‘Ask the Expert’ Q&A
Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill
Implications for Learning Communities in England
Tuesday 14 Jan, 7.30pm GMT
The new Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill was announced on 17th December 2024. The second reading is planned for Wednesday 8th January and there is real concern that it could pass through quickly without proper scrutiny. There will be direct implications for those (in England) who are striving to create something different to mainstream education, including part-time learning communities for home educated young people.
Find out how the proposals in the new Bill will affect your learning community in this FREE interactive webinar. We aim for a call to action to come out of this meeting so that, together with parents/carers, we can challenge the direction of this concerning advancement in education law.
Our Expert Panel
Dr Ian Cunningham is the founder of the Self Managed Learning College (SMLC) and the author of several books including Self Managed Learning and the New Educational Paradigm. SMLC is a democratic, freedom-orientated learning community for home educated young people aged 9-17yrs, based near Brighton, England.
Randall Hardy is a home education (HE) advocate and board member of the Centre for Self Managed Learning. After first becoming aware of the political climate affecting English home educators around the time of the Badman Review back in 2009, Randall has continued to monitor developments relevant to HE in the UK ever since.
Some of his material can be found on his blog No Nationalisation of our Kids. He and his wife Mary maintain an ongoing interest in home education, having witnessed its benefits for various members of their own family. They are particularly exercised about the increasing pressures which home educators now find themselves under in many parts of the world, and wish to encourage all parents everywhere to be aware of their responsibilities regarding their own children’s education before these are eroded completely.
Carol Dyer is a long-term home educator who continues to develop an interest in how parents can be empowered to make decisions with, or for, their children's education, especially in the face of changing political attitudes.
Joanna Merrett is a doctoral researcher at the University of Exeter with over a decade of experience working closely with home education communities. Her extensive background in this field has driven her to explore various aspects of education beyond traditional schooling, with a primary focus on home education, alternative education approaches, pedagogies, educational policy, systematic disadvantage, equity in access to national qualifications, and pathways for home-educated young individuals to higher and further education.
Event Format and Recording
You will have the opportunity to hear from each of our panellists who will give an overview of the implications of the new Bill for learning communities. We will then open it up to the audience for your questions. Everyone who registers will be sent the recording after the event.
If you have questions but can't make the live event, please feel free to sign up and send your questions through to [email protected] and they will be asked in the session on your behalf and you’ll receive the recording afterwards.
This webinar is FREE to attend for both members and non-members.
Note to Members: If you are a member, you do not need to register, as you will automatically receive the Zoom link in your online community portal.
About Us
This webinar is brought to you by Jo Symes at Progressive Education and Alex O’Neill from Limitless. We are education activists who have a shared passion for raising awareness of alternatives to mainstream school.
For the past couple of years Alex and Jo have been creating events and resources for start-ups, in response to the growing number of children and young people leaving mainstream education, and the urgency that parents/carers/educators feel to build new learning environments where young people can thrive.
Please join us in our membership community where you can access ongoing support and guidance on your journey to create a school or learning community.
Introducing Alex O’Neill
Alex is the driving force behind Limitless, an organisation dedicated to igniting social change with a special emphasis on revolutionising the education sector.
Through the Limitless podcast, she shares expert insights and neuroscience tips to empower changemakers to tackle the world's most pressing issues.
Alex is committed to uniting individuals who are driven to advance education and supporting them in overcoming obstacles that stand in their way.
Introducing Jo Symes
Jo is the founder of the social enterprise, Progressive Education. Her website is an inspiration hub for exploring alternatives to conventional schooling and campaigns to bring about change. She is building a global directory of jobs, events and progressive schools and learning communities.
It began with the launch of the Progressive Education Group on Facebook in 2019, which is an international community of over 10k parents/carers, educators, academics, researchers, psychologists, education innovators, changemakers and young people.
