The Ashtray's Full

Time to move.

Going Through the Motions. Again.

Consultation Questions

1

Do you agree that these proposals strike the right balance between the rights of parents to home educate and the rights of children to receive a suitable education?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Absolutely not. The proposals are a vastly disproportionate response to a "problem" that has not actually been shown to exist. The fact that there is an Select Committee inquiry into how the Badman Review was conducted - not to mention the numerous, well-argued and evidence-based cases put by home educators' groups - suggests that there are grave flaws in the Review. It should not be used as the basis for far-reaching reforms that fundamentally alter the relationship between family and state as to the parent of first resort.

(On a point of order, surely no legislation should be proposed untilf after the Select Committee has reported. Otherwise, what is the point of the exercise?)

The vast majority of home educated children do receive an education that is both suitable and efficient in the definitions established by case law. If attention is to be paid to childrens' rights - as, of course, it should - then how can proposals to interview a child alone take account of that child's wishes? Mr Badman himself has admitted that he cannot answer this conundrum, falling back on the notion that a refusal to see any official may have been planted by the parent. Fundamentally, no other group is treated with the presumption of guilt in way that these proposals suggest. Far from striking the right balance, they are grossly disproportionate, and should be rejected in their entirety. DCSF documents talk of creating a harmonious relationship between LAs and home educators. These proposals will eliminate any possibilty of harmony.

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2

Do you agree that a register should be kept?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree. The term register conceals the fact that what is in fact suggested is a license to home educate: under these proposals, the local authority will have the power to withold its permission. The criteria according to which this decision will be made are so vague as to be meaningless, allowing no more concrete basis than simple personal whim. Given that so many LA HE officials are from a school background, and often appear to have no understanding of or confidence in an unschooling/autonomous education approach (witness Mr Badman's failure to read any of the ample peer-reviewed research or, indeed, to quote in full a court judgement on the efficacy of autonomous education), it is no wonder that EHE families have no desire to risk their carefully thought-out educational decisions to individual prejudice.

It is the parents' responsibility under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 to ensure a suitable education is provided for their child. Since when did we need permission to perform our legal responsibilities?

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3

Do you agree with the information to be provided for registration?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree - no register should be established at all, for the reasons expressed above.

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4

Do you agree that home educating parents should be required to keep the register up to date?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree - no register should be established at all, for the reasons expressed above.

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5

Do you agree that it should be a criminal offence to fail to register or to provide inadequate or false information?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree - no register should be established, for the reasons expressed above. Is there genuinely the expectation that a harmonious relationship between LA and EHE family will be established when threats of criminalisation are involved? I am incredulous.

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6 a)

Do you agree that home educated children should stay on the roll of their former school for 20 days after parents notify that they intend to home educate?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree - the decision to take a child out of school will not be taken lightly. Why will the school suddenly decide to address the issues that have led to this decision in this 20 day period? Should they not have been addressed much earlier? If the HE child remains on the roll but does not attend school, does that open the parents to the risk of prosecution for abetting truancy? Again, the threats of prosecution and criminalisation actively undermine any hopes of harmonious interaction.

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6 b)

Do you agree that the school should provide the local authority with achievement and future attainment data?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: There is no connection between what happens in a school compelled to follow the national curriculum and administer regular tests and the qualifications that an EHE child may choose to attempt. The question again betrays a basic ignorance of what EHE entails.

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7

Do you agree that DCSF should take powers to issue statutory guidance in relation to the registration and monitoring of home education?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree. Existing powers are adequate, The case for change has not been made, as discussed in the answer to question one, and an enquiry is still live into the conduct of the review. No changes should even be considered until the Select Committee has reported. If changes are then still thought necessary, they should be proposed as part of primary legislation that can be fully scrutinised in parliament.

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8

Do you agree that children about whom there are substantial safeguarding concerns should not be home educated?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree. There is no robust definition of "substantial." The concept of permission to home educate runs counter to the Education Act of 1996, as discussed above. If there are safeguarding concerns about a particular family, then simply forcing the child into school between 9am and 3pm will not improve matters - will he or she be any less at risk at home outside of school hours? Nonsense.

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9

Do you agree that the local authority should visit the premises where home education is taking place provided 2 weeks notice is given?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree. Will the LA take on the expense of accompanying us to the ice rink, the gym, the zoo, various stately homes and castles, foreign countries..? Note also that the term "premises" in fact describes the family home, despite the clear lack of understanding of how EHE works - see preceding paragraph.

As I understand it, childrens' rights also involve the right to privacy. Or are childrens' rights only to be invoked selectively? Even the police still need a warrant to enter private property. Again, the presumption of innocence should not be so lightly discarded.

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10

Do you agree that the local authority should have the power to interview the child, alone if this is judged appropriate, or if not in the presence of a trusted person who is not the parent/carer?

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree. What an odious suggestion. Not only does this risk over-riding the child's own rights, it will fail in its express purpose. An abused child needs to develop a sense of trust before he or she will reveal personal details. An annual visit will achieve precisely nothing. This alarming proposal flies in the face of protocols that have been painstakingly developed by police, social workers and others who deal with vulnerable children. Even if there were valid concerns, it would be a gravely flawed approach. As it stands, it is grossly disproportionate.

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11

Do you agree that the local authority should visit the premises and interview the child within four weeks of home education starting, after 6 months has elapsed, at the anniversary of home education starting, and thereafter at least on an annual basis? This would not preclude more frequent monitoring if the local authority thought that was necessary.

• Agree

• Disagree

• Not sure

• No Response

Comments: Strongly disagree. The previous answers touched on some reasons why access to the home should not be sought automatically. This proposal also fails to recognise that many children brought out of school need a period of "deschooling" to recover from the psychological harm experienced in school.

In general, the proposal reflects the theme running through the list of recommendations that EHE families simply cannot be trusted. The levels of coercion proposed are, frankly, unworthy of a country that claims to be a democracy. The recurring phrases in the document about envisaging a harmonious relationship are, in this light, laughable.

The answer is simple - ensure that LAs know the existing law, that their officers understand the variety of approaches that education otherwise than in school can take, and that they apply this knowledge in dealing with EHE familes. No need for vast expense, no need for legislation, and no need to irrevocably destroy any relationship between EHE families and the state and LAs.

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Due Process and Draft Legislation

There's still time to register concern at the introduction of draft legislation on an area which is still the subject of both a public consultation and a Select Committee inquiry. Whatever you think of the rights or wrongs of Home Education, this is surely a mockery of due process in drafting legislation.

Still, Ed Balls announced the very same day as Badman published that he accepted the recommendations in full. Must be a quick reader, eh?

This is my note to dlp@commonsleader.x.gsi.gov.uk Feel free to borrow any parts of it that seem useful (not my signature, though...). Carlotta's take is considerably more detailed.

Your message must be in today, though.


Dear Sir or Madam

I wish to express my concern at the inclusion of a section described as "improving monitoring arrangements for children educated at home" in the proposed Improving schools and safeguarding children Bill.

You must be aware that the recommendations arising out of Graham Badman's review into Elective Home Education (EHE) are still open for consultation until October 19. Likewise, you must be aware that the CSF Select Committee is conducting an inquiry into how Mr Badman went about that review; serious questions have been raised over his methodology and the soundness of his analysis. Indeed, Mr Badman himself has - via the DCSF website - recently called for additional information from Local Authorities. It is difficult to understand this last development as anything other than a tacit admission that his original research was inadequate. Mr Badman states in his covering letter that only some Home Educators take issue with only some of his recommendations. This misrepresents the true situation considerably.

Ed Balls announced his complete acceptance of Mr Badman's recommendations on the very same day that Mr Badman published them. After this inauspicious start, how can we have any confidence that the consultation and the Select Committee inquiry are to have any effect when we see that the areas covered are nonetheless to be included in the Bill?

I urge, then, that all clauses connected with "improving monitoring of home education" be removed until the consultation has ended and the Select Committee has reported. Draft legislation can then be genuinely informed by the outcome of these two exercises, as can the oversight provided by the legislators who have the final decision: our MPs.

I would be grateful if you would confirm receipt of this message, and I look forward to a more substantive response in due course.

Yours faithfully

Dr Ian Appleby

The Tale of Despereaux

"I know, I know, there's this rat, see? And this chef, who makes soup..." Stop me if you saw that one already. Despereaux certainly hasn't been helped by studio scheduling that saw another rodent/liquid meal animation appear first. I have to say, though, that this offering is a lot more filling. Roger Ebert reckons the plot is all over the place, and there's some justice in his observations, but what interests me more, here, are the implicit messages of the movie: all the way through runs a meta-narrative about how story-telling, stereotypes, and power combine.

Let's look at the king, first; his domain is famed for its soup, which brings joy to his subjects. Indeed, soup becomes a metaphor for what makes life worth living -when it is banned, the sun ceases to shine, and the rain ceases to fall. I am very much drawn to an equation that makes soup=42: it's a simple, comforting, and nourishing dish, and as I get older if not wiser, that's increasingly what I want from life. Why ban soup? Well, the king's beloved queen espies a rat in her soup (all the obvious jokes are eschewed), which brings about her immediate demise. In his grief, the monarch bans soup.

And rats. Brilliantly, the opening scene of the film has Sigourney Weaver intoning a narration about how rats shun human company, and stick to the shadows, while we see Roscuro the rat enjoying the sunrise and chatting to his human companion. Already, then, we know not to trust all we will hear. This rat can talk, but because "everyone knows" they are vile, no-one considers that he might have an apology or explanation to make for his presence in the royal soup. The parallel is not explicitly drawn - after all, Roscuro's "crime" is in fact an unfortunate accident - but still we have an entire group demonised for the actions of a tiny minority - in this case, a minority of one. Remind you of anything? And the point is made that such demonisation costs the demonisers hard - there is no sunshine, no joy, no rain, no hope of rejuvenation or future growth. In short, no soup.

Ms. Weaver announces that societies only get heroes when they really need them. But then again, we already know she's an unreliable narrator. Cut to Despereaux's point of view from his cot, surrounded by anxious adult mice. Anxiety, we come to learn, is the mouse's natural state of being; these mice are specifically worried by Despereaux's lack of cowering. Mouseworld is depicted as a place of upright, bourgeois citizens. Initially, it seems to be a simple contrast with the anarchy of ratworld (which, it has to be said, is depicted through some rather disturbing "Skull Island" type imagery that implies that non-white society is somehow barbaric), but it soon becomes clear that these "decent" citizens live in oppressive fear of the council, and their unspecified "rules." Despereaux's father is caught in a dilemma - report his son's "deviant" behaviour, or risk it being reported by another informer. The council banishes Despereaux, invoking these same "rules," which are intended to keep society "safe." Amusingly, cats and carving knives are the two terrors invoked by school, but the clear demonstration of how shadowy terrors can be used to justify the removal of liberties is rather less likely to elicit a smile.

In passing, it's worth remarking on the recognition of schooling as a system of inculcating attitudes seen as socially desirable. The headteacher tells Despereaux's parents that "no-one starts out afraid." For that, you need schools... Naturally, I'm drawn to a film that clearly suggests schools suppress an individual's interests and intrinsic motivation.

The really subtle achievement of the film, though, is to undermine Despereaux's own motivation. As part of the attempt to make him a "proper" mouse, he and his brother set out to the library to nibble books; Rather than eating, Despereaux ends up reading a fairy-tale, which fills him with notions of chivalry and heroism. Now, I've argued in these pages before that our violent society is partially sustained by narratives of heroism in warfare. The chivalric values of an old fairy tale become Despereaux's moral code. If I'd actually read Don Quixote, I'm sure there would be a parallel to draw; certainly, Despereaux can get no support from his fellow mice.

He does convince Roscuro, however, who determines to apologise to the princess for causing her mother's death. The hollowness of this chivalric code is shown in two episodes: the princess, despite earlier having mourned the departure of the rats, cannot see past her stereotypes about rats to listen to Roscuro's apology, driving him literally and metaphorically back into the darkness.

Secondly, Despereaux uses it to convince the chef's muse, Boldo - a mixture of vegetable and kitchen utensil - to accompany him in his attempt to rescue the princess. Boldo is rapidly overwhelmed by the rats, who munch away at his vegetable parts. The final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth is often claimed as a touching tribute to pointless sacrifice; Boldo's demise is a more pointed denunciation of the power of tales of heroism to mobilise the young and idealistic to throw their lives away in protection of old power structures.

Given that I only seem to get to the movies with Ms Dynamite-E-e these days, I am fascinated by the implicit messages in children's movies. I am delighted, and amazed, that such subversive messages should appear in a big-budget, mainstream kids' movie. Would that many more would encourage such a critical reflection on the customary narrative arcs we are shown. The kneejerk reaction of an injured superpower, the demonisation of one group or another, and the depiction of a society living in fear are all too readily applicable to the world our children are growing up in. The film not only clearly rejects violence, it exposes the narratives that sustain it. Instead, it lauds tolerance and an openness to forgiveness and dialogue. I doubt we have ever needed the latter qualities more than now, in the face of the shadowy terrors dangled in front of us, and the restrictive and mysterious "rules" imposed upon us in the name of our safety. That soup tastes pretty good to me.

Tautology of the Day

Despite the bashing he gets from the less thoughtful bloggers, Tim Ireland does some sterling work attempting to clear the Augean stables of the UK's public sphere (as in Habermas, not (just) blogo-). Actually, strike my first sentence - I'm sure much of the malice and slander comes directly as a result of his calls for high ethical standards among bloggers. It baffles me that the bloggertarians, especially, cannot see the merit in his arguments. Look what LabourList has done for the quality of political blogging in this country, and where do you think Draper took the template from?

But there's little less interesting than meta-blogging. Tim has been watching the newspapers for a while now; he's created the Sun Lies project, and now looks to be casting his net wider. It needs to be done. Tim has proved conclusively how both the Sun and the Daily Mail dishonestly manipulate their comments to imply unanimity with the papers' view. You might think that neither tabloid is any better than it ought to be; at least the broadsheets don't play that game.

Well, the Independent ran this travesty of an article today, which harmonises nicely with the mood music playing from the DCSF's open windows that tries to conflate Home Education with child abuse. Incidentally, the Victoria Climbié Foundation have emphatically distanced themselves from the NSPCC's attempts to link Victoria to Home Education:

VCF - The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK is genuinely concerned about the link being made between Victoria Climbié and home education, and Victoria as a hidden child. Victoria was neither home-educated nor hidden.

The reality is that there is no such thing as a 'hidden' child, only children who are allowed to fall through the gaps. The key issue here is how statutory services interact with children that are known within the child protection system. [Front page, 26.02.09]

Quite. I know from mailing lists that a number of people have protested about the Independent's coverage. Numbers of comments published as of going to press? Well, take a wild guess, why don't you. Yet, just as with the dodgy tabloids Tim highlights, the comments box remains ostensibly open, luring the casual reader into thinking there is nothing controversial (let alone plain wrong) in the article on the site. It's dishonest journalism, and there's your tautology for the day.

Twitter ye not!

God bless Frankie Howerd for the obvious headline. Probably later than I should have, I'm switching Loudtwitter off. Let's face it, if you can't live without my 140 character doses of wisdom, you'll be following me already. Apologies for cluttering up your RSS feeds.

I'm leaving the updates in the sidebar, though...

140 Character References

Putting the twit into twitter:

14:19 @therealsin_o I saw a flasher the morning of the day we went to see Mamma Mia. To this day, I am not sure which was the more disturbing. #

14:20 @therealsim_o I saw a flasher the morning of the day we went to see Mamma Mia. To this day, I am not sure which was the more disturbing. #

15:25 @robmanuel Be a dear and RT the likeliest suggestions, would you? I've just this minute got TD going on Debian, and reached same conclusion. #

15:46 @Goforth4halifax Linda. hi from further up the valley. If you put the http:// in front of the www, Twitter will recognise it as a hyperlink. #

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140 Character References

Putting the twit into twitter:

13:34 Great exposition of Home Educators' current concerns at Liberal Conspiracy - tinyurl.com/dl7hke #

13:38 Semple replies: "since when are parents more qualified than teachers to choose what their children can and can't learn?" bit.ly/2cFO2 #

14:19 @therealsim_o I dunno, it could catch on: "Steptoe and Son front Boris's flagship sustainable transport policy for London. Hercules unsure." #

15:00 @ourman Are they casting the Sound of Music? If so, you're right to be scared. #

15:07 @ourman Regretting my levity, then. Sounds like you'd really value some safety and reassurance right now. Anything we can do? #

16:41 Working in a university office, why would I possibly need a stable internet connection or a working PC? All hail the Eee PC. #

16:41 10 mins to get the 16.51 Leeds train. Oxford Rd to Manchester Victoria. What are the chances? #

19:40 Twitux won't let me click-thru URLs. What's a good client to install on Debian Lenny? Tweetdeck? Gwibber? Any thoughts? #

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