Educational Freedom is a non-profit organisation providing Home Education information and support. Our primary purpose is ensuring all Home Educators have access to FREE information and support. We aim to provide everything you could ever need to know about Home Education.
A great way of ensuring your Home Education journey goes smoothly is to read all of this website. The menu at the top will help you navigate each section.
Making the decision to Home Educate can be daunting. But be assured that there is plenty of support out there! There are lots of families that have been in your situation, and we have supported tens of thousands of them.
Read through our website to learn all about Home Education. Use the menu to navigate through all of our pages especially the WHAT TO DO FIRST page for your country.
Here’s a sneak peak at our FB page feed where we share factual info as well as fun memes. Drop us a like, a follow and come chat to other Home Educators.
Local authorities can make informal enquiries on an at least annual basis, if no concerns are known then contact should be brief. You do NOT EVER have to let them into your home or meet the child, it just isn’t their job to! Some LAs send forms, others demand a visit, others ask for a report, the good ones ask for a brief update… whatever they ask for it’s up to you how to respond. We strongly urge responding in writing rather than a visit or phone call, that way you have evidence. If you’re responding in writing it’s often easier to write a report as you control the info you give them, rather than the forms that often sound like school at home must be followed (which it doesn’t). Our report template and guide on www.educationalfreedom.org.uk talks you through everything you need to know and the info you need to include. 20 minutes to an hour max, to write no more than 2 sides of A 4 is more than adequate for an annual check in. Don’t go overboard, don’t give more info than is required to demonstrate a suitable education -
DON'T PANIC!! One of things we have noticed is theres a lot worry about what would happen if the LA decided your report didn't provide enough information. This does not mean that your child will be sent straight to school. There is a process and we can help you! Click on and check out the wonderful flow diagram to see the LA process! More information can be found on our website where we also have specialised areas for Scotland as well as England & Wales #homeedplanning #learningfromhome #homeeducate #homeeducationrocks #homeeducationlife #homeedideas #homeedLA #homeeducationadventure #homelearning #learningathome #EducationalFreedom #homeeducator #homeeducationuk #homeeducation #homeeducating #homeedfamily
We fully support this way of responding. But do it soon, as the deadline is looming. COLOURFUL CALL TO ACTION for CHILDREN for the DATABASE CONSULTATION! respond by 25th april! The government say they want to hear “the voice of the child” – well, let’s make sure they can! In a really easy and colourful way… Welsh gov are consulting about horrendous proposals on databases = proposals that would have significant impacts for England as well as Wales and that are essentially a way to introduce parallel EHE registers, monitoring and needing LA approval to EHE by the back door, so responses are legit from both nations – (can see earlier post for why) We’ve a really simple – and hopefully appropriately powerfully ironic – way for children and young people to respond too – attached are colouring sheets with and without space for a few short sentences… Why colouring sheets? Cos Welsh gov have produced a horrendous info doc for their “child-friendly” version of the consultation, with “ghost/invisible” children outlines as imagery (along with misquoting the law, stigmatizing rhetoric etc etc). and they’ve not given home ed children a way to respond to that “child-friendly” version (they’ve only just shared this awful doc with us and only after being asked.. and it’s now only 11 days to close of consultation, but they have been sharing a way with selected invited people on their “networks… read into that what you will). So some very clever folk have produced home edder versions of their stigmatizing and misleading doc, with what would be far more appropriate to say instead, and where children can colour one of these sheets, to show that are not “invisible”… so that these can be used as responses… Some of the sheets have lines to allow them to write a few comments if can/wanted – use the ones without if not or cut those bits off. Ideally just put first name and maybe age on either version – so they “know” it’s from a child… Can send ones in Welsh or in English - just scroll to choose which prefer.. and email to: [email protected] OR - even better – POST them to this address- and if your children happen to fancy adding lots of glitter and other accoutrements, that could make these responses especially memorable for the staff at the Senedd, as the address they’ve given is the one for those who’ve written these proposals... 🤔🤔😄😄 (Please obviously make sure nothing is written or sent that could bring us into disrepute as a community though! They have a low enough opinion of us as it is!) Supporting Achievement and Safeguarding Equity in Education Division Public Services and Welsh Language Group Welsh Government Cathays Park Cardiff CF10 3NQ If you run kids’ groups – please quickly get them to do this and send en masse… (ideally with tick box response forms added… but anything is better than not sending). these must be received by 25th April 2024. If can, attach their response form with the appropriate boxes ticked, this can be found here… https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.wales%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fconsultations%2F2024-01%2Fresponse-form.docx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK They don’t need to give identifying personal info unless want to – can just put first name and age into any such requests if want – eg Ben aged 9 kind of thing… If want to know what boxes to tick on the form to demonstrate objections, then can use our super-speedy template listed below if easier. Please paraphrase or change around the order if at all possible so not all carbon copies. If wanting to object to the proposals for this consultation, then these would be the boxes to tick in the response form for each of the numbered questions NO – proposals would have opposite effect to aim, be damaging and are unethical. Plus, the law is being misused, authorities do not have the duties claimed. (can just put something like that in every free text box if want). NO - give same statement as for (1) above . NO to both (i) and (ii) – give same statement as for (1) above . YES – voluntary respectful engagement not mandatory deterrents. Free text = put same in every box here -- harms access to healthcare and to external input into education by placing active deterrents, diverts taxpayer’s money from where it is really needed, treats parents who deregister due to school failings with increased and punitive suspicion, create climates of mistrust/suspicion, of stigma and of censorship that needlessly makes everyone’s jobs and lives more difficult, reduces engagement with statutory services. DISAGREE - it is clear that should not be returned at all. Free text – increased workloads/costs/risks of data breaches, increased deterrents to healthcare and external educational input, increased motivation for families move location. – as for question (5) too. Free text - no one – there should not be such databases. YES (Meant to be for LHBs but can still answer YES as we are utilisers of and taxpayers to fund LHBs) . . . YES with free text – can just repeat answer to qu (1) .. . . YES with free text – can repeat answer to qu (5) , ,YES with free text – many technicalities not even addressed in these proposals, making them unworkable even if they were ethical. What is the purpose of GPs as data holders if already using LHBs? What will that data of so many people with parental, care and educational input into each child on the database used for, what opt outs do people have, what will be the process when data leaks happen, - and repeat question (5) responses. YES - domestic violence victims, disabled who need healthcare most, women, lower socioeconomic who can’t afford private healthcare, home educators as a minority group, Gypsy/Roma/traveller families, elderly who help with education and care, other minority cultural groups who already feel treated with suspicion. Free text - people put off accessing provision to learn Welsh either from council or from external educational providers whose details could then end up on databases. Free text – cannot mitigate, abandon instead. Free text- say whatever want if want! – Please do help us stand against these proposals… and let us know if need more info on them… we can block these awful proposals IF enough people object. Thanks!
Phew exhausted here today after a busy couple of days and it seems to be having a knock on effect with my brain too! When you're feeling the slump how do you home educate? Here are some great ways! - Lucinda #homeedplanning #learningfromhome #homeeducate #homeeducationrocks #homeeducationlife #homeedideas #homeedLA #homeeducationadventure #homelearning #learningathome #EducationalFreedom
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