Well, here it is
Children, Schools and Families Bill
Schedule 1 — Home education: England
It's everything Badman threatened, before we've even had a response to the latest consultation, which only closed a month ago.
Schedule 1 — Home education: England
It's everything Badman threatened, before we've even had a response to the latest consultation, which only closed a month ago.
posted by Gill at 2:03 pm
26 Comments:
I note that the LA will only be able to invade our homes with our 'consent', but that if we don't consent they can use it as an excuse for not granting a license.
That's freedom of choice, isn't it? Lord, that's straight from the "do you want a smack?" manual of parenting...
They've just blatantly ignored all of our thousands of responses, haven't they? Do they even make an effort to justify that? Not as far as I can see.
I'm not sure that I want to torture myself by reading it. It's not acceptable whatever the datails and they really can just F off. Publishing it BEFORE the consultation response and BEFORE the Select Committee has its say is just taking the piss.
its not law yet? how long have we got? does any one know? i got to plan what to do!
I can make head nor tail of all the claptrap. It continually refers to bits of itself that you would have to have memorized before you could understand what was intended by it.
will have to write it out in full English before I can even guess what they are getting at! How did you work out what it said even?
Well LA's will never understand it. If they can't understand the 10 or so lines that refer to HE now they'll never manage this.
Sally (and Anon) that is a very good point. I've just reread it and it's like textual spaghetti.
Anon above that, no it's not law yet. There's the bare bones of a schedule for it here, with very few dates on it as yet. I'm guessing (hoping?) there will be some alterations to it before it becomes law, if it has time to do so.
Firebird, agreed.
Grahan Stuart has tweeted: "I have confirmed with Michael Gove that the Conservatives will oppose compulsory registration of home educated children in the Bill," today, which is good news, and he's likened us to this lot, which is hilarious! And very true!
Just watching Balls talking about it here (in parliament earlier today). I didn't realise he was quite so inarticulate - I don't think I've ever actually heard him speaking before!
Thanks Gill for information.
I think Ed Balls had a speech problem when he was a child, didn't he? Doesn't explain why he doesn't know enough about enzymes, ions or fractions to be able to answer GCSE questions. Is this ignoramus running our education system?
There's actually nothing about sanctions though, so surely you could just...not register?
Or will the sanctions be part of the guidance? I can't imagine that somehow, because I'm pretty sure Ed Balls doesn't have the power to criminalise so many people at a whim.
Either I'm being stupid, or the government is.
Interesting that they've backtracked on the 'interviewed alone even without consent' bit. But who on earth do they think will consent to have their child seen alone?
I'll re-read later and see if it makes any more sense.
Chloe said:
"But who on earth do they think will consent to have their child seen alone?"
Because section ection 19F part 1(e) says:
"Revocation of registration
(1) A local authority in England may revoke the registration of a childs details on their home education register if it appears to them that
(e) by reason of a failure to co-operate with the authority in arrangements made by them under section 19E, or an ***objection to a meeting as mentioned in section 19E(4)***, the authority have not had an adequate opportunity to ascertain the matters referred to in section 19E(1),"
Nice to see how many of them actually bother turn up to work *rolls eyes*
Moley - Yes, but since there appears to be no sanction for home educating outside the register, it doesn't have much weight. Or...wait, I need to check - maybe it's just that they issue school attendance orders to non-registered home edders...
Also, and I'm not sure on this, but it seemed that once you 'fail' registration, you don't get any opportunity to re-try. Well, barring the appeal process, that is.
I think I'd better re-read before I comment again.
Lots to get blogging teeth into here, but we've got to go out for a few hours now. I'm halfway through a post about Barry Sheerman's ECM point, amongst other things.
I like Peter Bottomley's comment on the debate yesterday:
"On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. Would it be possible to have the extra electrons that have been added to the Secretary of State taken away so that he can become less negative and more neutral? That is the answer to his question, by the way."
ROFL
Chloe - I presume they would issue a SAO.
You couldn't currently be prosecuted for truancy since your child is not a registered pupil. I suppose we should look at what currently happens to children who are genuinely 'missing education'.
It seems to me the real nastiness will come in the guidance and SIs.
I guess they could avoid the hassle of issuing SAOs and going to court by rewriting the pupil registration act to give LAs the power to place a child's name on the school register when they refuse you a 'licence' to HE and then prosecute you for truancy when you refuse to comply.
Moley says,
"I guess they could avoid the hassle of issuing SAOs and going to court by rewriting the pupil registration act to give LAs the power to place a child's name on the school register when they refuse you a 'licence' to HE and then prosecute you for truancy when you refuse to comply."
Do you think they could? That sounds like a really nasty fast track and one I'm sure they'd like to get some people on...
Allie - why on earth not? It seems to me that this whole fuss is because the LAs see SAOs as a PITA. What would be the point for them if they get all their shiny new powers but if/when we refuse to register they still have to go to all the same old trouble of issuing an SAO at the end of the process - which we can then carry on ignoring.
No - far, far better to bypass the whole system.
Simply refuse use a licence, put child's name down for the local sink school and then prosecute for truancy.
Bingo - problem solved.
There are already a few cases of SS putting down children's names for special schools over the parents objections. I personally know of 2 cases. This is supposedly illegal but has never actually been tested in court.
There was that stuff in Badman about registering your intent to HE with a local school, so perhaps we have to register with this school and then when/if registration for HE is refused child is already automatically registered as a pupil at that school.
Ian Dowty said at HESFES that they couldn't register your child at a school on your behalf but I can't remember the precise reason why.
I think it may turn out to be true that they would have to fall back on SAOs if a parent held their nerve up to that point, but they are relying on intimidating people/lying to them to keep the number of register-refusers to a minimum.
They have a lot of powerful weapons with which to do the intimidating, including referring people to social services. I am not convinced we can persuade people to risk pushing it that far.
Have just fond these notes on the bill which do say they will use SAOs so ignore my previous ramblings:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmbills/008/en/10008x-b.htm#index_link_36
Ian Dowty has been contacted about one of these cases of SS registering child at special school and he did say it is illegal but has never been tested in court. Illegality of their actions never seems to stop SS!
The mum concerned is probably angry enough to go to court so we shall she what happens!
we wont register and have told Balls this! we take it all the way Hampshire our LEA they know we will not comply to! not a word from them!
is a LEA duty a law? i dont think it is? that bill talks about a duty to meet?
To: penny.jones@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
Cc: ed@edballs.com; educationnews@bbc.co.uk
Subject: Registration
To Penny
I will never comply with a registration scheme.My parents will never fill in a form for registration.I will NEVER meet with any one from Hampshire County Council Education department.I will just be saying no.What are you going to do about that then? I also will not comply with the 5 ECM outcomes I will decide my own outcomes based on what I need.I’m not scared of a school attendance order do it go for it. I burn it on the fire like the other one! I’m not scared of you Ed Balls DCSF come on Ed takes us to court I’m soooooooooooo scared!
The Queen Mary model boat is made and I’m now working on theTitanic liner which sunk in 1912.
From
Master Peter A Williams
A Home Educated Child
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