Alternative schools
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Links
Department for Education and Skills (Dfes)
www.parentscentre.gov.uk/publications/
A wide range of booklets are available from the Dfes and all are free. These include info and advice on education choices, helping your child to learn at home and understanding the National Curriculum.
Estyn (Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales)
www.estyn.gov.uk
Responsible for inspecting schools and nursery settings in Wales.
ETI Inspection Services
www.deni.gov.uk/inspection_services/
Responsible for inspecting schools in Northern Ireland.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE)
www.hmie.gov.uk
Aims to promote improvements in standards, quality and attainment in Scottish education through first-hand, independent evaluation.
Human Scale Education
www.hse.org.uk
Find out more about some of the small, alternative schools in the UK.
Ministers Move Closer to Adopting Progressive Teaching
www.tes.co.uk/2111657
The Education Department has put £40,000 into a project to help a tough Manchester primary school adopt the Montessori method, which involves children choosing what they study.
Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted)
www.ofsted.gov.uk
Government agency inspecting standards in schools, both state and independent. The site has a good FAQ section on a wide range of topics related to education.
Steiner Schools 'Could Help All'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4633601.stm
Article that looks at the Steiner approach to teaching, which is more holistic than mainstream methods and does not use tests.
Some alternative schools
Atlantic College
www.atlanticcollege.org
Bedales School
www.bedales.org.uk
St Christopher School
www.stchris.co.uk
Steiner schools
www.steinerwaldorf.org.uk
Summerhill School
www.summerhillschool.co.uk
Home Schooling
Education Otherwise
www.education-otherwise.org
Offers a wide range of support, including legal advice and tips on explaining to the local education authority how you are meeting your child's educational needs.
HE Special
www.he-special.org.uk/
Website and mailing list run by a group of families who home educate children with special educational needs. The site has some useful resources.
Home Education Advisory Service
www.heas.org.uk
Has useful publications, especially for parents taking their first steps in home schooling.
Home Education in the UK
www.geocities.com/sueincyprus/
A growing number of parents home educate their children right from the start. This site explains why people are choosing home education, suggests how to get started and provides links to resources and legal information.
Parents Centre
www.parentscentre.gov.uk/whatchildrenlearn/
learningathomeoutsideschool/electivehomeeducation/
The government offers advice on home schooling on this website.
Schoolhouse
www.schoolhouse.org.uk
A good set of resources can be found here about home schooling.
Books
Doing It Their Way: Home-based education and autonomous learning by Jan Fortune-Wood (Educational Heretics Press, 2000)
Examines various theories of raising and educating children, and explains why the author believes strongly in child-led education.
Get this book
Free Range Education: How home education works edited by Terri Dowty (Hawthorn Press, 2000)
Twenty British families explain why they have chosen to home educate. A fascinating series of vignettes into home education at the end of the 20th century.
Get this book
Free to Learn: Introducing Steiner Waldorf early childhood education by Lynne Oldfield (Hawthorn Press, 2001)
A guide to the principles and methods of Steiner Waldorf kindergartens, where teachers and parents believe that children's early learning is profound and that the early years should be enjoyed not rushed through. The book addresses issues of healthy child development, creative play and learning through imitation and rhythm.
Get this book
Montessori in the Classroom by Paula Polk Lillard (Kuperard, 1997)
What really happens inside a Montessori classroom? How do teachers teach and how do children learn? This day-by-day record of a year in the life of a Montessori classroom answers these questions by providing an illuminating and practical glimpse of the Montessori method in action.
Get this book
Waldorf Education by Christopher Clouder and Martyn Rawson (Floris, 2003)
Basic introduction to the Steiner-Waldorf school and its philosophy. Rudolf
Steiner's innovative ideas on children's mental, physical and emotional
development are clearly described, and examples from the classroom and
the curriculum are included.
Get this book
