Suitable Education

Home education is wonderful as a positive choice but increasingly families are being forced to do it because school is hurting their children The Schools Bill then insists that for those same children's 'safety and well-being' that their personal and sensitive data be shared

"having failed to fund services, failed to meet statutory duties, & failed to provide early help, politicians are blaming the very people harmed by those failures. We see it in political rhetoric & we see it in Bills such as the Children Wellbeing and Schools Bill." @expertlegal

Today, a long-awaited report has been published on a London school following the conclusion of the Local Child Safeguarding Review into culture, policy and practice. For almost a decade, our work has focussed on raising red flags around the impact of zero tolerance behaviour policies on our children and the influence of an ideology which places fear, threat, coercion and compliance at the centre of a standards agenda which serves to institutionally harm the most vulnerable, underserved and underresourced children and their families. Compounding structural inequalities, discrimination and adversity without care nor concern is too often normalised and enabled through inadequate governance, lacklustre complaints procedure and a hubris only possible as a result of protectionism and blinkered establishment privilege. Those of us who have attempted to highlight concerns have faced accusations aimed to discredit, deflect, distort and distract from the rising numbers struggling to attend, access, or remain in education; many of the same children spiralling into higher levels of additional learning support needs, CAMHS treatment, social care involvement or increased risk of permanent exclusion. Mossbourne is an indices story with others lying underneath. You don’t need to look very hard to find a parent, child or teacher who’ve been impacted by similar variations of a theme highlighted in the report. It has taken not inconsiderable courage and determination to pursue this story, spearheaded by a single parent and a small group of us supporting. The report is sobering to say the least, with a clear and unflinching spotlight shined back to those championing the ideology and its delivery, on the payroll of the Government. Please read the full report chscp.org.uk/case-reviews/ Reported by @AnnaFazack1 for @theguardianfeed @ObserverUK theguardian.com/education/2024… Schools Week schoolsweek.co.uk/mossbourne-suc… @SchoolsWeek And TES tes.com/magazine/news/… @tes Questions remain over the Government’s admirable ambition to build a culture of inclusion and belonging in every school, improving attendance, engagement and thriving, at the same time as delivering behaviour policies which disproportionately impact children with highest levels of need. The answer is not increasing segregation by design. Nor is it found in diluting the protections and entitlements of the Equality Act, and Children and Families Act. Neither is it found in increasing powers around School Attendance Orders, or by issuing half a million fixed penalty fines to families. The definition of madness is doing more of the same and expecting a different result. Should we even be surprised? The data speaks for itself. #timeforchange There is always Another Way. We can do better. Together. teamsquarepeg.org teamsquarepeg.co.uk notfineinschool.co.uk

The powers being given to Local Authorities under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools bill concerns us because of years of dealing with over zealous Local Authority staff with home educating families and overstepping their remit.

And this is why I am so die hard for children’s advocacy. Children are the most oppressed class in the world and everything we do to them reflects just how shitty this world actually is. The world is a reflection of how we treat children

I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better

The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK are deeply concerned about the dangers to children and their families from measures included in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, as are other safeguarding and child protection experts. rightsforchildren.uk/dangerousbills/

Today I spoke during the Second Reading of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill in the House of Lords today. It contains vastly authoritarian measures to clamp down on home education under the pretext of safeguarding, but actually will cause great harm (1/5). @LabourList

It is a matter of historic record that when Parliament passed the Education Act of 1944, it deliberately safeguarded the right of parents — not the state — to determine their children’s education, as a bulwark against totalitarianism. (4/5) @LabourList

Extraordinary decision by @educationgovuk. Who authorised the creation and publishing of a poster without caveats based on research which lists multiple limitations (named on page 15) of their report? 🧐

Attendance - Why children need support not shame. @educationgovuk @bphillipsonMP RewritingThe FairyTale fixed it for you! @teamsquarepeg @NotFineinSchool

It's all about writing this week. Thoroughly enjoyed delivering a writing input for teachers from @bccet yesterday. And in answer to the question in the feedback. Yes, I absolutely would, I love showing the beautiful messy process of writing. #writing

Ofsted’s new framework. The criticism from almost all quarters is overwhelmingly and utterly damning. @bphillipsonMP, please have the courage to rip it up and tell them to start again. If that leads to the resignation of HMCI and the fall of @Ofstednews, so be it.

"Ofsted was tasked with bringing about a system of inspection that reduced pressure on the school system in quite tragic circumstances. It's our view that this will make things worse. Not better." @DanielKebedeNEU speaks to the education committee about latest Ofsted changes.

🔊🔊🔊We are excited to announce the launch of the NME Leeds chapter on Saturday 15th February from 3-6pm. We are inviting young people, parents, carers, educators and anyone who wants to organize with us to abolish school exclusions and explore alternatives to join us. 1/2

How much taxpayer money is spent on restraint & de-escalation training in England's schools? #AgainstRestraint #RestraintForRevenue againstrestraint.com/2025/01/25/the…

🌍✨ A year in the making. In follow-up to The ICARS Report England: Follow the Money 💰✨ Survivors, parents, educators, unions, lawmakers—it’s time to uncover the cost of the Restraint Industrial Complex in education. January 25, 2025.

We rank bottom of 27 countries for high rates of unhappiness among 15-year-olds. There is a #MentalHealth crisis. Schools forced to become competitive #ExamFactories, with rigid, intolerant discipline, are a big factor @MoreThanScore @YoungGreenParty

(2017) DfE hid facts from decision-making Star Chamber defenddigitalme.org/2017/11/19/sch… HOL Select Committee on Constitution re. number/breadth of delegated powers, “an increasingly common feature of legislation which as we have repeatedly stated, causes considerable concern.” #CWBSBill

The willful blindness of the govt and continued insistence that school is safer and good for kids. This is a lighter example than many which could have been chosen but... The school system has been driven into the ground and many are leaving. Teachers, children... It's broken 💔

There's no way to understand this other than a plan to reduce SEND services. The main reason to reduce plans is to reduce costs, and the main outcome of reducing costs is less services.