Why am I not happy, you ask?
Let me count the ways.
1. I've just worked harder than at any time in my life, for the last few weeks. And that includes periods of intensive work put into the examination period when I was a teacher of English and History in a London secondary school. In that school, with its city kids and city problems, I was a dedicated young teacher committed to helping my teenaged students achieve the best they could.
These days I am a loving and dedicated teacher to my own teenaged son, who sat some IGCSE's early this year. The level of study he undertook would get him into university in many countries. Here's a Briefing Paper written by the Cambridge board of exams to help US university admissions staff to see how IGCSE's relate to US qualifications. I'm tired, though pleased with how hard he's worked. It won't be until the exam results come out that I know whether it was altogether wise to encourage him to sit these exams early. The jury is out on that. But he still has plenty of time for resits and additional exams next year.
2. So, the day before he sat the last exam, the Badman Review into Home Education report came out, tailored to fit the Government brief: to strangle HE in the UK. I read the report and wept.
The supposed chief purpose of the review was to investigate whether there was any proof of home education being used as a 'cover' for child abuse, servitude, trafficking or forced marriage. And, of course, the review panel members could find NONE. However, they have come out with a series of recommendations which make HE'ing much more difficult ANYWAY. I'm too tired to say more right now. I'll let this blogger do it for me.
3. My hay fever is so bad that I can barely see the keyboard and I have to take Jack to an end of exams celebratory camp-over/picnic/BBQ today. It's Saturday so Jamie is driving. Just as well.
4. I seem to have developed some sort of carpel tunnel situation which is limiting my ability to blog.
5. Jamie and I have to start work on the next Life-Songs concert which is less than a month away.
I suddenly feel very old and tired. Too tired for a local campaign against the government's plans to restrict our freedom to raise our children the way we see fit. But I can feel that happening already.
God give me strength. And I mean that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
~Live-Well-Laugh-Often-Love-Much-Posters.jpg)
11 comments:
the IGSCEs were not taken very seriously by many students at MJ's international school (well at least not by the Americans)... but that's probably because they had two more years of schooling with the IB exams at the end (which US universities do understand)
It looks as though we will probably be opting for school with littl'un (the lower school round the corner has become very, very good, with a genuinely child-centred approach*), so Bad Man and his ilk will not directly affect me - but like you, I am very angry about the impositions they want to make on HEers, using a pretext that doesn't hold any water.
* which is another irony - best practice for young ones in school is now looking more and more like a home ed approach and less like traditional school. Silly Mr. B.
Sympathies from us over the hayfever. R is struggling badly too, and I suspect the pollen has helped trigger my asthma.
And empathy over the feeling old and tired. I just don't have the energy and powers of recovery these days :(.
Thanks for the link :)
Don't forget Philippians 4:13 - memorised it recently, think it might come in useful!
Totally disgusting, Dorothy! And discouraging, too. I will pray for God to give you strength, as well.
Renee, all GCSE's, I's included are only a precursor to the 'A' levels or IBAC taken 16-18. Those results are the ones UK universities are interested in. Our honours degrees are only 3 years here, so A level study is very specialised.
Kathryn,
I'm glad that you won't have to fight, on a personal level, to retain those HE freedoms, but maybe you'll join us at any demos we organise? {vbg} You could also write to your MP with your experiences and opinions.
Thank you Clare. I love your blog, by the way.
I know you love Charlotte Mason, so may I introduce you to Kathryn, another commenter on this post. If you click on her name you'll eventually get through to her Catholic Charlotte Mason curriculum, which she developed whilst she was home-educating. It's called Mater Amibilis. (If I got the spelling right!)
Thanks Linda,
Home-educators here are devastated. This will be a protracted fight, with many people being prepared to break the law and suffer the consequences.
Praying for you to have some rest both physically and emotionally.
We too had a fight for our HE rights this year and in some ways it's still going on. Same argument. They think there may be some families covering abuse et al under the name homeschooling. When pressed for any case at all that they have ever found of this the state education people can come up with nothing yet they still try to strangle homeschoolers. It's all very depressing. These people in all countries orstates should be trying to solve the problems in the schools not worrying about the small amount of homeschoolers.
Hang in there. We'll be praying for the HE efforts in your country!
Oh, is that all! ;) I think all that would make anyone feel old and tired. Prayers for strength and fortitude, my friend.
And now I know why you know your history(and English) so well!
Post a Comment