Making It Up

Let's talk about support

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by

Jax Blunt
in

When you look up home education on many local authority websites it will talk about setting up meetings to discuss your plans and the support they’ll offer. You don’t need to meet with them, there are a variety of ways you can offer evidence about your educational provision. And if they are anything like our local authority, they’ll be offering no support, so you won’t get anything out of the relationship but hassle.

Until this week, our local county music service offered low price musical instrument lessons and free instrument loan to all children. With no warning at all, no discussion, no consultation, they’ve decided that this now only applies to children in state funded education. We are no longer welcome. I don’t mind paying for lessons at all, but being unable to borrow an instrument means Big’s fledgling career as a bassoonist has just come to a grinding halt. She’s got a term of lessons while I try to make other arrangements and then, realistically, we’ll be stopping as I can’t afford a bassoon.

You might say that that is the choice we’ve made, we’ve stepped outside the state system and so we aren’t entitled to pick and choose parts of it we’d like to have. Fair enough, but local authorities don’t get to have it both ways either. I won’t be engaging with ours if they come calling because I know they don’t offer anything to me.

Imagine if we needed an educational psychologist for any reason. Perhaps we are investigating dyscalculia. Would you believe that that is only on the cards if you are in school too? The paediatrician is attempting a referral, but doesn’t know if it will be allowed. Personally, I think that that is unreasonable. I think that should be available to all children. It’s not a luxury like musical instruments (I do think they’re a luxury. Very very good for children, but not a necessity at all.) But this is something vital for a child to be able to reach their potential, and it’s only being doled out if you conform.

So tonight I’m cross. I’m not impressed that something a qualified doctor thinks might be helpful is difficult for us to access because we’re saving the state money.

Am I missing something? Or do you agree with me?

Comments

15 responses to “Let's talk about support”

  1. Tasha Goddard avatar
    Tasha Goddard

    Yes, it should be available. Absolutely and without question. If the government is allowing all these free schools and academies then home educators should get all the benefits too and, I strongly believe, should also receive the funding allocated to their children to use for educational resources and activities.
    And, no, we don’t home educate (though it’s something we would definitely consider if we felt it was right for either or both our children, and I was home-educated myself, so am not a stranger to the concept), but I think it’s fairly obvious and astounds me that it’s not actually the case.
    I know some education authorities do provide extra resources for home educators, such as free entrance to museums and galleries and free sporting activities at local authority sports centres – but I think it should be a national requirement to provide this, and other things, rather than a choice the local authority can make.

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      A level playing field across the country would be good, some local authorities are excellent, and some most definitely aren’t.

      Reply
  2. Midlife Singlemum avatar
    Midlife Singlemum

    I agree. Either you are a child of a local tax-paying family or you are not.

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      Yup.

      Reply
  3. Allie avatar
    Allie

    I think that anything that can be seen as a medical or developmental need should be accessible by anyone – regardless of how they educate.

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      I agree. But I would really 😉

      Reply
  4. ATOmum avatar
    ATOmum

    I think it’s ridiculous that you don’t have access to what state educated kids do. We are supposed to have a choice about how our children are educated and home-education is not an easy choice, so I think you should have all the support you need. I really hope you find a bassoon, such a shame for a kid to give up something they enjoy, and music is so important.

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      Thanks. I hope we get somewhere but I’m not particularly hopeful.

      Reply
  5. mamacrow avatar
    mamacrow

    it depends whether education is seen as a community wide endeavour that benefits all, or an opportunity for indoctrination. But maybe I’m just feeling extra cynical tonight, being caught up in the gcse nightmare (and costs).
    Not being able to have a NEEDED MEDICAL resource because you are not in a state school is UTTERLY OUTRAGEOUS.

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      I’m dreading gcses. But looks like I’ve other battles to fight before then.

      Reply
  6. Gina avatar
    Gina

    You might think all of this is bad. It is, but I couldn’t even get my daughter a hearing test when she needed one because she was too old to be seen by a health visitor but didn’t have a school nurse to refer her 🙁 Fortunately the issue resolved itself before I had to make too big a fuss!

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      Just goes to show how it varies from area to area, had no problem with hearing support when we needed it in Derbyshire. Haven’t needed it here.

      Reply
  7. Allie avatar
    Allie

    There is lots of support and info if you do decide to go the GCSE route – really, the exams list is a gold-mine. Once you start to dig a bit you can find free resources of excellent quality too. We’ve been watching free lectures online by university lecturers, aimed at A level students but perfectly accessible for an interested fifteen year old, and reading second-hand textbooks bought for pennies second-hand. The exam entry cost is a bit of a pain but only £70 per subject at our centre. Because we’ve spread out daughter’s exams we haven’t had to find a lot of money at once.

    Reply
  8. Elaine avatar
    Elaine

    🙁 How rubbish that she doesn’t qualify any more… maybe if she writes a few letters to local organisations eg Round Table / Rotary type someone might be able to give her a contribution towards the cost of a bassoon?

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      I think she’s going to quit tbh, I’m struggling to persuade her to just keep it up for the next term. She can’t see the point if we can’t find a teacher, and I can see where she’s coming from.

      Reply

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