On 19th December 2024, the Bishop of Guildford tabled a question on government efforts to regulate homeschooling following the murder of Sara Sharif:
The Lord Bishop of Guildford: To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the rules on home schooling in the light of the murder of Sara Sharif.
Continue reading “Bishop of Guildford tables question on homeschooling regulations”The Bishop of Hereford spoke in the second reading debate on the Home Education Registration and Support Bill on 15th November 2024, raising the issue of rural schooling and the need to support vulnerable children such as those with SEND:
The Lord Bishop of Hereford: My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, I have not done home education myself. My only experience was standing over my own sons for long hours encouraging a more focused approach to their GCSE revision. This only affirmed my admiration for those who actively choose to home educate their children.
I commend the noble Lord, Lord Storey, for placing the welfare of children at the heart of the Bill. There is some resistance to the idea of compulsory registration in the home-education community, as set out in new Section 436B. There is also disquiet about the content of the proposed register, as set out in new Sections 436C and 436D, which is seen as an example of state overreach. While I support the overall thrust of the noble Lord’s Bill, I hope that further work will be done to clarify the limits of the information recorded and the provision of safeguards to protect parental rights. The proposals for registration and support in the Bill should allow a better collaborative approach between home educators and education professionals.
Continue reading “Home Education Registration and Support Bill: Bishop of Hereford raises rural schooling and SEND”The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on increasing numbers of families choosing home education for their children, during a debate on alternative educational provision on 15th December 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, returning to home schooling, I have been very struck by the number of people I have met in the last year or two who have decided to take their children out of mainstream schooling to educate them at home—often, from what I hear, with spectacular academic results. But what assessment has been made about the trends of whether this is increasing, and what assessment has been made about the reasons why people are doing this? We need to listen to what is happening at a grass-roots level to understand this phenomenon.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about home education”The Bishop of St Albans asked a question about concerns over the government’s proposal to introduce a register of home schooled children on 21st July 2021:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, parents often choose home schooling to escape the rigidity, values and standardisations of public education. Some people are deeply fearful that a register might seek to reimpose this. Will Her Majesty’s Government assure us that this register is for safety and quality purposes only and that parents will be able to continue to exercise their discretion and freedom of conscience over what and how best to educate their children?
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about purposes of home-schooling register”On 14th May 2020 a statement was given regarding the reopening and operation of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, asked a follow up question:
Lord Bishop of Durham: I am grateful to the Minister and the Secretary of State for meeting myself and the Church of England education team earlier in the week. The longer that children are learning from home, the wider the disadvantage gap that may well be developing. Does the Minister agree that the risks of not reopening schools in a managed and phased way are actually greater than the logistical challenges presented by reopening?
On 30th November 2015 the Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Revd Alan Smith, received a written answer to his question about the number of children being home schooled.
Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children were being home educated in each of the years 2010 to 2014 inclusive. Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks question on Home Schooling”
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