Home Education

[Tensing]

But you would not need to educate in Welsh, you can educate your son in whatever lanuage you chose.

[home ed is fun]

hi i'm new to this site, i only found it by chance after putting in home education. i have been home educating my daughter for just over 2 years now and wish i had done it far ealier but didn't know i could. i now advertise it on my front window for all to see so hopefully other children will not have to suffer so many years of bullying like my daughter. she went to three schools and the bullying problem was never sorted out and usually my daughter was blamed for not getting on even though she is a quiet girl. since home edding i have found that home ed children are far nicer than school children they don't call each other names or attack each other, they just get on with each other and respect each others differences and learn from each other. i just wish parents were told of this option from the start.

[Shirley]

Hello.. and welcome to SSF!

What a shame that your daughter had to endure those years of bullying... how old is she now?

So many schools say they have antibullying policies but yet they fall short for so many pupils. My dd (now grown up - was 20 on Saturday) had lots of trouble like this at school - my 12 year old is at school now and just about to start academy.

Did you have to fight hard to take her out of mainstream education??

I totally agree.. parents aren't given enough information about home ed - just get told that it's time to enrol for free nursery places and then next thing you know it's time to enrol at primary school.

Does anyone know whether taking up the free nursery places for 3 year olds means that you then have to apply to take your child out of the education system in order to home ed??

[home ed is fun]

hi thanks for the welcome.
no i didn't have to fight to take my daughter(now 14) out of school i just sent a letter to the school to de register her then sent a letter to the LEA to inform them and that was that. we have had a great time ever since. my daughter can now spend her time learning whatever she wants mainly art, photograph and japanese and what ever else takes her fancy.

i beleive in scotland that if your child is in school then you have to ask permission but you can check out your right to home educate your 3 year old by going to www.education-otherwise.org and this site will tell you every thing you need to know, such as the LEA inspectors do not have a right to see your child or go to your home or see any of the childs work if they do written work. i find the only down side to home education is that i have to pay for every thing my self.
hope this helps shirlz2005

[Shirley]

Thanks for that home ed

Will take a look.

Whereabouts are you based???

[home ed is fun]

hi
i'm in tyne and wear area just across the river from newcastle upon tyne.
if you look on the education other wise site and go to local groups you should be able to join a web group for your area and find out about group meetings. what part of scotland are you in?

[home ed is fun]

hi shirlz
just realised you said on your email where you are in scotland so i have sent you an email with a local contact and phone number for your area.

[AnnetteR]

parents aren't given enough information about home ed - just get told that it's time to enrol for free nursery places and then next thing you know it's time to enrol at primary school.

Not only are we not given information on schooling options but I have been pressured to enroll my son in school. I've been told over and over that he needs the socialization that apparently can only be found in the public school setting - never mind that school is supposed to be about reading, writing, and arithmetic. My son is only four. He was in pre-school/nursery school for almost a year before I pulled him out. I'm not about to put him back into the public education system. And he has outstanding social skills which I do not attribute at all to his brief period of public education.

[Luath]

We had our annual visit from the LEA person this afternoon. Neither of mine have been toschool, and are 14 and 12 now. Just looking into GCSes, but no pressure for them to do them if they don't want to for now. It's not for everybody, but when it works, it's fabulous.

[Shirley]

are you hortus from inebg??

[Luath]

B***** hell, rumbled again...............

AKA Mrs L, Lowlander, SarahD, Luath, Starsailor.
Hope this helps

[rainbowgold]

Hi

Am new here - have been home educating in Scotland for over 13 years. We have 3 young men, 20yo, 17.5yo and 14 (tomorrow!). I handle all the enquiries that come in via the Schoolhouse website:

www.schoolhouse.org.uk

Schoolhouse is the Scottish home ed support org and the only org that gives out completely accurate information on home ed in Scotland.

In Scotland home educators fought to have Guidelines issued to all LEAs and these were issued in March 2004 however many LEAs are still not complying.

Many LEAs will give parents inaccurate info on home ed and it is crucial if seeking to withdraw that you follow the correct withdrawal procedure to avoid unnecessary delays. You must also be sure that you are aware of your rights by reading the Scottish Guidance - follow the link on the Schoolhouse website.

No you don't need permission to home educate however you do have to have consent to withdraw the child's name from the school register and must not remove your child until consent to withdraw is given.

Aberdeenshire has been the worst region in Scotland for misleading and bullying parents and I have fought rather a lot of battles with them! though I have seen a little improvement with 2 officers recently.

re the question about withdrawing if your child is in nursery. You are not required to get consent to withdraw if your child has never attended school. So if your child is in nursery and you are thinking about home ed do not let the child attend school for even one single day! You will be known to the LEA though and so should expect them to contact you about your provision.

there is a checklist on the Schoolhouse website which is helpful in making an outline of provision.

If anyone needs help or advice on home ed in Scotland read the Schoolhouse info and if still not sure, you can fill in an enquiry form on the website and it will come to me. :o)

[Shirley]

Hi Rainbowgold...

Welcome to the forum and thank you so much for posting all that information.

Looking forward to hearing more from you... and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your 14 year old tomorrow

[rainbowgold]

Thank you for the welcome. :o)

Hope the info is useful! Forgot to say there is a Scottish home ed email support group with nearly 500 members dotted around Scotland. Good way to connect with other families nearby.
Schoolhouse also has an email support group for teens.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Looking forward to a nice day out - weather forecast is looking good!

[rainbowgold]

I had thought when I was younger that I would home educate my children. However, now I have a son and am living in a Welsh-speaking area (and I am only a learner of that language) where subjects can be taken through the medium of Welsh, I have had to give up the idea. I know someone in the area who is home educating but not doing Welsh (as far as I know).

I have friends in Bangor who have always home educated - their daughter is now 15. There are a lot of HE families dotted around Gwynedd with kids of all ages. Mike & Jan Fortune-Wood live in the region and have home educated all their kids. Jan has written a few books on autonomous education. "Doing it their Way" is a good one .

Mike's website has a lot of useful info:

http://www.home-education.org.uk/

He has an email support group with a large membership from all over the UK.