HOW WE TEACH
Classes:
1.
ORIENTATION CLASS
2.
CREATIVITY CENTRE CLASS
3.
EXAM TUTORIAL CLASS
TIMETABLE
CALENDAR
Subjects:
* English Language & Literature
* French Language & Culture
* History and Geography
* Mathematics
* Philosophy and Society
* Spanish Language & Culture
* Private Tutoring
* Sciences
Summer Courses & Camps
PARENTS
BULLYING
FEES
FAQ
LINKS
CONTACT
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In the UK
you, the parent are legally responsible
for providing your child's education.
It is your choice whether you prefer to use the services
of a school, tutors, or other helpers in addition, or not.
The best approach to a child's education is a flexible attitude. Whether you home educate or school, see what works best for now, and review it at intervals. The decisions look much more manageable as trial periods.
If you decide to home educate you don't need to be highly educated yourself and you don't need teaching qualifications. You don't need to create a "school at home" with set lessons, and school subjects, or tests, unless this suits your individual child.
What overall are the pros - and cons of Home Education? It's free, it's legal, it works excellently well as shown by research - and it's fun! Home educated young people overwhelmingly report they are glad they were home educated and generally the whole family enjoys it too as a positive lifestyle.
The commonest problems are that some LEAs are unsympathetic and need a lot of letters written to insist on the proper legal situation (but all Home Education organisations help with this); there is no public funding; some exams may not be possible though most and ensuring you as the parent don't try to do too much!
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FIRST COLLEGE UK AND HOME EDUCATION
First College UK is like a kind of halfway house between school and Home Education.
We have three important aims: to ensure students are confident and happy young people, to inspire and expand their joy in learning, and to help efficiently but individually around the issue of exams.
To ensure students can be happy and confident we need courtesy and mutual respect for everyone. We use a clearly explained guidance on what exactly "being polite" means, and it covers both students and staff. The majority of class communication is automatically recorded so any problems or disagreements can be sorted out relying on this neutral record. You can download our guidance here.
To ensure students acquire a joy in learning, and if they wish to, train in how to handle exams efficiently, we use a mixture of school and Home Education approaches.
As a school we do have lessons in traditional subjects.
As Home Educators our lessons are not restricted to the National Curriculum. Instead we concentrate on basic, solid, classical knowledge and skills. Keeping that as a core, we take an open minded approach which emphasises having fun together to explore and learn. We want our students to ENJOY learning!
Note: Exam Tutorial students do have to follow the exam syllabus in their lessons.
As a school we do divide the school into classes. We do have a timetable for a teacher of each subject to work with each class separately.
As Home Educators we keep our classes small and personal (10-15 students) and we ensure lots more personal attention both inside and outside classes. We keep things as flexible as we possibly can, to individual needs.
As a school we do prepare efficiently for exams.
As Home Educators we help families decide exactly how useful exams would be to the individual student. For some students IGCSE exams are a major priority in terms of their kind of career path. For others a few exams are a good idea to learn the practical skill of taking exams. For yet others, exams are unnecessary at this stage, or even at all.
Families who find First College UK as a kind of halfway house useful are:
* Home Educators who find that an older child now needs to tackle more structured learning, with a team of co-educators, rather than going to an ordinary school.
* Home Educators who decide they want extra help with GCSE exams.
* Families who find their local school options unsatisfactory, but having checked the alternative option of Home Education, just do not feel this is the right way for them to go.
* Families supporting a bullied or sensitised child who would still like daily structured learning, or a daily learning community, but school is too much to handle.
* Families supporting a child with health needs that make school attendance difficult or impossible, and for some reason Home Education does not suit them either.
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Which OTHER organisations as well as First College UK provide distance or online learning that could help?
For primary age children Primary Home Education UK has a reputable and friendly service.
The Open Learning Centre, Carmarthen (Tel: 01267 235 268) has a good reputation among Home Educators for distance learning courses.
The NEC (National Extension College) also has well established courses.
The Open University has courses that will sometimes admit older students.
Note: There are some other projects available as well as these, but we only list here those of good reputation that we feel we can recommend. If you know of another project you think should be listed here please let us know. We will either list it, or tell you why we have chosen not to.
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USEFUL LINKS
ALTERNATIVE LEARNING International network
Professor Charles DESFORGES 2003 "The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parental Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievement and Adjustment." DfES (UK) NOTE PDF file needs Acrobat Reader or similar
EDEXCEL INTERNATIONAL IGCSE exams are equivalent or slightly higher than GSCE exams. They have a more international emphasis in the material to be studied, and no coursework components, so they are especially suitable for online students.
EDUCATION OTHERWISE (EO) UK national homebased education charity organisation with local contacts, groups, magazine 0870 7300074 PO Box 7420 London N9 9SG
EDUCATION REVOLUTION Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO) is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 by education expert Jerry Mintz to advance learner-centered approaches to education. AERO is considered by many to be the primary hub of communications and support for educational alternatives around the world.
FIRST COLLEGE (UK) A high school provided completely online with LIVE classes by experienced home educators and teachers. 11-17yrs, small classes, personal approach. Edexcel IGSCE exams.
"FREE RANGE EDUCATION: HOW HOME EDUCATION WORKS" book by Terri Dowty publ. Hawthorn Press £12.99
HOME EDUCATION SPECIAL Home educating with special needs. Legal info, contacts and support.
HOME EDUCATION UK (HE-UK) Legal guidelines; email discussion list, lots and lots more
JON'S HOMESCHOOL RESOURCES A homeschooling dad's site with a LOT of resources (USA).
NEC (NATIONAL EXTENSION COLLEGE provides distance learning courses.
The OPEN LEARNING CENTRE, Carmarthen is a well respected distance learning centre. Tel: 01267 235 268
The OPEN UNIVERSITY sometimes accepts younger students on its courses; this has to be arranged with the regional centre.
PRIMARY HOME EDUCATION UK has a reputable and friendly service providing learning packs and support to primary school age children.
Paula ROTHERMEL Home education research, University of Durham. Demonstrates the high quality results of children learning from home in terms of both academic and social skills, and later achievements re qualifications, and career.
SCHOOLHOUSE Home Education in Scotland- slightly different legal info. Contacts and support.
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