In recent months the media has shown an intense interest in the growth of elective home education in the UK. It seems that every time new figures are released by the Department for Education, local reporters reach for alarming headlines such as “Hundreds of children being home educated in…” Originality is a lost skill in journalism, it seems.
It was no surprise therefore to read on the BBC’s website a report with the headline, “Home educating rising sharply, councils in the south report.”
It began:
Home education is rising sharply in some southern counties of England, figures suggest.
BBC South requested data from 15 councils in Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire for the years 2013-2023.
Interestingly, most parents quoted in the article said that “problems in schools” were driving the increase in families deciding to home educate their children. There was of course a comment from a mandatory naysayer, in this instance a gentleman by the name of Mac Heath, from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services. Whilst acknowledging that home education is on the rise, he asserted, “for most of our children schools are the best place for them.” I suppose it is progress to see “all children” replaced by “most children.”
Things didn’t end there though, and throughout the morning reports of items across BBC South’s network of local radio stations began to emerge. What was interesting as I caught up on the three programmes below was the absence of that aggressively negative attitude with which we have become familiar from voices on the BBC’s national networks. Input from a wide selection of ordinary mums and two ‘expert’ witnesses added to the wide collection of sensible comments and robust defence of educational choice. Well done to all those who bit the bullet and took the risk of being interviewed in advance and/or speaking live with presenters during the various shows.
Later in the day all this was topped off with a seven minute segment on BBC South’s Evening News. This brought together several of the clips used by local radio earlier in the day, thereby putting faces to voices heard across the region. The segment is available in full below.
Overall, this was a remarkable turnaround for the BBC, which can only have helped to create a more positive narrative around home education in the minds of members of the wider public. From what I have been able to catch up with, this was a very welcome day of bringing home education into public view, and a step in the right direction. Given the headline they were working with, even the radio presenters showed a genuine interest rather than alarm.
Post script: On Monday 19 Feb, BBC West Midlands published a similar article with the headline, “West Midlands home-schooled pupil numbers reach more than 11,000.” The figures quoted in it only cover the last year, unlike a decade in the report highlighted by BBC South. Again though a home educating mum, stepped up to the mark and helpfully told her family’s story.
If anyone knows of segments on other local stations broadcast that day, please send me a link to the relevant recording and times of the segment, I’ll then add it to this page as soon as I can.
No Nationalisation of Our Kids 