8 Go Mad In Islington!

I've moved!

2010-03-02T21:37:00.002+00:00

I've got my own website, and I'm now hosting my blog there. All the old posts have been imported to it, and I will no longer be updating this blog. If you want to carry on reading my ramblings, please bookmark the new place!

http://blog.8gomad.co.uk/

More photos.

2010-03-01T13:47:00.006+00:00

Been doing a lot of thinking about home education these last few days. Way too much thinking really. My thoughts are a jumbled mess, and I can't seem to reach a conclusion. In the meantime, the children are really getting into their art.

A disgrace!!

2010-02-25T16:41:00.003+00:00

This is the press release issued by the Secretary of State for Education, Ed Balls, in response to the death of Khyra Ishaq:

Secretary of State's response to verdicts in the Khyra Ishaq case

25 February 2010

What happened to Khyra Ishaq and the other children involved in this case was tragic and will shock and appal everyone who reads or hears about her terrible death. It is very hard for any of us to understand how adults could do this to children in their care.

There are clearly serious questions to be answered about what local services and professionals were doing in the months before this tragedy took place. As the trial has shown, it is now clear that concerns about these children were not acted upon effectively and it is right that a Serious Case Review has been carried out.

The Local Safeguarding Children Board will report shortly - I expect it to publish a full and detailed Serious Case Review (SCR) executive summary that is clear about what happened and what action is being taken as a result. The Government has already taken decisive action to intervene in Birmingham’s children's services, following Ofsted's judgement in December 2008 that their services were inadequate in terms of safeguarding. If we think there is more to do, we will.

The trial has demonstrated, and statements today from the police confirm, that home education was a factor in this case. It shows why we do need a system in place to make sure that when children are home educated or removed from school, they not only get a good education but are safe. That is why I asked Graham Badman to review home education and home educated children’s safety and welfare.

I am now taking forward Graham Badman’s recommendations that every local authority should have access to any home educating family and that all home educating parents must register with the local authority. We will do all we can to ensure the safety of children, in Birmingham and elsewhere, including using statutory powers where it is right to do so.

Ed Balls' statement, linking home education to Khyra's death is a disgrace. He's misleading the public to push his own agenda. If EHE was a factor, then so was the way her parents fedd their children. So why aren't the government advocating the registration of all parents, requiring them to get permission to feed them certain types of food, forcing them to submit to inspections of their food cupboards, fridge and supermarket receipts to ensure the diet is suitable, making them submit for approval menus 12 months in advance, and issuing State-regulated compulsory diets if the above isn't adhered to?
Why isn't that done? Because it's ridiculous. None of that would save the next child to die of abuse. Just like Schedule 1 of the CSF Bill won't save the next child to die of abuse. Schedule 1 is ridiculous. Ed Balls and Graham Badman are using this case to push their own control agenda. Balls wants to control every aspect of family life and is using this poor girl's case as ammunition. It is shameful. I am ashamed that I ever voted for this government.

What we did today.

2010-02-24T18:20:00.006+00:00

Here we go again.

2010-02-24T13:35:00.003+00:00

I wasn't around in the HE community when the Badman report was published. I came to it all rather late. I'm quite glad really, as I think I would have been completely demoralised. To take one example, he said that the rate of child abuse in home educated children was twice the national average. This was wrong and based on flawed statistics, but despite this, the government accepted his report as fact, and accepted his recommendations in full. The Home Ed community have worked hard to try and correct the tons of misinformation in the Badman Report, and many people have realised how wrong it is. We started to feel we were making progress. Then the trial of the parents of Kyra Ishaq resurfaced in the media.

Kyra Ishaq was a little girl who was starved to death by her parents. At the time of her death, she wasn't going to school. Her parents had removed her. Badman, the local MP and Social Workers say her case is the reason home educators need to be licensed and monitored. And on the face of it, the claims look reasonable. So lets look at some detail.

When you remove a child from school in order to home educated, the law says you MUST send a letter of de-registration so that your child is removed from the school roll, and the parents cannot be prosecuted for truancy etc etc. There is NO de-registration letter on file from the parents of Kyra to say she was being educated otherwise than at school. Kyra wasn't being home educated, she was being hidden.

This family were known to social services. When Kyra's body was found, her siblings were also found to be in various states of malnutrition. None of them were attending school, even though they had all attended previously, and none had been formally de-registered. The school had raised concerns about the children and about their absence. Yet social services had deemed the children not at risk, no Education Welfare Officer had visited, Police declined to visit do to 'no concerns' from social services.

Graham Badman says this case proves that a tiny minority of families use home education to cover up abuse.

What it says to me is that the local authority, the education service and social services failed utterly in their duty to the children in this family, and in the light of horrific cases in Darlington and Harringey, these 'services' are trying desperately to lay the blame elsewhere.

Home Education is a red herring. Kyra wasn't home educated, she was truant. She was being prevented from getting any type of education by her abusive parents. She was utterly let down by those who should have protected her.

This case isn't about home education, it is about the failure of established agencies, and their failure to use existing law to save Kyra's life. The people who think this case is about home education are wrong, are guilty of not looking at the details properly, and if they stand by and let the current proposals for the monitoring and licensing of home education become law, are guilty of letting thousands of children down.

Bully? Part 2

2010-02-22T17:27:00.003+00:00

Seems I wasn't the only one think like this. 2 patrons of the charity have resigned in protest at the breach of confidentiality. One resigned this morning, and I've just seen on twitter (via Ben Goldacre) that Sarah Cawood has also resigned. It seems Ms Pratt may have her own agenda for wanting to discredit Gordon Brown (and let's face it, he doesn't make it hard to dislike him or his policies, does he?), but to use her charity and the people who need it is beyond the pale.

Bully?

2010-02-21T19:26:00.003+00:00

Amongst the clamouring to reveal the Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a bully, one in particular has disturbed me. The Chief Executive of the National Bullying Helpline has told BBC News that several staff from the PMs office have contacted her charity for advice. I want to leave aside the political ramifications of this to comment on the actions of Ms Pratt.

One of the ways bullying works is to make the victim feel isolated, alone, and with nowhere to go, no-one to turn to. Even people who would normally support the victim may turn away, frightened that the bully might turn on them next.

It is so very very important that a victim of bullying has access to a safe haven, someone or somewhere safe where they can seek advice, get help or even start the process of taking action. Somewhere where they know they won't be discovered by the bully. The people who work in this area must never divulge the identities of the victims using the service, not even by naming the place of work.

The actions of Ms Pratt, by saying several of the PMs staff have contacted the charity have left me astounded. Any bully in that office now knows that there are staff there so frightened that they had to contact a charity to seek help. That bully probably now knows exactly who has called out for help. And, as is usual in this situation, the intimidation will now probably be stepped up a notch or 3.

This indirect identification of victims is almost as shocking as the allegations of bullying itself. The indiscretion of Ms Pratt will probably lead to many more victims doing nothing, saying nothing about the bullying they endure. It's almost as if this helpline is in collusion with the bullies!

I always thought the point of helplines such as this was to empower victims to make choices that were right for them. Ms Pratt has dis-empowered the staff in the PMs office, and more than likely dis-empowered thousands of bullying victims across the UK. Shame on her.

Happy Birthday!

2010-02-20T23:02:00.005+00:00

On 21st February 1995, I gave birth to my second daughter, at home. We named her Charlotte. In 45 minutes time, it will be her 15th birthday. So here are 15 photographs of Charlotte's life so far.

Happy Birthday Charlotte. I love you xxxx

Photo post

2010-02-19T21:04:00.008+00:00

When Normal is wrong

2010-02-19T14:15:00.003+00:00

I just spotted a news story on BBC and made a few tweets about it. Realising that a series of 140 character microblogs was insufficient to express how I feel, I'm going to rant here.

News story

This girl is 5 years old. Regardless of whether she is sporty or not, this is not the age to be putting her under pressure to lose/not gain weight. The fact that her parents felt they had to justify themselves and the way they raise their daughter by stating that she has her '5 a day' and she's 'sporty' just goes to show how insidious this monitoring culture that we live in has become.

Children are monitered from the day they are born. While I accept that health monitoring of young babies was probably very helpful when it began, now it is worse than useless.

An anecdote. When my daughter was 4 days old, I was told she had lost too much weight. She had to gain a certain amount of weight within 2 days. I was told that maybe my breastmilk was insufficient. Maybe I should supplement her with formula milk. This advice was from health professionals. Who measured my completely breastfed baby against the charts designed for forumla fed babies. Who were recommending a solution that could actually impair her health in the long term. Who retreated very quickly when I told them their advice was wrong, their statistics were wrong, and that while they were welcome to visit us and monitor progress, that my daughter would not be taking formula milk, and she would not be weighed again while under their care. This was my 6th child. I had the benefit and confidence of experience. Pity the poor first time mother faced with the same pressure! By the way, the daughter who had lost too much weight and was dangeroulsy close to being ill is now 10 months, still breast fed, and very much healthy. And still smaller than 'average'. Which brings me on to my next point.

Average. Norms. Healthy range. The young 'overweight' girl is 1% outside the healthy range. She has a BMI that would be considered underwieght in an adult. My daughter is taller than average, but underweight. Another of my children is shorter than average, and overweight. Another child is more intelligent than average, yet another child is underachieving (according to SATs). Yet all my children are normal, healthy, smart kids.

Parents, and through them, the children, are put under enourmous pressure by the state to reach targets that are determined by the state. The state has decided what is average. Yet, the state doesn't seem to realise that to get an average, there needs to be some that are below, and some that are above this mythical average. Those that are above average (but not too much) are ok. But woe betide those that fall below average.

Woe betide anyone that doesn't fit the norm. Or, that doesn't fit the norm, and is unwilling or unable to change to fit into the norm. Don't be too fat, too thin, too tall, too short, too intelligent, too thick, don't be gay, don't be a single parent, don't have more than 2 children, don't earn less that £20k, don't buck the system, don't home educate, don't be disabled, don't have SEN, don't breastfeed, don't co-sleep, don't be overcrowded, don't have independent thought, don't protest. Fit the state model of perfect averageness, or accept intervention. If you don't, you are subversive, an enemy of the state, WRONG.

Mythbusters: The Islington Special!

2010-02-16T10:50:00.005+00:00

We've decided that one of our next project days should be a Mythbusters day! So far we're going to find out if a pancake really can stick to the ceiling, and why; does toast really always land butter-side down; the famous diet coke + mintoes experiement, but also using regular coke, lemonade and fizzy water, and recording the effects. We probably need one or two more fun experiments to make a full day of it, any ideas?

In other news, it's half term for Jess, so I've taken a week off teaching the others to get ahead with printing and planning. I printed off an ebook last night. I was using the pdf on the laptop to help with the lessons, but Matthew found it quite distracting with me looking backwards and forwards, so I decided that printing it off would be a better option. This way, I can have the book in front of me and won't be looking away from the kids. Luckily, I discovered 'print booklet style' which used 4 times less paper. It used a LOT of ink though. Luckily (so I thought) there's an Argos near me so I thought it would be easy to pick up some more black ink. HA! My printer takes 3 different blank in cartridges but do you think any of them were in stock? Nope! Not only that, but none of them were in stock at the next two nearest store either! Luckily, the third store does have them, so I've sent two very happy teens off to get me ink. And flour, eggs and lemon juice, it is pancake day after all!

This is another test...

2010-02-15T00:29:00.002+00:00

So, blogging from the iPhone was successful, but will this blog tweet? Please comment if you read this via a link on twitter, ta :o)

This is a test

2010-02-15T00:13:00.000+00:00

Ooh look! I can blog from my phone! Well actually it's Kennie's phone but ownership is flexible in a marriage, right? ;-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Photo Blog

2010-02-14T21:40:00.003+00:00

Here are some photo's.

Matthew's crown.

Matthew's tiger

Matthew's beadwork

Kianna's beadwork

Frankie's pig

Frankie's Loon (from the TV programme Humf)

Frankie's crown

Frankie's beadwork

Charlotte's beadwork

Counting bugs

The shelves, finally organised into some sort of system!

Curricula 2010

2010-02-11T22:51:00.002+00:00

A basic outline of what each child does during formal lessons at home. This list does not include physical activities, trips, or socialisation, which all happen spontaneously and therefore cannot be timetabled.

Charlotte, age 15.
Working towards IGCEs in November 2010 and June 2011.

GCSE/IGCSE Maths: November 2010; 100% Examination
MEP GCSE Curriculm
CGP Edexcel Linear Revision Guide: Higher
CGP Edexcel Linear Workbook: Higher
GCSE Maths to A

IGCSE English Language: November 2010; 100% Examination
Distance learning course run by Catherine Mooney
Edexcel Specification
GCSE English for Edexcel

IGCSE Chemistry: November 2010; 100% Examination
Edexcel Specification
Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry Level II
Longman Chemistry Homework for Edexcel IGCSE

IGCSE History: November 2010; 100% Examination
Edexcel Specification
Story of the World, Volume IV: The Modern Age
GCSE Modern World History

Other Subjects

Art History: The Story of Art

Art: Currently pursuing own interests, may soon start an Art GCSE at Blackheath Conservatoire.

Literacy: Self-help books on grammar and spelling.

ICT: HTML, CSS, Web-page building, and OU course materials from T175 Networked Living.

To come in 2011: IGCSEs in Further Pure Maths, English Literature, Human Biology, Geography.

Kianna, age 13.
Year 8, KS3 equivalent in National Curriculum

Maths:
MEP Yr 7

English Language and Literature:
Distance learning course run by Catherine Mooney

Literacy:
Writing with Ease

History:
Story of the World Volume I: Ancient Times
Usborne Encyclopedia of World History

Science: Chemistry
Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry Level II

Latin:
Lively Latin

Music:
The AB Guide to Music Theory
Music Theory in Practice
Piano Lessons Book 1

Art:
Pursuing own interests including Jewellery making, knitting, drawing and woodwork.

ICT:
HTML, CSS, Web-page building, and OU course materials from T175 Networked Living.

Matthew, age 6.
Year 2, KS1 National Curriculum equivalent.

Maths:
MEP Year 2

English:
Reading: The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading plus any books he wants to read.
Writing: Writing with Ease
Grammar: Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind
Spelling: Spelling Workout, Level A

History:
Story of the World Volume I: Ancient Times

Science:
Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage
Kingfisher First Encyclopedia of Animals
Science Around the World
Biology for Every Kid: 101 Experiments That Really Work
First Human Body Encyclopedia
Plant Parts

Art:
Beading, painting, drawing, glueing, cutting.

Frances, age 3.

Reading:
The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading plus any books she wants to read.

Art:
Beading, painting, drawing, glueing, cutting.

Frances sits alongside Matthew when he has his lessons if she wants to, and joins in with answering questions and listening to stories. She has no formal curriculum. Her formal lessons will not start till 2011/12.

Subjects to come for all:

Critical Thinking, Philosophy, Music History, History of Science, History of Medicine, History of Language/Etymology.

Keep trying!!

2010-01-29T19:33:00.000+00:00

I know my way around the web, and my pc, and my wireless network. But I can't get this blog to publish to my twitter. FFS.

Decisions.

2010-01-29T16:18:00.000+00:00

Today I made a decision. It was a decision to do nothing. That's quite monumental for me, but instinctively I know it was the right decision. A little bit of background follows.

I have been studying with the Open University since 2004. Mainly short, level 1 courses, with a vague idea to get a degree one day. I made use of the student forums (hereafter known as FC, short for FirstClass, the software that hosts the forums) and as a result became involved, at a minor level with the student association OUSA. In 2007, I stood for election and won, the post of Vice President Communications on the Executive Committee of OUSA. At the next annual Conference I was elected Deputy President. Halfway through my term in office, I resigned, due to impending birth and stress. The job is voluntary, and extremely stressful. Office politics abound. It was quite a relief not to have to navigate my way through that minefield anymore. I did regret that I hadn't managed to complete the work I'd started though.

Hence, when I heard last month that the current incumbent of the office of V P Communications was not seeking re-election, I wondered whether I should go for it again. I pondered and mused, and bounced some ideas around with people I could trust. And lo, the politics started all over again! People on power trips, plotting and scheming to get to the top, with little consideration of the people they're supposed to represent, the students of the OU. Fuck that! I've only just got my brain back to normal, why on earth would I put myself through that again!

I'm putting my kids through their GCSEs between now and June 2011, and I really need to concentrate on them, helping them make the most of their abilities. I don't have any desire to study for myself at the moment, so representing students isn't top of my priority list, no matter how much I think I can do, no matter how many ideas I have. It would be a battle just to get the smallest things done.

So, instead of scrambling around for nominations, writing election addresses, preparing for hustings, attending several weekend meetings, arranging childcare and so on, I've decided to do nothing, not to stand, and just carry on as I am. I've done the right thing.

All aboard for the ride of your life!

2010-01-28T18:22:00.000+00:00

Things I had planned to do today: Get up early, set Kianna up with her lessons, help Charley with her maths, print more coursework, sort out the coursework schedule, find out the exam dates, knit some rows on the shawl I am knitting for mum.

Things I managed to do today: Help Charley with her maths, find out the exam dates, um, yeah, that's it.

I didn't get up early. However this isn't my fault for being a lazy arse (though I am a lazy arse), it's purely the fault of a certain Mr Andrew Murray, who had the audacity to lose the first set of his semi-final. This meant I had to stay in bed and give the match my full attention. It worked, he won. But I lost the entire morning to this job. Luckily, Kennie took over the lessons for Kianna, so when I eventually ventured downstairs, I was all set to help Charley with her coursework. Index Notation. Great. I was never any good at this, so we had a great time working it all out together. But boy, it took ages. So no printing got done. I did find out the exam dates though, 7th and 11th June. Which gives us 18 weeks to do 19 units. Plus revision. It's gonna be tight. I suggested that she went for the November sitting, but no, she wants to get it out of the way. So June it is. Expect lots of Maths related rants on this blog in the next 4 months!

Knitting didn't get done either. We'll be watching Torchwood this evening, and I need to choose between knitting and printing while it's on. Somehow I think knitting will win. I'm making a shawl for my mum, who has breast cancer. I originally had planned to have it ready for 10th Feb, the day of her operation. The her op got moved to 3rd Feb, and Charley left school, and it all went a bit belly up. So now I'm hoping to have it ready for 13th Feb, my mum's birthday. Mum has invited me and my brother to stay at her house for her birthday, very unusually. I think she's worried it will be her last birthday on this earth so wants her family round. That's cool, I can totally understand. I was actually looking forward to it. Till I spoke to my brother. It turns out she has also invited other members of the family. Which means I'll be on show. And they don't like me. I'm too direct, too hippy, not conventional enough for them all. And I can't get out of it. It also means that my gift of a hand-knitted shawl will be opened in front of them, and subject to scrutiny. Bollocks. Insecurity and social anxiety, oh how I love thee.

My head is full of so much shit, too many thoughts all buzzing about and no way to control them. This year is gonna be a roller-coaster...

Clause 26, Schedule 1. CSF Bill

2010-01-27T20:58:00.001+00:00

There is a Bill going through parliament at the moment that will severely curtail the rights of parents to educate their children at home. The report which the section about home education was based on was severely flawed. More info can be found here. For now, here is a press release composed by members of the Badman Review Action Group (BRAG) (Badman being the surname of the man who wrote the flawed report)

Child Abusers to have greater legal protection than ordinary parents , Social Workers insist

Under proposed legislation, parents who abuse their children will have more rights than ordinary parents who opt to teach their children themselves.
These changes will apply to all families who decide for whatever reason that their children's educational needs are better met in the home environment EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY WELFARE OR SAFEGUARDING CONCERNS.

In evidence submitted to the Scrutiny Committee for the Children, Schools and Families bill, social workers Imran Shah and Cintha Archer stated, “As home-educating parents ourselves, we would enjoy greater legal safeguards if we were abusing our children than we would do for educating them at home. We find it perverse that Schedule 1 [of the CSF bill] will give local authorities greater powers to act over families who are providing loving care than they have over families where children are being abused or are at risk of abuse.”

Mr. Shah and Ms. Archer enumerated their ethical and legal concerns about the proposed legislation in their submission, chief of which is the fact that, “There is no statutory requirement within the text of this Bill for local authorities to act in the child's best interests. As experienced social workers we are alarmed at this omission, which gives administrative procedures primacy over children's needs. Since there is no obligation on local authorities to have the best interests of the child as their central and overriding concern, the new powers will be damaging to the well-being of the child.”

Schedule 1 powers will not only remove any legal obligation the local authority has to safeguard the home educated child's best interests, say Shah and Archer, it will also remove the rights of legal redress from home educating families. This, they maintain, will be particularly onerous for families where class, race, sexual orientation, religion, disability,ethnicity or culture are a consideration. Local authorities will have no legal requirement to consider the impact of its actions on families or children for whom these factors are an issue, even though social workers and social policy makers accept that these families are the ones that fare the worst in dealing with government and its agents.

Shah and Archer insist that they are simply arguing for fairness and equality before the law. “We are not arguing for the removal of the protections that are afforded to the families who are subject to social services intervention, merely stressing that it is unjust to not extend those same protections to those families who are educating their children at home as an expression of their loving commitment to their children. Local authorities already have the powers that they need to ensure that children are safe and that their educational and other needs are being met.

Schedule 1 is unjust, illiberal and damaging to home-educating families and their
children, and we ask for it to be removed from the CSF bill.”

The full text of Mr. Shah’s and Ms. Archer’s submission is available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmpublic/childsch/memo/ucm0702.htm

Intro - Or - My first ramble...

2010-01-27T20:21:00.000+00:00

I'm Rita. I'm 38. I have bright red/pink/purple/blue hair (delete as appropriate). I'm married with 6 children. I home educate 5 of them. I won't end up home educating the eldest, she leaves school this year. I knit. A lot. But not as much as I'd like to. I used to study with the OU, and probably will again. But not this year. My politics are left of centre, but I am horrified at some of the draconian laws that the current govt have brought in or are trying to bring in. I have supported Chelsea Footbal Club since I was 8 years old. I like tennis. I've had several blogs in the past, but couldn't keep up with them all being separate topics, so I'm starting this one. It will be about everything and anything. And I won't forget to update it. Hopefully.