"I have sought to strike a balance between the rights of parents and the rights of the child, and offer, through registration and other recommendations, some assurance on the greater safety of a number of children." (11.2)

"No I left school because i felt very unhappy at school and I wanted to leave so we did."

"no, i was bullied and i hated school so much that it was my idea to be home educated because i was bullied since nursery and i was not learning anything at all at school. also i had no rights at school the teachers lied and made me cry every day,and they didnt even like children. i am very free now and happy. i learn more than the kids at school, i am already learning ks4 stuff when i am still in ks2.  how dare you ask this question because why would a parent force their child into home education against their will when it is for their benefit. And it is for the child to decide not the parent!"

"My mum and dad know what is best for me."

"My parents decided, but I like being home educated and I want to stay home educated at the moment. I probably will go to school when I am older. We will decide it together. My big sister and brother who are 17 and 14 are in school now. They were home educated for 7 years."

"Obviously the initial decision is taken by the parents. But this is also applicable to school children. As I grew older it was my choice with education and I wonder if school children have the freedom to leave school to become home educated."

"We work together. When I was a smaller child they made those decisions; now we discuss what we are going to do from month to month and although they counsel me against dramatic changes of direction, if I put together a good argument they will accept it. Sometimes we 'trade' and I will agree or offer to continue with something I'm not so keen on, in order to have more time to spend on something that I prefer doing. Sometimes this means that I find out that the less liked subject is actually interesting and/or that I am good at it after all :-)"

"we both choose. i like doing projects. my mum n dad like me to do maths english and science. we compromise"

"We both decide, sometimes my mum chooses something and sometimes I do. I love history best. mum thinks I should do more maths yuk, we make it fun."

"my parents always let me direct my learning and were on hand to help and support me when i needed it or to suggest new ways of doing things."

"Home education is what I like to call 'personal.' It is tailored to my interests and allows for learning to be open, not stuck to the national curriculum that says exactly what every child must learn. I truly believe that a child doing a subject they enjoy for one month, can learn more about that subject than a child who is doing in subject they hate for one year. I am going to do a course in sociology at college, so I can focus on psychology in my current studies in preparation, instead of geography which doesn't at all relate."

"I had complete control over what i learned and how I learned. I decided sometimes to have quite formal lessons and homework and sometimes to have discussions. I also chose subjects which interested me."

"My mum usually chooses but she only picks fun stuff that we like",

"mummy and daddy decide what i learn but in a fun way and i help chose the books"

"mummy teaches me the important things. math, litrature and science. I choose to learn about dinosaurs and worms."

"My mother decides it. Though she makes sure we are part of the decision."

"My parents want me to have a balanced education so i work with them to make this possible. Subjects such as science, english and maths are compulsory. However i choose how i learn these subjects and any others i wish to study. My parents support my choices."

"I am happy for them to come and I shall bore them with all the stuff I learn."

"My LA already meet with us and it is ok, we chat and the lady is always nice. I would not like it if the person changed to someone who didn't understand how good HE is."

"Yes because If I dont,and I dont show them i am doing work, they might send me back to school"

"(daughter then got very upset.. She is very rulebound and doesnt like to be thought of as doing wrong. She also expected them to be knocking on our door any moment now.. lots of reassurance given.)"

"I think that they should only visit me if I want them to. They did not visit me in school - the OFSTED only looked at how the teachers did things not how I responded - so why do it now that I am educated at home?"

"No, I do not want to speak to anyone who I do not know and who might make me go back to school. My parents and me know what we need to do and dont need someone else to tell us"

"I would feel uncomfortable having someone inspect my work. I would also worry that they might try to force me back to school."

"No way. The lady was horrid where we live before. Mum cried after she had gone."

"No I do not think it's good because I don't want them to tell me what to do. Also I afraid that the person who comes might be not very nice."

"I am very scared about it....I don't want to talk to them even with my Mum there, it's scary. it makes me sad. I am 6. We talked to them before, my mum sent letters, they didn't have to come before. I liked it better that way. My cousins at school don't have them come to their house. So it's not right, and I don't want it. It also makes my mum and dad unhappy."

"I do not agree with this. My home is somewhere that is private to me, where I relax, where I can go when I don't want to spend time around others. Much, I would think, like the LA workers view their homes."

"No ! it's my home and I don't think any inspector should be allowed into it."

"no because 1. why should we be picked out to be inspected. Kids who go to school aren't inspected in the summer holidays so why should we have to have someone in our houses when noboddy else has to have anyone in their houses unless they are police and even they have to get permission from a judge and 2. It will be out of tax money so I think other people will object 3.Some people will be scared of people coming in to their houses 4. I don't think the inspectors know the first things about home education and they would expect it to be just like a little school."

"No, because my Mummy and Daddy always look after me and teach me properly. My old school didn't look after me or teach me properly so my Mummy and Daddy took me out of school to make sure I was looked after properly and to make sure that I had a proper education."

"I think that is spying. No, I do not think it is right. I think it should be illegal."

"This is certainly not right. The responsibility is with parents not the council or government. When children go to school you don't get officials marching into the home demanding to see what a child is eating, or what a child is watching on TV, or what a child is playing. Why should someone be allowed to march into my home to see what I am learning? And schools are failing miserably with children leaving state school semi-literate so how the heck can they judge???"

""suitable" to what? If you could answer that, I might be able to answer whether it's right or not. But it would still be my answer, not someone elses"

"I think that is fine but they should not be aloud to do that below a certain age."

"I would talk to them on my own" - child
"over my dead body, home ed can give children lots of confidence but I wouldn't allow this to happen" - mother

"This is OK to a limit - but I'm only a child and I believe that the LEA would try and trick me into saying something that I don't mean. - I would want the questions ahead of time, so that I can have time to think about them - a bit like in the Houses of Parliament."

"I believe this should be done only in cases where there is solid evidence to suspect that a child's safety is in some way jeopardised"

"It's OK if you are a certain age and can't be pushed into saying something that they don't really mean"

"It depends entirely on the age of the child, an elder child is not as intimidated, a younger child is more vulnerable and should not alone with a stranger."

"I wouldn't like it if I was 5 or something and I had to be with someone I'd never seen before, but I don't mind if it is someone who I've met before."

"Personally, i wouldn't really mind this, as long as they were polite. But i think for a lot of younger children this could be quite a strange experience. I for one find it quite easy for my thoughts to become muddled whilst my work is being inspected or when trying to explain things, unfortunately probably leading to the 'inspector' finding a slightly lower standard in my work than i would prefer! :)"

"But I will be alone!"

"No, again because I dont think its right that they invade my home. It makes me feel unsafe and threatened."

"no, that isn't right because they've already shown that they don't believe what children say, and that they think parents put the words in their children's mouths."

"Absolutely not. It's just so hypocritical - if they are all for equality and children's rights, shouldn't they also speak to the children in school one on one? I would find it quite scary to be interrogated by a stranger on my own. It's unfair and wrong."

"It is not right. They did not do this at school so why now that I am home educated. My sister and brother go to school and they do not do this to them. I have made a careful choice t be home educated I do not need someone finding reasons to think that I have got it wrong. I am old enough to be held responsible if I did a crime. I am old enough to choose which parent I would live with if I was in that situation. I am old enough to make my choice of education."

"Aboslutely 100% NOT right! I met Graham Badman and told him this. I was there when groups of home educated young people over and over told him this. My parents did what they had to do to help me overcome the damage I suffered in school. I would literally have been terrified of someone asking to speak to me on my own. The report says that the children's views should be respected-that includes mine and my choice is NOT to see anyone from the LA especially not in my home, which for me when I first left school, was the only place I felt safe in. To impose this on home educated children would take away that feeling of safety that the parents have encouraged. Why did Mr Badman not listen to the views of the children and young people he spoke to?"

"This would violate the rights of the child, exactly what this repports says it's "protecting". I can think back to being 6 or 8 or 10 or 12 and I would've been extremely anxious about being interviewed by strangers, I probably would've just cried. A situation like that would make me feel alone, scared, vulnerable, anxious, confused - an unnecessary amount of stress to put on a small child. What if the person interviewing me alone was like the lady who was working at the nursery in Plymouth? My parents would then be putting me at risk by allowing a stranger alone with me. What if the person was asking me leading questions? what if they misrepresented what I actually said? The police are not allowed into your home without reasonable suspicion of you committing a crime so why are home educating families being presumed guilty until proved innocent??"

"I don't see why it has to change, it's making my Homeschool friends and I a bit worried"

"In some part of the recommendations they mention making school facilities and exam centres more accessible for home educators. I think this is the only good part of the recommendations and the only part I hope gets put into action. I want to do my GCSEs and go to college and university but at this rate I won’t even be able to afford to do my GCSEs whereas kids in school get to do them free. Just because the government don’t agree with home education they’re limiting my chances in life and blaming our decision for me to be home educated when in reality, it’s there fault. The report itself was biased and unfair to home educators too. They've portrayed home educators as child abusers when the reality is the complete opposite. I'd be suprised if any of the child abuse cases they're pulling up actually were home educated children at the centre of them. I think the main problem is that the government and home educators are both fighting fire with fire and home educators aren’t going to back down if it’s their children at the centre of it. Politicians have very little right to be throwing accusations around at this present time too what with the expenses scandals. The government should be trying to help home educators and home educated children as much as possible rather than shutting off all help available as soon as the child(ren) are deregistered."

"I think there's should be more like a support group for home schooled children, not inspections."

"She hasn't read it but does say: "I like home education because I get to play and see my friends and I get to see my animals a lot...I think it's fun. I liked French Club and school fete. We go to school fairs a lot but I don't have to go all the time."
Asked about flexischooling:
Response is "If I could go with mummy or daddy sometimes I might want to do some clubs"
Which clubs would you do?
Response: "Animal ones, music, French, pony, and looking after animals""

"It takes the choice away from me and my family about how I am educated."

"If I wanted to be monitered I would go to school. I want the freedom to live and learn how I want."

"May I suggest that you look at the broken school system and start trying to fix that instead of trying to destroy the lives of children and families that are having an extremely good upbringing by being home educated. Home educated gives more opportunity for all aspects of life, school gives nothing more than abuse and failed attempts at educating children. Children are neglected in schools and they don't have the ability to have a decent adult to child ratio and so do not learn as well as home educated children. Home educated children are allowed to follow their interests, which means that they learn better as they are interested in the subject at hand. Schooled children are told what to do, what to say and when to do it, producing no social skills as they are not allowed to think for themselves or even control what they are doing for the majority of their day."

"I don't want to go to school because if I do I know I will feel like a battery chicken cooped up all day. You see everyone coming out of school looking exactly the same and behaving in a similar fashion to everyone else and with the same attitudes. When you see home educated young people, for example in the park with one look you can tell they all have their own charcters and behaviours. They can be themselves. No matter which school child you speak to the story is always the same- what type of music do you like- dance and pop! If you ask home educated children the answer will never be the same twice! Most weeks there are stories in the news about children being injured or even killed on their way to and home from school. The next week there will be another family with the same story- they always say never again but it is the same the next week. Compare the number of children killed on the way home from school with the number of home educated children killed in ther home - there will be more killed on their way to and from school. Two home educated children have died and you bring out all these new rules and guidelines which affect all home educated children but what are you doing about the school children?"