Educational Philosophies/
Statements of Educational Provision

Example 8

My experience is that people learn unless they are actively stopped or socialised into not doing so. That experience has led me to approach K's education in a holistic and autonomous manner. By "holistic", I mean that
education is an integral part of K's life rather than something that is set apart for a particular building and a particular set of age-limited contacts and activities, during limited hours. Activities that contribute to K's personal maturity and skill acquisition may take place any time between 7 a.m. (when she wakes) and 9:30 p.m. (when she goes to bed) on any of the seven days of the week and in any venue. By "autonomous", I mean that K determines the activities that she pursues at any time. Although I suggest and facilitate activities, I do not deliver "lessons" that must be completed at, or within, a time set by me (unless, of course, K requests such activities).

Such educational provision means that K's abilities and skills cannot be categorised in terms of the gradings used in schools (she is not "in Year 5" or even "at Key Stage 2"). Just as I am sure that you and I have certain areas in which our abilities diverge widely, despite being in the same stage of life and relatively close in age, K is very able in some areas and not in others. However, autonomous education means that she can pursue the things in which she is interested or which she has a desire to take further. The corollary is that she does not have to study things in which she has no interest or for which her current skills have not yet prepared her. She is also not subjected to constant comparison with other children, so she is freed up to achieve her own personal best in every area.

I do not consider education to be a "preparation for life". A holistic and autonomous education is pursued as part of life in a community. Skills are acquired, as they are needed, to achieve a particular objective that K has set herself. Recent examples of activities that K has undertaken include making greetings cards for friends and relatives, planning and preparing for her own birthday party, visiting the Science Museum in London, going to
Bristol to see Twelfth Night, meeting other local home educators for pottery, being a duty manager at Flame FM (a local temporary radio station), attending a series of Spanish classes at Swindon College, watching Test the Nation on TV and then taking an IQ test obtained from the Internet. This list is not, of course, exhaustive; K also regularly cooks, uses a computer for various purposes (simulation games, writing letters, "educational" software), goes shopping, writes stories, goes swimming, cares for pets, attends children's clubs, etc.

I hope that this has given you a sufficiently clear picture of the way in which I am fulfilling my responsibility, under section 7 of the Education Act 1996, to provide K with an efficient, full-time education appropriate to her age and abilities. If you wish to discuss it further, please phone me to arrange a meeting at your office.

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