Are you a home educator affected by the welfare reforms?

[Ali P]

We have had an enquiry from a freelance journalist who is researching a piece on the effect of the Welfare Reform Bill on home educators.

For info on the background to the Bill and last year's Every Single Parent Matters campaign, see this joint press release from AHEd and Schoolhouse.

She would like to speak to anyone who might potentially be affected by the new regulations which are designed to force parents on income support into work outside the home regardless of the care and educational needs of their children.

She is also interested in a guesstimate of numbers of home educators who may suffer detriment following the passage of the Bill, so if you are affected, could you please indicate so in this thread?

If you would be willing to speak to this journalist, please email me and I will pass on contact details.

[HomeEdMum]

Hope you get response Ali. Have sent the links to someone who just enquired on this very issue.

[Amy Thomson]

We will be affected by this in four years time if I haven't managed to make alternative provision in the meantime. To be honest I don't think I can face another work focused interview. Last time the woman said of my son 'Oh, he'll be starting nursery soon'

I told her I hadn't decided about nursery yet. I have, of course, decided very certainly against it, but thought I would try to avoid confrontation... it wasn't to be.

'Oh,' she said, looking at me like I was a baby-eating Nazi 'So you're not going to let him go to nursery then?'

I didn't reply, for fear of not being able to contain the expletives.

'What about when he goes to school, then?'

At this point, I'll fully admit, I just wanted to see the look on her face.

'I haven't decided about that yet, either. I'm considering home education'

'Well', she said, after skimming my file on the computer and looking me up and down. 'I don't see how you're going to manage that'

I'm afraid to say the interview didn't go very well from that point...