Funding and other issues

Funding - Donations? Grants? Subscriptions? How would this be funded?

• Building
• Equipment
• Staff wages/or work with volunteers initially
• Fees which may need to be payable
• Public Liability Insurance
• General bills/tax/rates

Charity registration - would it be a charity?

Trustees - appointing them

Initial committee

Staff - who would we need? How many? Roles?

• Secretary
• IT people
• Teachers etc
• Manager (who could keep up to date with legal issues)?

Location - just in one area, branches with a Head Office?

Legal issues like staff having DBS checks, first aider, risk assessments of building etc

*These can be added to...

What would the aims and objectives be?

 

🎯Aims and Objectives🎯

To provide a safe learning environment for children and their educators

To provide a model of alternative methods of education

To offer practical support 

To provide an environment where children and their educators can come for cooperative activities, shared learning and experiences

To help increase public (and political) awareness of the benefits of home education

To offer legal information by keeping up to date with parliamentary bills etc

To offer an exam centre for a variety of examination boards

Why a Home Education Support Centre?

When I was home educating my sons, there were certain things I thought I needed and maybe other parents needed.

I was fortunate in the fact that my husband was a lecturer and one subject he taught was maths, my sister is a biology teacher, so if I needed some help with science, she was a phone call away. A home educating friend's husband is an artist.  Not everybody is that fortunate though so I have thought that a HESC could be needed to help those out who have nobody to turn to.

Another thing I found as my sons got older, colleges would only accept children if they were 16 years old, so my sons couldn't start any GCSEs until they were 16. I looked at doing iGCSEs from a company which supplied the materials, but I had to find an exam centre which took external candidates, but after getting in touch with a few schools and colleges, I had reached a dead end. 

Resources in the early 2000s were limited because not many people did home educate - as it's much more well known and more people are home educating their children, this may not be as much of an issue.

At one time or another, I'm sure we all need to feel supported by others. We don't like feeling as if we're on our own. Help is always a good thing to have at the end of the phone (or on Zoom etc, these days).

I'm sure there are other things I could mention as well! 

My vision for a HESC would be to address these issues. There is a lot of work to be done as I'll lay out in other posts! 

What is Home Education?

Home education is basically teaching your child(ren) at home. This can be done either full time or some schools may offer part time teaching, so your child's education is split between home and school.

At present you do not have to use a curriculum and the way you teach your child(ren) can differ from family to family. Some adopt a more formal approach, with set school times, set timetables etc whereas other families opt for a more informal option. 

Click HERE to see the government website guidelines about teaching your child at home; removing them from school etc.

Home educating your child(ren) is legal and it is an opportunity for your child(ren) to learn and develop at their own pace. It's also an opportunity for the educator to learn too. 

I home educated my sons for 14 years and the question most people asked was: 

"What about socialisation?" 

My sons would meet up with other home educated children for sports days every Thursday, they would meet up with other home educated children once a month when a few parents would organise a day to get together and do activities etc. My sons did a Kayaking course and some archery. They attend a home education week away with hundreds of other home educated children. 

Another question people ask is:

"Do you have to be a teacher?"

The plain answer to that is no, you don't, but what I would say is - you do need to be enthusiastic about learning as well. There's no point sitting your children down and expecting them to teach themselves. You can learn together. If you want the best for your child, then you will be the best teacher for them. 

"Do you get government funding?"

No. 

Some pros and cons:

Pros:

You know what your children are learning
You can tailor their learning according to their "age, ability and aptitude"
You don't have to be a slave to a curriculum
They get to develop in a world which they will be living in once their schooling is over
You can have the school holidays when you want them
It's rewarding
Discipline can be administered how parents wish (within the law!!)
Some places offer discounts to home educating families
Field trips (atm Covid depending) can be partaken of regularly and the places you visit, more often than not, are quiet - depending on when you go

Cons:

It's a long term commitment if you decide this is for our family
It can be expensive depending on how you go about providing the school work
Opposition from other family members or friends etc (initially anyway)
As the children get older they need a higher level of learning/teaching (this is one of my ideas for the HESC)