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Education Otherwise Parliamentary Event
Added: (Sat Oct 17 2009)
Press Release
Embargoed until 01.00am Monday 19th October 2009
Education Otherwise Parliamentary Event
“Seen and Heard?” is an event organised by Education Otherwise (EO) for parliamentarians on Tuesday 20th October. Sponsored by Mark Field MP and Conservative peer Lord Lucas of Dingwall, this event will provide an excellent networking opportunity for MPs to access a phenomenal amount of experience, information and research in one place.
Attendees will be the first to hear about brand new research taking account of the views and experiences of over 700 home educated children and young people. They will also find out the results of detailed data collected on the visibility of children within this community.
MPs will be able to put questions about the law to leading home education barrister Ian Dowty. Ian is a director of children's rights organisation ARCH and specialises and lectures in home education law.
Home educators who gave Oral Evidence to the Select Committee on Wednesday October 14th, including Zena Hodgson from the Home Education Centre in Chard where the local authority in Somerset has pioneered an innovative approach to home education support, will also be available to share their experiences with MPs.
Representatives from the Home Education Youth Council are attending to challenge MPs to listen directly to the concerns of home educated young people.
EO is particularly pleased to welcome Iris Harrison, who battled over 25 years ago for the right to home educate, to the event to talk firsthand about the damage that heavy handed state interference can cause.
A new presentation on informal learning from Dr Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison, Institute of Education will also be made at the event.
Ross Mountney, author of Learning Without School and A Diary of A Home Educating Nobody is attending, together with the organiser of the September Not Back To School Picnics which gave many MPs the chance to meet their home educating constituents.
Cont’d/...
Notes for editors
http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/PHDT/24653.html
Dr Alan Thomas, Institute of Education
http://twitter.com/heycuk
Home Education Youth Council
http://www.freedomforchildrentogrow.org/diary.htm
Iris Harrison's home education diary
http://www.archrights.org.uk/
Action on Rights for Children
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/uc999-ii/uc99902
Uncorrected transcript of Oral Evidence to the Select Committee October 14th http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/uc999-ii/uc99901.htm
http://notbacktoschoolpicnics.blogspot.com/
Not Back to School Picnics Blog
http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/author/1910
Ross Mountney
Home Education Centre, Chard
http://www.homeeducationcentre.org.uk/
Further information and invitations:
Fiona Nicholson, EO Trustee & Government Policy Group Chair
0114 2751142, 07844 792212 fnicholson@educationotherwise.org
Ann Newstead, EO Trustee, Government Policy Group & Spokesperson
08445 868839, 07917-358477, media-spokesperson@educationotherwise.org
Annette Taberner, EO Trustee & Government Policy Group
0114 258 3502, annettektaberner@hotmail.com
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