FreeBird

@KnowingBetterYT If you had been my parent, I would be dead by now. The data is pretty clear in child suicides, school terms cause spikes (which vanished during pandemic lockdowns). I'm pretty sure all those dead children would have been better off without school.

I get flak every time I say this, so I figured I should clarify. Universally, 100% of the time, homeschooling is the worst option for every single child. Without exception. I'm not being hyperbolic. Let me explain. 1/11

New post - writing to the bill committee - children not in school + home education edyourself.wordpress.com/2025/01/14/evi…

@KatiePybus I don't think there's any evidence of that either. In fact, in the US I think there is evidence that schools reinforce shallow group stereotypes because the social structure encourages cliques.

archive.ph/qvXCn?sfnsn=sc… "Schooling is the most powerful vehicle for integration available to society. " Which is why we have a two tier system of private and state to ensure that only the right kind of integration happens?

@ChildrensComm The weakness isn't in the law, it is in the people who failed to uphold the law. We need accountability for Surrey council, for the social workers and judges who failed to follow good practice and let this happen. No change to the law will help when people don't act on it.

I am heartbroken by the details shared in court today which showed the torture & abuse Sara Sharif endured during her short life by her father & step mother. I am deeply concerned that her father thought this amounted to legal punishment. Read more: childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/news/sara-shar…

Rachel, Frankly? You should be ashamed. This response appears to be nothing more than a purely opportunistic grab at an appalling case, aimed at pushing through contentious legislation that has long been in the works. It would seem you either have wholly insufficient knowledge of Sara Sharif’s case or are willfully choosing to disregard the fundamental issues at its core—issues which bear no resemblance to the narrative you describe. As social workers across the country will already tell you—there was ample legislation to keep Sara safe. This case will be remembered in history as a stark and tragic reminder of the risks vulnerable children face when a Local Authority, including its maintained schools, wholly abandons its statutory duties: to identify, assess, monitor, and act when a child is vulnerable or at risk. Specifically, on the Home Education Point: Surrey County Council already has a comprehensive two-page policy that clearly documents what should happen when a child is unexpectedly removed from school. How much of this was followed? None. - Was Sara’s removal properly reported? No. - Was she recognised as a Child in Need or a Child in Need of Protection? No. - Was her past or present vulnerability identified? No. - Was a referral made to Inclusion? No. - Was any attempt made to assess whether she was receiving a ‘suitable education’? No. And this is before addressing the many, many opportunities missed during her six years at school. Six years in which every single behavioural cue, every cry for help, was ignored. And the four years before that? The same story. No amount of legislation will ever keep a child safe where there is an abject refusal to follow it, let alone hold anyone accountable for ignoring it—again, and again, and again. It is hard to imagine a worse example of systemic indifference, appalling maladministration, and unbelievably poor judgement. Meanwhile, as you push through legislation that would have made absolutely no difference in this case, Surrey County Council is quietly lobbying to ensure that a “nice, quiet, and quick little internal safeguarding review” will suffice. And worse still? They already have just the person for the job. No pesky questions. No awkward scrutiny. Just a tidy little whitewash with a bow on it—and a glossy new Bill to put the whole nasty business behind us 🤬🤯😳 As Children’s Commissioner, are you really going to let this happen? If you won’t demand real answers for Sara, then who on earth will? Measure what matters.

#SaraSharif was not a hidden child. As in the tragic case of Victoria Climbié, she simply fell through the gaps and was failed by services involved in her life. Concerns had been raised and seemingly not acted upon within a multi agency framework #saveathoughtforthechildren

@SchoolsWeek Further it is possible for home education to be a protective factor for a child, e.g. in DV situations where a parent removed from the home could contact or stalk them at school, or where the school environment itself is the source of safeguarding problems.

@SchoolsWeek What an absurd, outrageous, idea. The whole point of having an enquiry prior to a plan is that we don't know if there is any problem at this stage. S47 enquiries usually do not result in a plan, and can be easily initiated through malicious referrals.

Parents of pupils subject to child protection enquiries or plans will need permission from their local authority to home educate their child, under new plans due to be unveiled by the government this week schoolsweek.co.uk/parents-will-n…

You may have received an email from your local authority asking you to fill in a form to support the CNIS. It’s actually an application to be part of the discussion forum. Please fill the form in & be part of the discussion. #homeeduk

@C_Hendrick You know there are entire non-phonetic writing systems, right? Like Chinese. It is obviously possible for children to learn to read without phonics.

Me listening to people tell me their child discovered how to read by themselves with no instruction, no phonics through some kind of revealed truth or divine revelation.

@BBCNews Pain is subjective, you wallies. It can't be proved. At some point, you have to extend trust to families to decide what is in their children's best interests.

Period-pain proof required for school sick days bbc.in/3zOpCuD

@waitmanb Counterpoint: qualifications in education are meaningless, there is little to no evidence that schooling quantity or style has any impact on life outcomes.

You are not qualified to homeschool your kids.

Another day, another parent receives a very serious letter in the post. Their child's school attendance level has triggered legal action under the Single Justice Procedure. The parent has to respond by telling the magistrate if they are guilty or not guilty. 1/

@johnb78 Children are property held in trust for their adulthood. That means their parents can make decisions for them, but also that they have to make them with care and consideration for the adult that child will become. That should include home education where appropriate, obviously.

This is a clash between two different underlying beliefs: the belief that a child is a parent's property to do what they want with, and the (correct) belief that of course that isn't true and claiming it is weird and gross

@JamesDawson911 @GMB And yet students at university famously get up late and don't cook well...almost like when you wake and eat has nothing to do with learning or academic engagement!

The number of parents home-educating their children in England soared by a fifth over the last year, according to new stats from charity Education Otherwise. The majority of these children were dealing with mental health issues and special education needs.

@bphillipsonMP There is still no evidence that missing school has any causational effect on children's academic or life outcomes. Rather, the evidence suggests that children who have underlying struggles - eg. health issues - miss school and do worse, but that more schooling doesn't help them.

I make no apologies for saying the best place for children is in school. The Tories tinkered around the edges of a generational challenge. Labour are gripping it. This week must be back-to-school week, not just for some children, but for all children. thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…

"provisional wing" For stepping up to their legal duty to ensure their child receives an education by taking the responsibility on themselves, parents are equated to terrorists?

@iesumawr123 @Ed_Dorrell I agree LAs are under pressure, but that manifests as them refusing to provide section 19 support for pupils who can't attend school, denying SEND, and cutting personnel. It doesn't appear to stop them harassing home educating families.

@UncagedDove @Ed_Dorrell It’s a shame because we could probably have a decent chat about this and I’d love to give you my thoughts on alternatives. A huge factor is how the current school system is failing children. But if you can’t acknowledge the huge effect of austerity on LAs then it’s pointless.

One of the most overdue policies in British public policy. The extreme libertarian tendencies of the provisional wing of the home ed lobby has a massive amount to answer for. thetimes.com/article/38e666…

@iesumawr123 @Ed_Dorrell Also I notice you avoid answering the question of how you think things should be done. Not sure why anyone would take your criticisms of the system seriously if you have no alternative to present.

@iesumawr123 @Ed_Dorrell What conclusion would you draw from their frivolous pursuit of families providing suitable education then? Portsmouth council served SAOs repeatedly on one child in spite of the courts finding in the parents' favour every time.