Oh dear Sajo. I truly hope that your children will be luckier than mine in the system. My children’s issues peaked at Year 3. By year 3 my daughter was suffering a severe depression due to the negative attitude towards her, her treatment and the neglect of her education.

Because the school went on the defensive and attack when we brought up issues, the way the school handled the matter caused my daughter to worry and stress and to suffer serious psychological, emotional and physical issues. Doctors thought she had rheumatoid arthritis. It was later found to be a condition triggered by stress and anxiety that affected her joints and muscles. My children are all sensitive and they worry.

Year 3 is the year when the schools expect the rest of the Year 3 to have caught up to advanced kids, as the advanced kids haven’t been allowed to progress in school. They blame the parents if the kids are still advanced beyond their Year and accuse parents of hot-housing or pushing their child and causing the problems. If the children haven’t’ conformed by Year 3 and, if you happen to say anything, things get hostile. Well at least they did for my family.

My children were never happy at school with their work, but generally they did enjoy being with their friends. How their year went depended entirely on how nice their teacher was. Some years were a nightmare and they had so much time off school.

My children were obvious intellectually gifted children and often the schools resent those that don’t fit. The teachers used to say that when they got to Opportunity Class and Selective Schools things would be better. However when the time came for my children to be offered places in Opportunity Class and Selective Schools they were refused a place and they even lost their appeals despite the fact that they were obvious identified gifted students and the system had been incapable of meeting their needs and had neglected their educational needs for years causing serious problems.. cont…….

Dear Scout You say your sister doesn't have an extensive education herself - that's an advantage in home schooling. You learn along with your child, doing it together is a much more satisfying way of learning. In fact the child will teach the parent. If both of you don't know something you go out together to find it. Having an extensive education may even be a disadvantage - you're liable to keep supplying answers and telling the child what to do.

Cont… Just a word of advice, don’t trust the system with your children or with their marks! Humans are running the system and humans are capable of anything.

I wrote to the Ombudsman Child Protection Section asking for an investigation into allegations of systemic victimization, bullying, educational neglect and child abuse causing psychological, emotional and physical harm to my children.

I had also asked for an investigation into allegations of misconduct, discrimination, bias, manipulation of test scores and corruption by the Education Department.

The Ombudsman just accepted the word of those responsible and decided not to investigate, so I wrote again and asked for our right for a review of the decisions not to investigate the matters.

The Ombudsman, Mr. Bruce Barbour himself, responded in parts with this:

“You state that you were concerned that Ms Ovenden did not contact you, nor give you an opportunity to discuss the matter or your concerns before she made her decision on your complaint. First of all I would confirm that we expect complainants to lay all their cards on the table at the outset so we can assess their cases in the knowledge that all information available to them is available to us. Your complaint that the actions of the Department of Education amount to neglect of your children does not come within the definition of child abuse as provided by the legislation. Neglect is defined, in keeping with NSW Interagency Guidelines for Child Protection Intervention, as “the failure to provide the basic physical and emotional necessities of life”, for example the failure to provide adequate food, shelter, medical care or supervision. As it is abundantly clear that your complaint does not involve conduct amounting to neglect, there was no reason for Ms Ovenden to contact you. The matters you have raised, simply put, do not constitute child abuse as defined in the relevant legislation.

It is my view that further examination of your complaint is not warranted. I am satisfied that the administrative processes of the DET in relation to the educational opportunities provided to your children have been appropriate. Cont……

Hi everyone,
I have been following this forum for a while now and it is getting tedious. Some people seem to genuinely want to discuss bullying, many are discussing the merits or otherwise of home education, and some are discussing the problems in schools.

If someone wants to know details about and the practical application of home ed theory why don’t they do what the rest of us do? Go and make the effort to find out! Read papers, magazines and books; talk to people and go to meetings or gatherings; research at the library and on the net. To do any less is lazy and ignorant. (Sorry if you are offended. I get offended when others try to solve my occasional problems, no matter what they are; health, financial, time, and personal; by suggesting the children should be in school! As if that would solve all life’s problems; I wish!)

By trying to ‘understand’ all about home ed just by discussions on this forum, you are limiting yourself as much as if you were to read one book on Australian History and then consider yourself an expert. Just like the problems in our various institutions, there is no one answer. Our schools, jails or hospitals are not going to be fixed by one solution. If only life were that simple.

I have heard that Australians do not like to debate, that we take discussions too personally. I think they are right. Can we try and discuss the topic, either bullying or the right to home educate beyond the present Victorian state government, and not each other?

Hello Jolanda,
I’m not surprised by the response you received from Bruce Barbour. It seems the attitude he professes is endemic within the ‘social services’ (DOCS, the dept of Juvenile justice & the NSW dept of education ). A ‘crime’ needs to be committed before action can be taken.
I don’t know what has happened to the concept of ‘Professional responsibility’ in Australia, if it has indeed, ever existed. An anecdote- A troubled, teenage relative of mine hasn’t had a stable education for several years (not caused by bullying). At one point had the habit of simply not attending. Her mother knew nothing of this until assessment time at the end of the year. When confronted the school principal claimed that it ‘wasn’t his problem’! As far as I can understand this amounts to professional misconduct, I don’t think I need to explain why. There is a legal responsibility that all professionals take ‘duty of care’ – not many do & there is almost no avenue to prosecution.
The base of the problem, in my opinion, is one affecting all of western society. ‘User pays’, economic rationalism, capitalism – call it what you will. Our ‘government’ (labour or Lib) ultimately ’resents’ having to spend money on something they see as not being their responsibility. Hence serious underfinancing & understaffing of vital institutions such as public ed.
A little out of context, but while the world bank & IMF continue to demand that we run this place like a business, and while the OZ govt of the day continues to grovel to greater economic powers, we will continue to treat the symptoms, not the cause.

It is a good subject to discuss, In one direction home Education can be a great experience for Kids and Parents –thus avoiding the obstructions posted in society today, then on the other hand, the children do not have that same learning experience when they interact with other children and learn communication skills .
Personally, a bit of both would be beneficial if it was possible, if only due to the falling standards and deterioration of our institutions (Not intentional Politicization) but an issue that will not be going anywhere, and for that reason my kids would be best served in home Education and tutored in the subjects at hand, understanding kids have different academic levels of achievement variations, some early some late.
As a parent it is our choice – what we consider to be in the interest of our children, now days, that is not easy, but to teach them the main lesson of life is to never submit but expand and work even harder to achieve.
After all, a bird when it hatches from its Egg can not fly, and the bird’s parents do not pluck out its feathers then watch their young plunge to the ground, Animals do not remove their sibling’s knowledge on survival, they teach them, Mankind is a conscious Animal we somehow have disarmed that knowledge in children’s upbringing. There lay a problem.