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“We live in North Devon and have one child aged eight.
We belong to an HE group that the LA are aware of.
We were automatically registered with the LA when we deregistered our child from school.
The LA approached us by letter and information pack and our first impression was a positive one. We do not send reports yet, but we do have home visits. The initial visit was around half an hour, followed by a first assessment visit [March 2010] which lasted around an hour. I found the visit useful with good advice and pointers given. It is useful for me personally to know we're doing things ‘properly’ and good for my daughter to have someone other than me to talk to about learning. Our LA advisor only very briefly looks at the work we've done, he is more concerned with talking over how things are going, seeing my daughter is happy and asking if there's any more helpful advice needed.
It doesn't feel like an evidence gathering exercise at all. The advisor wrote a handwritten report at the time of the visit, so that I knew immediately what was going into it. A few days later I received a copy of the full report. I would say that the report was fairly reflective of our educational provision. Based on our very new experience (since September), I would definitely say that the advisor understands the breadth of learning diversity within home ed. Our LA advisor, Alan Bacon, is an enthusiastic supporter of HE and I wish all home edding families could have an advisor like him.
I feel strongly that it should be a *choice* for families to have the outside involvement or not, but have to say that our experience has been very positive and, for me, it has been good to have that extra support and someone to confirm to me that we’re doing OK. His visits do not feel intrusive at all and unless there appears to be any major failings or concerns about the HE provision, he will only visit on a yearly basis. I really think that Devon County Council have got the right approach with their involvement in HE and I hope that it doesn’t change.” [03/2010]
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