The home school reaction
Updated on 28 September 2007
Here's what those involved in home education had to say about our report on the rise of home schooling.
"A very high percentage of families who home educate do so because their child has been bullied in school.
"In each and every case that I know of (and there are many), the schools concerned have failed to act to prevent the bullying or to ensure the bullied child's safety - frequently forcing the parents to remove the child.
"The bullies remain in the schools with their education uninterrupted, whilst their victims and their families are left devastated. How can this be right?"
S Green
"I thought it [the Channel 4 News report on Wednesday] was a narrow view of home education. It didn't portray the fact that I and most of my friends choose to be home educated and we have no disabilities, truancy problems etc.
"I would have hoped to see a more balanced view and more discussion on choice of education methods by home educators.
"I feel that I am more broad minded from being home educated and more accepting of other people. I do not need to wear a uniform and undergo endless testing to fit in with society."
Eloise Burgess, 15, Newhaven
"What a shame that politicians are unable to answer questions about home education without continual reference to improving schools. This illustrates the level of ignorance our support organisations have to confront.
"Many of us are not interested in schools. We don't want our children institionalised. We are providing education in a totally different way.
Shame they can't think outside the box!"
Annette Taberner
"If I could afford I would love to be able to afford to send him to a school he wishes to go to, though I can't. Therefore I as a parent am also letting him down."
Ngaire Takano, Berkshire
'As home educators we receive no financial assistance to help us with resources. As schools are not allocated 'our childs money' for their education within their budget, where does that money go to when that child is home educated?'Bev Leach
"My husband and I have been home schooling our 13 year old daughter since January 2005 and we live in Kent. The reason we made the decision to home educate was for one reason only. BULLYING!
"Now, nearly 2 years on we have our daughter back. She is happy. Is gradually regaining her confidence but above all she smiles now!
"Your news article ... would have been even more interesting if you had highlighted a major problem schools have, which is bullying and why I'm sure a vast majority of parents are now travelling along the route of home education. It seems to me Gordon Brown needs to address this problem he has in his schools before more and more children suffer at the hands of bullies.
"As home educators we receive no financial assistance to help us with resources, educational trips, etc. As schools are not allocated 'our childs money' for their education within their budget, where does that money go to when that child is home educated?
"It would be nice to be given some sort of financial help to allow us to provide our children with access to as many resources they would have if they were in school. They should not be penalised because they are home educated."
Bev Leach
"My sister is home schooling all her children in a relaxed and unstructured way - as described by one of your families.
"Her children are both sociable and mature, but I would find it difficult to judge if they are getting a good education, because in the 16 years she has been doing this she has not, to my knowledge, ever been asked by the education authority to prove that her children are being educated to a national standard."
Ingrid Lonsdale
"Our son has always been home-educated - education surely is an ongoing process that doesn't have a start or finish date, and is something very individual and not to be separated from 'real life'."
Ian Hobson
'I had every bit as wide network of friends as any of my School friends, and cope with my dyslexia when the 'system' had already decided that I was 'lazy''Vincent Theobald
"I spent 2 years teaching these 'failures' on E2E courses. Incredibly bright students who just did not managed to learn according to the National Curriculum timetable, late developers, kids with huge personal issues not helped by being labelled as failures our school system.
"We have an over-controlling society. What people really don't like about home-schooling is the thought that some people may actually be acting like individuals, and enjoying it.
"Nobody watching over our shoulders. Does this make people who like filling in paperwork worry that they may be missing out? Should you really be asking tachers what they feel about it?
"Most only see one side and that is the side they are on. They don't know any other side. Yet I know of numerous teachers who teach their own children. Funny, you never manage to interview them!"
Gaynor French
"I left school at 7 years of age and was Home Educated until I went to a College of Further Education at age of 16 years.
"Being Home Educated enabled me to develop at my pace, develop deeper understanding of the things that I was interested in than any of my friends who went to School, socialise every night (different groups every night) so I had every bit as wide network of friends as any of my School friends, and cope with my dyslexia when the 'system' had already decided that I was 'lazy'."
Vincent Theobald"
"In particular, I feel it was a shame that no challenge was presented to the council officer from Lancashire who lamented the absence of benchmarking standards for home educated children.
"In my opinion, home educators have much to offer educationalists who are willing to listen, as we embody a view of education that transcends the narrow straitjacket of standards, league tables and testing into which the UK's school system has been forced.
Dani Ahrens
'Schools started out with the purpose of turning out obedient drones ready to do what society needed of them ... The world has changed since then."Ruth O'Hare
"We use a vast range of resources and go on many educational trips, sometimes as a family, sometimes with groups of home educators.
"We are not a wealthy, middle-class family hothousing our children; nor are we hippies or wierdos. We reject the British education system for being inefficient, out-dated and unsuitable."
EJ
"For many families, however, home education is a lifestyle choice. They never send their children to school because they enjoy the freedom and flexibility home education offers and they can see their children thriving - so why send them to school?
"Home education should be seen in a more positive light, it is not simply an option for children who cannot deal with school life."
Wendy Sayer
"I saw that the numbers of home school students in Scotland is not nearly as high as in England. In Edinburgh, for example, in 2002 there were no home school students at all!
"Is this an indication that our state system works better? There have certainly been many complaints about the English education system.
"Perhaps encouraging students to carry on to sixth year, and not having separate sixth form colleges in the way forward. Having all secondary education in the same school is an incentive to come back to what you know."
Catriona Spaven-Donn, 15, Edinburgh
"Schools started out with the purpose of turning out obedient drones ready to do what society needed of them, the girls to stay at home and keep the house while the boys went off to work in factories.
"Schools for the wealthy had a slight variation of course but obedience was still key and each child knew from the start what they'd be doing for the rest of their life.
"The world has changed since then, but the basic school model has not. We now need a flexible workforce, people who can think for themselves and who are capable of continuing to learn throughout their working life.
"I'm going to Home Educate because schools can't provide that kind of education, and I'd rather like my daughter to have a happy childhood."
Ruth O'Hare
"Bullying is a strong word" states the NUT rep. May be if teachers were less scared to use the word and keener to take action this would not be such a problem.
"It is my experience that if you claim your child is being bullied there is initial sympathy but what soon follows is an "explanation" that usually involves the victim taking a chunk of the blame. Teachers and head teachers seem reluctant to involve the parents of the bully - perhaps avoiding further confrontation."
Jo Price
