HED0989

Written evidence submitted by [a member of the public]

[Note: This evidence has been redacted by the Committee. Text in square brackets has been inserted where text has been redacted.]

Elective Home Education Observations

[name and role] and parent of a neurodiverse teen

What is EHE?

• Elective Home Education? An important choice for parents, though for many, it does not feel elective. I/we certainly did not have a choice but needs of neurodiversity were not able to be met in school setting and it has turned out to be a good outcome so far (aside from Pandemic challenges.)
• Self-directed learning within a self-funded community sharing support and skills with small groups.
• Creative education (perhaps a more accurate description) responding to individual strengths, learning needs and opportunities that arise daily.
• An opportunity for neurodiverse children to access learning without the need for expensive specialist schools. Support of this could potentially reduce enormous bills faced by local councils.

What works well?

• Allowing the young person to set the pace and curriculum, working together to discover strengths and interests at a pace that preserves wellbeing e.g. respecting the teen body clock. I would never have thought of adding Japanese to her learning!
• Vast resources and courses now available on-line, alongside parent-support networks. Some tutors record live lessons, so that students can watch and learn in their own time. This helps ND children who struggle to maintain concentration.
• Meeting like-minded friends and families in small groups.
• Learning environment modified to address Sensory Processing Difficulties, e.g. reduced clutter on walls, lower lighting, quiet space.
• Pets at hand can really improve wellbeing and therefore support earning. In our experience, a rescue dog has provided much support and education around the treatment of dogs in Europe, rescue centres, dog training and care.
• Expertise shared by numerous former teachers who have left the profession to home educate their own children and tutor others.
• Bespoke educational trips, according to interests.
• Learning environment that inherently teaches self-awareness, independent learning, ability to adapt to change, as well as sharing ideas in small groups, all vitally important skills for the 4th Industrial Revolution.
• Learning in an environment with a more caring/sharing psychology compared to a predominantly competitive environment at school. Need for this is explained well by Prof. Paul Gilbert e.g. recent discussion about Compassion in Politics  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro7uZxYAfJo&t=5s.

Our case

[initial of name] went from a withdrawn, anxious child with the ‘weight of the world’ on her shoulders, to enjoying learning once more, with healthier relationships (bullying occurred in school due to her being ‘different’) with a recent report from her on-line [subject] tutor stating:

“[initial of name] is a wonderful student to teach. She is always engaged and funny and she makes every lesson a pleasure. I’m sure that she will achieve great things in [subject] and beyond.’ She was predicted a grade 8 for the GCSE, which she is planning to take in Summer ’21, a year early! She suffers fatigue due to dyspraxia and anxiety and therefore better for her to spread exams across a couple of years.

What does not work well

• Sometimes seems to be a forgotten cohort e.g. national guidelines during the Pandemic have not been supportive of this community and led to isolation for some, and others being unable to receive teacher-assessed grades for GCSEs last summer.
• Threat of being inspected and/or tested causes harm. Testing is a reason that many choose to leave the school system, due to the anxiety caused by the pressure of testing and focus on academic outcomes. A more co-operative/supportive approach is needed. Parents often feel judged and this impacts well-being. Increased understanding of home education, neurodiversity and mental health would help. For example, there are numerous accounts, and my own experience, of parental concerns being dismissed by teachers. Contrast this with training of Paediatric nurses taught ‘if a parent says there’s a problem, there’s a problem.’ See impact of judging here https://royalfoundation.com/the-duchess-of-cambridge-unveils-five-big-insights-research-early-years/.
• Threats of fines and prosecution of parents when pupils struggle with school attendance is causing a lot of harm. Many of these cases are not about truancy, but mental health challenges and a reason that some opt for EHE. The term ‘school refuser’ is unhelpful and more support and understanding of these issues is needed with reduced conflict between schools and parents. See https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/nov/14/it-was-damaging-him-the-spiralling-number-of-children-refusing-to-go-to-school.
• Going to a full curriculum straight from school. Many need considerable recovery time, often at least a year of reduced lesson time.
• Insufficient support for children struggling with school-related trauma, mental health difficulties and/or neurodiversity. We were fortunate to be able to pay privately for some services e.g. Clinical Psychologist for thorough autism assessment. Additional resources are needed for counselling services to help children to heal from experiences in school.

Summary

Change is clearly needed, but of a supportive nature with additional resources, and with the well-being of families prioritised, as this is essential to child development.

I understand that the Canadian system provides a grant to parents/carers who choose to home educate, and this would certainly seem worth exploring as a fair and reasonable way forward, especially considering many tax payers are self-funding home education due to failure of some parts of the current school system to meet the needs of neurodiversity and/or mental ill health, and in some cases, making the situation worse.

November 2020