HomeSchooler.org.uk

Mr Geoff & Jackie Gale
10 Drake Crescent
Chippenham
Wiltshire
SN14 0XF

Date 07/02/2010

Lord Lucus
The House of Lords
Westminster
London
SW1A 0PW

Re: Home Education Proposal in Children, Schools and Families Bill

Dear

I would like to draw to your attention Section 1 in the above bill which has passed through the committee stage and will shortly come before the Lords. The proposals in this section are based on those of the Badman Report which was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Education at the end of 2008. Although home education is not well understood in England, the methods and curricula are complex and the home education community is diverse, Graham Badman was expected to complete the report in only four months. The result is well summed up by Professor James Conroy, one member of Mr Badman’s own expert panel.

"In my 30 odd years of professional life in education I have rarely encountered a process, the entirety of which was so slap dash, panic driven, and nakedly and naively populist."

The report’s quotes, for example, that from the submission by the Church of England which conveys an impression which is the opposite of the Church’s conclusion, and the use of data, are misleading. Contrary to what is stated in the report, the prevalence of child abuse amongst home educators is much less than it is amongst the population at large. The extensive and highly encouraging research on home education in the USA is completely ignored. Indeed there is no record of a literature search in the report. I am concerned that such an ill-prepared report has been used as a basis for government legislation.

This legislation introduces serious precedents regarding family privacy and civil liberties. A local authority official can impose a curriculum on a family which may be totally at odds with their philosophy. He or she can enter a house (at present only a policeman with a warrant can do so) and interview a child alone.

Local authorities already have considerable powers to deal with problem home educating families. If a child is receiving an inadequate education, the authority can issue a school attendance order. If the child is in danger or suffering abuse, it can issue an emergency protection order. Mr Badman dismisses these powers as unworkable but gives no justification for his conclusion.

We ask you, therefore to vote to delete section 1 from the text of the bill.

Yours sincerely