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Introduction It is a basic understanding of this website that young people are autonomous beings, not owned by parents. Since parents decided to bring their children into the world the relationship between parents and their offspring is asymmetric in that parents have obligations to their offspring which young people do not have towards their parents. In law the right to an education is unique in that it is an obligatory right, it is a right that may neither be denied or refused. Thus a child does not have the right to refuse an education. In this respect we believe that the state should remain extremely flexible when defining what a 'suitable education' may be. Even though the law expresses the right to home educate in terms of it being a parental right, it is my belief that in the same way that young people have the right to decide upon medical procedures they should also have the right to be educated in a manner of their own choosing. This is not only right in principle but in practice too since intrinsically motivated learning will most readily "achieve that which it sets out to achieve". Ultimately education cannot take place against a child's wishes. This website is a celebration of families as places of education and parenting. The law in the UK is quite clear, parents rightly remain responsible for the education of their offspring regardless of whether they are in school or out of it. The state reserves the right to make enquiries should they believe that this responsibility is not being met and to offer an alternative educational environment to those who wish to use it. Since 1870 the state has increasingly usurped parents rights and responsibilities as educators of young people aged 5 to 16 year old using the argument that this is in children's best interests. In reality state education has always been in the best interests of state and industry. The state originally decided that education should be compulsory not because of a widespread concern that children were ignorant but rather to control a perceived, rampant immorality among the working classes by providing day care for children who's parents were labouring in factories. Later the 1944 education act enabled a class driven education system to provide the appropriate labour resources industry then demanded. In today's scientifically advanced economy we need graduate technicians so the drive is on to provide industry with 50% of its new labour with a marketable degree. But all this is now changing, there is a quiet revolution underway as ever more parents find that in an information and resource rich society it is possible to provide an education suitable to their families individual needs and aptitudes from a home base in a way that schools could not dream of providing should that ever have been state's intention. I believe that one day we will regard the second half of the nineteenth century and the whole of the twentieth as an educational dark age, lit only by the likes of Ivan Illich, John Holt and our own Roland Meighan. The home education community in the UK is estimated as representing around 50,000 thousand children (2005) and that it continues to grow at over 10% per annum. In short - school's out. 1 Who am I ? I am Mike Fortune-Wood, I have been home educating my 4 offspring since around 1992. Over the years I have received significant amounts of help and advice from other home educators and I am happy to offer help to others in return. I have been involved in supporting home educators since the mid 1990's when I was involved in editing the Elective Home Education Legal Guidelines. More recently I have become involved in Home education research on behalf of a charity called Personalised Education Now. I have provided training to Local education authorities on issues relating to home education and I edit the Journal "Home Education" the UKs only independent home education journal concentrating on research and information not only to home educators but also to professional's involved with the issue. I should state clearly that I am not a legal or educational professional, though I do have such persons I can approach for support or information should that prove necessary. Any support I offer is on a goodwill basis. I do not normally charge home educators for assistance but would be gratefully for any donations to maintain this website and my other work. 1 Aim 1.1 I aim to provide support to people home educating or considering home educating in the UK. Additionally where practical I will also provide support for home educators in other countries. 1.2 I will do this by providing online information and resources to home educators. 1.3 I intend this site to become no less than the finest online resource for home educators in the UK and thus become a focus for the UK online home education community. |
2 Service Quality 2.1 I intend to maintain a site of the highest quality and standards. I hope to provide accurate, on topic, accessible information. I hope to respond promptly and accurately to questions. 2.2 It should be noted however that I am an individual who very occasionally takes a break from the computer and so while I try to ensure that questions are responded to in less than 48 hours, I can make no promises regarding this response. 2.3 I undertake to maintain the privacy of anyone contacting me through this site. Except where I have good reason to believe that in my judgement a child's welfare is at serious risk. In line with the Children's Act I do not consider education to be a welfare issue. 2.4 Not being an organisation I cannot arrange a comprehensive complaints procedure. However in the event of a complaint I hope to treat it fairly and with an open mind. If I cannot resolve the issue I will take the advice of other respected members of the home education community into account, particularly those with responsibilities for online provision before coming to a final decision, which is final. 3 Equal Opportunities 3.1 I do not distinguish between people of different races, gender, sexuality, creed, philosophy, ethnicity. 3.2 Specifically I make no judgements regarding peoples reasons for home educating (within the parameters set below). 3.3 I hope to make this site accessible to all visitors. Text should be clear and all graphics should have "alt" labels. 4 Parental & Children's Rights 4.1 I recognise that children have rights, such as those laid down in the United Nations Children's charter. In particular I recognise the right to education and the right to live without violence or the fear of violence. Therefore this site opposes the physical punishment of children in any form. I will not promote any form of activity, information, or group directly advocating any form of physical punishment for whatever reasons. 4.2 I also recognise the right of parents to chose an education for their children in line with their religious and philosophical beliefs. 4.3 Where a child offers an opinion regarding their education it is that which I will work toward. 5 Development 5.1 I am committed to responding to changing needs and circumstances by continuing to develop new resources. 6 Collaboration 6.2 I am pleased to collaborate with other organisations and individuals working to the same or related agendas. If you own a not for profit web site, or have an idea which you think could be developed within this site please contact me. 6.3 I am also able to host sites for home educating communities in other countries, particularly where home education is persecuted and setting up such sites may be 'problematic' (there is no fee for such a service). 7 Acknowledgements 7.1 This site has been a community effort so I would like to acknowledge the help received from a number of home educators in putting together this site as well as their dedicated service to the home education community in general. Particularly Andy Blewitt, Neil Taylor, Ian Dowty, Jan Fortune-Wood, Martin Gibson, Keith Lawler, Jos Underhill and many others. ©2003 Mike F-W
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