Alternative title: Nanny knows best I have mentioned previously that the evidence base for Badman’s recommendations is missing. So what is the driving force behind the proposed legislation? There has been pressure from some LEAs on the government to give them extra powers so the can ensure all children meet the 5 Every Child Matters [Continue]

Some people may respond to home educators complaining about the proposed legislation with a question: “What’s wrong with it?”. That’s an understandable position, but I think it’s the wrong approach. When government proposes new legislation we should in fact be asking “What’s right with it?”. Government should not be about new [Continue]

I have been wondering how on earth to coherently blog about the Badman review and the proposed government legislation announced immediately it was accepted by government. The trouble is, it’s tricky to communicate the full enormity of the can of worms this opens, not just for home educators, but for education more broadly, and for [Continue]

I was once sat in a doctors surgery, rather bored, waiting for my turn to go and be poked and prodded. As I sat in the half empty room someone came in, picked up a chair and left. No-one batted an eyelid. No-one missed the chair. We were all still sitting comfortably. Then someone else [Continue]

We have just finished watching The Speaker on the iPlayer.  It has been a really interesting watch (it was originally the rest of the family but I got hooked too) and fascinating watching the different personalities and the changes evident in some of the young people taking part.  Duncan drove me mad at first, one [Continue]

“Eco Island is an ambitious change programme. It will turn the Isle of Wight into the ultimate Eco Island, with strong communities and the lowest carbon footprint in England by 2020.” (Eco Island website) So, what happened to Eco Island? I know some things are happening, but after all the flash, whizz and bang of [Continue]

….is the plague of signs on our esplanades. I think they should all be removed, there are now so many that no-one pays them any attention and they are just a blot on the landscape. If we have to have signs lets have happy friendly ones that welcome people and invite them to have fun, [Continue]

So many times I have problems with companies who compound basic mistakes by completely failing to deal with them. Not so the folks at Outdoor Action. They supplied me with a tent at an excellent price, with no premium for delivery to the Isle of Wight. Good start. Very fast delivery, but unfortunately the additional [Continue]

I have pneumonia. This is causing no small measure of pain and discomfort, and now it has been diagnosed and my wife has collected by prescription antibiotics I would like to start taking them and getting better. But I can’t. Being more diligent than me, Susan read the leaflet in the pack, only to discover [Continue]

I have recently put together a new site for our Cafe Church efforts. It’s at www.cafechurch.info The design is entirely WordPress based, a concept many have used before but I’m just experimenting with as a way of keeping things up to date as easily as possible, having been impressed with WordPress since ditching Blogger on [Continue]