[Previous entry: "Taxes - NO MORE!"] [Next entry: "Tea 'healthier' drink than water"]
06/29/2009: "Home school contracts - new laws coming"
new plans are afoot, to alter the way in which home school contracts" are policed.
at present, these "contracts" are in place for homework, uniforms, getting to school on time, conduct, etc.
as it stands, at the moment, if this contract is broken in anyway, then there is little that a school can do to enforce it (which begs the question, why have it in the first place? - but thats another can of worms)
however, as funding is being cut (as is proven in every other area of public service - despite what we are told officially) the education system no longer has the funding (witnessed first hand by myself) so inline with every other public service area - NHS, education, policing, social services, etc - plans are afoot to raise funding in some way.
home school contracts, should they be broken, will see parents forced to go to classes to teach them how to "control" their children.
further sanctions include "fines of £1000" and failure to pay will result in a prison sentence!
read the full article here (BBC news website)
can you honestly see the parents of a disruptive or non uniformed child being able to afford a fine of £1000?
the problem i have with this is simple: homework!
i have one child whos now out of education due to his age, but whilst in it was subjected to obscene amounts of homework everyday of the week whilst at senior school, and plenty of homework whilst at junior school.
kids are not now, nor ever, robots. its as if children today are being groomed (for want of a better word) for an educational life of graft out of school hours, so that when they leave school and join the UK workforce, the long hours ethic kicks in and they'll be running around like headless chickens just to hold down a job!
if the curriculum cannot be done within school hours - then it should be changed to allow it to be done
this is seriously leading me to take a good look at home school teaching our next child, if and when she arrives, and is of school age.
i do not see a till person from the supermarket working at home? the milkman doesnt work at home - the road builder, the ordinary employed person is entitled to days of rest.
a child is precious, they are a blank canvas as regards education, the more you put into your child the more they get out in the future when us old farts have long gone.
i do not send any child of mine for an education, and expect hours to be spent at home doing extra work.
our next child (as happened with our first child) will be allowed to climb trees, play with tadpoles and conkers, play ball games in the street, experience different climates and seasons (and the wonderful changes that brings with it) they will play out in the rain, they will read varied books and learn foreign languages (the basics anyway) they will be encouraged to get on with others and share anything they may have, encouraged to dress up and have a vivid imagination, they will learn to cook and bake, as well as plant and grow things and make things, they will not be victims of designer labels.
but all this will be done over time, with their parents!
they will not have extra reading, writing and maths forced upon them by a curriculum enforced by the state, at home.
hometime is exactly that... like you and me have hometime from work, it is vital part of life, time and space to develop other skills away from the classroom.
if hometime involves re-enforcing things learned in the course of time at school then all well and good, but i wont be going out of my way to endorse extra hours of (what is to a child) work, when it is hometime.
so they want to issue a £1000 fine do they? it costs around £3000 per term to educate a child... what a nice way to get back a third of the cash they have to pay out to fund the school!! (makes a mockery when parents are out at work on long shifts just to survive and keep their family home - to then fine them a £1000 pounds - what ever happened to "we are doing all we can to help hard working families?")
if home/school contracts include the homework part and i am not happy with the schools explanation of this then i will teach my child at home, myself.
perhaps then my child will be able to have swimming lessons every week, instead of just one term in its entire junior school life?
my child would then be able to have a varied and seasonal sports experience, cricket, football, tennis, badminton, swimming, running, cycling, etc.
my child would have the pleasure of being driven for weekends to european countries (away from uk tourist traps) and experience how other cultures live speak, eat, shop, etc.
at traditional times of the year my child would be able to goto church and sing carols, prepare harvest festival parcels for my elderly neighbours, speak to the elderly about the world war and visit art galleries and museums whenever we covered them in the course of our learning.
and all this without risk assessments, health and safety, just good old parental common sense!
its starting to look like a great option for education....
what do you think?
