Educational Freedom - UK Home Education information and support page.️ 11 hours ago

Some LAs still give incorrect information—check Educational Freedom blogs for real experiences and updates. Read through our website so you know your rights and responsibilities and cant prevent against overstepping.

Educational Freedom - UK Home Education information and support page.️ 12 hours ago

⭐️⭐️⭐️ HELP NEEDED- CALL TO ACTION ⭐️⭐️⭐️ TWO new ways for home educators, particularly those in Wales, to engage about the CWS Bill. (1) NEW WEBSITE on CWS Bill – Whilst much of the info on it is tailored to Wales but many of the points are applicable to England too. It’s to help us engage with MPs and Senedd Members, as well as be able to keep on top of info ourselves. https://wellbeingineducationwales.co.uk/ (2) SURVEY – views and experiences –can as many people as possible who have experience of home education in Wales please complete this ASAP - it’s only running a few more days. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdyzPRKTzD-aey97_JM56ttO8i_e15Q2mBGgOEm6NEFEBuu4g/viewform?usp=header (1) Survey The Welsh Government have all kinds of ideas and plans of what they want to do about home ed, even beyond the measures in the CWS Bill. They are all based on the presumption that LA contact is always positive, necessary and above reproach, always in our children’s best interests, without mistakes, bias or misuse. We need those voting at the Senedd and at Westminster to understand that this is not always the case. Hence – this survey – for Welsh home educators – of experiences when that’s not been the case, and of views. Anonymous, won’t collect email addresses. We’ve only A FEW MORE DAYS to collect as many responses as possible. Can do it quickly if just do the tick box options And if not sure of any questions, can just scroll onto the next. OR if have time, there’s plenty of opportunity to add your own written comments. (2) New Wellbeing in Education Wales website Whilst this is Wales-specific info about the Bill - there will be information in the articles on points that apply to the rest of UK too which can use when engaging with politicians and others. As it’s a website, don’t need to be on social media to access – so please do share it widely with those who are not. Esp. those in Wales – Very easy to use this. Read an article, if resonates with you send it to your MSs by linking it, with one or two sentences on why you think this is important- that can be from your own experience, or just use one or two sentences from in the article – and then the link and ask them to vote against the motion on the CWS Bill in the Senedd on 3rd March. It’s really simple and quick. And can then repeat with whatever other articles you would like your elected representatives to see and understand. The most important article to get out to Senedd Members, especially those in Plaid, is this one – https://wellbeingineducationwales.co.uk/2026/02/12/evaluation-and-rebuttal-of-welsh-governments-present-justification-of-westminsters-cws-bill/ but that article is the longest (because essentially it covers pretty much all the points, so you may prefer to start with the shorter articles – we need our politicians to see them all. More info can be found at Home Ed Cymru https://www.facebook.com/groups/657102919670649 Plus on the public page Stop the Children’s Bill Cymru. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586201416709 If facebook is glitchy – links will be in comments. Please please do engage with this – For those in Wales, it’s only 2 weeks to the Senedd vote on whether to apply the CWS Bill to Wales. https://wellbeingineducationwales.co.uk/ https://wellbeingineducationwales.co.uk/2026/02/12/evaluation-and-rebuttal-of-welsh-governments-present-justification-of-westminsters-cws-bill/

Educational Freedom - UK Home Education information and support page.️ 1 day ago

Home educators lead busy lives, we get it, so when it comes to replying to Local Authority enquiries it can seem an easy option to use AI or a website/app that tells you what your child learned from different tasks. There is also the situation where the parent may feel that the LA won't accept what they do as suitable, so they explain something that may not actually be true, because it is what the parent thinks the LA wants to know. Or provide a report written by someone else such as a tutor. However, these are incredibly problematic things to do and LAs see them a mile off. https://educationalfreedom.org.uk/providing-info-to-the-la-never-lie-use-ai-or-send-a-tutor-report/

Educational Freedom - UK Home Education information and support page.️ 1 day ago

Guidance is tailored for England, Wales, or Scotland—check your nation’s specific instructions. We have specialists as needed!

Educational Freedom - UK Home Education information and support page.️ 2 days ago

Let’s talk about ‘my child won’t engage’ Every situation is different, but let’s look at a few points worth considering. Did you deschool? Properly, you and the child? Deschooling needs to be for as long as it takes for the instinct to learn like school to be out of your system. Yes formal learning can be a part of home education, but you will only know if it is right for your child by giving them time to deschool and explore other options. When we see questions like this it’s often because the child doesn’t yet know how to think for themself, or how to seek things out. But what the child knows is what you’re asking of them doesn’t interest them. Instead, try spending time with your child, just exist alongside each other, get them involved in life. Watch the news, listen to a podcast, go for a walk, bake, play monopoly, fix the car, hang a shelf. Being around experiences will evoke questions and interests. Strew. This means putting together a box/basket of preorganised activities that need no input from a parent. It could be a mix of craft activities, wordsearches, jigsaws, worksheets, puzzles, fun tasks… anything at all that are safe and accessible activities your child can do when they choose to pick something because they aren’t ready to fully think for themselves. A bored child is good, yup it is. There’s only so many hours a child will stare at their phone/tv before they decide to do something else. But if they have no idea what else to do then they’ll go back to their phone. Strewing means there are options of something else, with no pressure. Being bored will evoke investigation and questions, but if they’re not exposed to life they’ll have nothing to enquire about. This is why many home educators have lots of books, posters, globes, craft sets, games, etc not shoved away in a closed cupboard, kids need to see things to know to investigate. A child is never going to ask about the medieval times if they don’t know what it is. So go to castles, or museums, play dressing up, draw maps, make a shield etc. but, the key is doing these things in a way that suits your child, and that can take time to understand. If you have asked them to do an hour on Reading Eggs and they refuse, or you’ve spent hours printing off worksheets about nouns and verbs, and your child refuses to look at them, or you’ve bought lots of workbooks and your kid says he can’t do them…. Think about why, firstly, why do you want the child to do these tasks? Why does the child not like that resource? Why are you expecting them to learn in a way they’ve no current (or previous) interest in? Often the child was wanting to do something else but you’ve clicked into teacher mode and they’ve clicked into pupil mode, they don’t feel able, or even know how, to say what they want to do instead. Sometimes a child will refuse to engage with anything, even the fun stuff (though you think it’s fun, does your kid?). If your child has not learned how to regulate their own time, how to seek out information, how to entertain themselves, and you’ve tried the above suggestions, then it’s worth considering what they and you want to achieve from home education. A conversation about the future, about both of your expectations etc can be vital, at any age. It helps you both understand the expectations and helps you explore the goals together. A teen who wants to be a mechanic will more likely do what’s needed to make that happen, a teen wanting to go to uni will study what is needed to get there, but both will need support and guidance to do it. Be real, is home education actually right for both of you? Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes a child needs the school type environment and the parent not being teacher. And that’s ok. You didn’t fail. Don’t break your relationship forcing something that isn’t working. Feel free to share your tips below on what to do when you hit the wall of ‘help my kid won’t engage’