Wednesday 19 October 2011

The missing hours of education lost!

I came across a document the other day - how permission will be denied, if you want to remove your child from school for any day except under special circumstance.


The institution kept bolding this word, special, as if to say, there ain't no special circumstance special enough that would be given permission, so don't even try.


As reasons why you should never pull your child from school? Apparently, days out of school are a negative impact.


Your child would miss out. Your child would even lose their friends. They would be all alone in the world and IT WOULD BE ALL YOUR FAULT.


If you were still wavering, the school then reminded you about the penalty notice and your PROSECUTION IN COURT.


You were still interested in taking your child out of school? Sure! Go ahead!

The school suggested your contact point from here might be THE EDUCATIONAL WELFARE OFFICER.


This role, as parents are taught to fear, deals with abused, marginalised, despairing families who, like you tainted now forever, simply don't care.

Contact them and the next step can only be POLICE, SOCIAL SERVICES and FORCED ADOPTION.

Now go ahead if you think you're special.

Yes, that document pissed me off. It was blatantly threatening. Like the tactics of a bully. Personally, after reading it, I wouldn't want to trust anything that a Local Authority or school told me. Do they feel themselves on weak ground so that they have to resort to threat? What weaknesses of their system are they hiding?

Really, it's the sort of document that would make me pen that deregistration letter right there and then. I accept I'm a little awkward over such matters.


But we have to remember, they're just providing a service. And if you think the service ain't good enough, you don't have to take it. You can take your kids elsewhere.


No matter where you go in this world, you'll always find a home ed group.


Taking part in this wide, wide world. Our classroom.


Today's missed opportunities in learning? Finding out how the world works,
how friends get along, how particles slide, and how the earth spins. Shek O beach

3 comments:

Katie Pybus said...

Fabulous photos to accompany text :) we saw a bird of prey today - that was very SPECIAL!

Anne B said...

Wouldn't it be nice if they showed the same concern about the teaching hours that will be lost because of the up-coming wave of strikes?

(Rants the home-edder whose area will be infested with children just when she'd got to like having them to herself again after the summer holidays!)


PS - Loved the pictures as well.

kelly said...

This evening two of my kids were bent over a book on horse anatomy, my youngest was accompanying me on the piano with some loud, erratic tambourine playing and my other son was in the bath for an hour doing experiments.

If I had to sit and watch the clock in order to get them in bed and asleep in order to get up for school the next day, these magical moments of happy would never happen.

Granted, some of the less magical moments (see yesterdays comment) may not have happened too.

Me, I'm not one to dwell on the negatives. It winds me up no end that a friend couldn't come with us to a museum because the school weren't happy for her to take her daughter out for the day.

And lovely photos :)