, but this sort of thing does happen sometimes. It will be recalled that EO sacked their last auditor because they were not satisfied with how the financial position was presented in the accounts. The Charity Commission will put the accounts up on their website in due course; they have had them since September.
Fiona Nicholson is still in. She was one of the group who more or less seized control of Education Otherwise three years ago. Fiona lives in Sheffield with her seventeen year-old autonomously educated son, who has never been to school or college. It will be remembered that she provided much innocent amusement during the select committee hearing last October, when she found herself quite unable to decide whether or not she was in favour of the compulsory registration of home educated children. Still, actions speak louder than words and it was observed that Fiona never felt any inclination to notify her own local authority of her intention to home educate her son, only taking this step when the child's father was threatening to do it for her. Annette Taberner, another of the old trustees who has not resigned, also lives in Sheffield and with Fiona is part of the Northern mafia who have exercised such influence on EO for years. For a while, it was thought that Fiona's best friend in Education Otherwise was Ann Newstead, but they do not seem to be as chummy as once they were. This is rumoured to be because Fiona did not share Ann's gung-ho approach to chucking EOs money around on expensive litigation and various other profligate activities which are not really in keeping with the charity's aims. Both Ann Newstead and her husband Alexander Roarke are no longer trustees. Fiona is a great fan of the Molesworth and William books, which must surely show that she is fundamentally sound.
Shena Deuchars is a copy editor who lives in Swindon. Her daughter managed to get a place at Exeter University to study law without having any GCSEs or A levels. The whole thing was achieved by Open University courses, which is encouraging for others. Shena is a very honest and decent person who cannot fail to have a wholesome effect upon EO.
Celia McDonagh remains as a trustee. This surprised some people, who thought that she would resign along with Jo Berry. She was very involved with the Jo Berry business, allegedly passing on emails to her about internal matters at Education Otherwise. This led to threats of libel action and her resignation was demanded. She was forced out at an Extraordinary General meeting in 2006, but returned a short time later.
Some people expected that the trustees who had presided over what looked like the decline and fall of Education Otherwise would stand down en masse, but this has not happened. In fact after the AGM on Saturday, seven of the existing trustees are still around. It remains to be seen whether the reforming zeal of people like Shena Deuchars and Heidi de Wet will be able to change the organisation and bring it back to life.
There has been some talk about the accounts not being approved at the AGM, but this does not really signify. After all, they have already gone to the Charity Commission. There were discrepancies between the amounts listed in the 2008 and 2009 accounts, but this sort of thing does happen sometimes. It will be recalled that EO sacked their last auditor because they were not satisfied with how the financial position was presented in the accounts. The Charity Commission will put the accounts up on their website in due course; they have had them since September.
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