2007 - Send Jim Knight a postcard (and anyone else you want too!) It would be great if he got a sackful for valentines day, but don't worry if you're a bit late, let's just get him to sit up and think about what he's saying!

Jim Knight MP

House of Commons

Westminster

London

SW1A 0AA

or at his constituency address

42 Southview Road

Weymouth

Dorset

DT4 0JD

or email:

jimknightmp@parliament.uk

DfES calls Home Education an “anomaly” not in line with

the Every Child Matters agenda.

Every Child Matters

More than 360,000 children injured in schools each year

450,000 children bullied in school last year

At least 16 children commit suicide each year as a result of school bullying

An estimated 1 million children truant every year

Treasury statistics show more than 1 in 6 children leave school each year unable to read, write or add up

Every Child Matters?

Home Education

because EACH child matters, individually

See Anomaly Figures

If you want to write to your mp or local paper to tell them what you're doing and why here's a sample letter you may or may not wish to use.

>>Dear .......

I am writing to you in support of the "I'm an Anomaly" campaign by Action for Home Education (AHEd.org.uk) which aims to prevent the DfES introducing legislation that would damage our children. I enclose a copy of the postcard that home educating families have sent to Mr Jim Knight for Valentine's Day.

DfES continues to respond to serious questions about the validity of the proposed consultation on the statutory framework regarding home education with a stock reply in which we are told we are an "anomaly"

"at odds with the Every Child Matters agenda". We do not find this acceptable, and would very much appreciate your help in challenging DfES about their woeful treatment of our minority group.

Home Educators are fed up with being patronised when we ask serious questions, we are sick of being told we are not stakeholders in those consultations which could impact heavily upon us and potentially damage our children, and furthermore we are outraged by the DfES using the Every Child Matters agenda to try to turn Home Education into another version of the spectacularly failing, one size fits all system that is state controlled education.

As James Bartholomew writes in "The Welfare State We're In" 

"The troubles that arise when the government decides what should be taught (and how) keep on mounting up. The government makes mistakes. There is a kind of totalitarianism about it which is repellent in itself. Education and intellectual activity should be open and involve debate and different ideas. Let a thousand flowers bloom. Don't let us

have a government deciding what is good education and what is bad."

Home Education maybe an "anomaly" in the eyes of the DfES, and indeed we agree it is incongruent but it would be a very shortsighted government indeed that chose to bring it "into line" with state and independent schools and we will vehemently resist any such action.

Besides being a perfectly suitable education choice, proven to be efficacious on many levels, sometimes Home Education is the only safety valve families have available to them when school harms or fails their children.

There are already perfectly adequate laws in place which can be used if it appears that a child is not being educated according to their age, ability aptitude and special needs, and the government should be spending their time ensuring that LAs act within these laws, instead of attempting to change those laws to accommodate ultra vires practice and prejudiced ambitions.

Yours<<

The poster and 2 variations of the postcards are available on the wiki - links below. Choose whether you want to send a postcard from yourself or your child or both.

Poster available at:

http://ahed.pbwiki.com/f/anomaly%20poster_2_pdf..pdf

Postcards available at:

http://ahed.pbwiki.com/f/anomaly%20postcardspdf..pdf

Postcards for children available at:

http://ahed.pbwiki.com/f/anomaly%20postcards.pdf