Free2Homeschool

Have you seen the TINY ART EXHIBITION happening this week in our community?

Date: Friday 19th June
Time: 2-3.30pm
Location: 28 Griffith Rd, Ipswich

Here is a little message from our Ipswich Homeschool event organisers:

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The Ipswich Homeschoolers’ Tiny Art Show is happening this Friday afternoon!

All homeschooling families are welcome to come along and enjoy this exhibition of tiny artworks by homeschoolers.

The exhibition is free to attend.

Peruse the artworks, soak in all the creativity and imaginative flair of our young artists, and maybe even buy a piece to take home. Cash only for art sales please, and not all artworks are for sale!

See you on exhibition day!

On my way home. Firstly, check out the size of that wing of an Airbus A330!

Today's meeting was to discuss the feedback of the proposed policy and procedures documents, and although it probably didn't quite touch on ALL the topics that would have been great to cover, it still explored many points from all representative stakeholders which the new Senior Stakeholder Liaison Officer, Anne, took on board in great detail.

We provided previous written feedback, so didn't need to cover too much today, but did take the opportunity to provide some context to some points, as well as explore the overarching reminder that we want documentation made public to families that acknowledge that home education is a parental responsibility and legally valid choice, and that registration processes should not have external biases applied in decision making to establish one's right to home educate, but instead should be based on educational merit alone.

As always, for further discussions and the opportunity to discuss in a closed space, jump into EGPA & Changes to Home Ed - Discussion

Off to meet with the NSW Dept of Ed today as the early stages of consultation on policies and procedures. Next stage will involve community consultation.

The official NZ Media Release from Minister Stanford, NZ's Education Minister.

Such a great result at such a critical stage!

The official link to the beehive: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-listens-feedback-homeschool-regulations
(And OMG YES! That is their name for a gov website for these! Isn't it cute)

If you have issues with accessing it in AU, here is an archived issue of the statement: https://archive.is/o47ez

And we now know too much about New Zealand Government that we didn't expect we would be learning about! haha

Yesterday I (Patricia) was running solo with Amanda pre-occupied in life "stuffs", when suddenly lots of important things popped up...

First up I had a meeting with our New Zealand representatives on their non-consulted amendments that were introduced. Lucky for me, they were OK to share the meeting with me still getting myself ready for the day, considering the time zone difference 🤣

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Then I packed myself up and was off to Parliament to get the in-person feel of anything that had any mention of Home Education.

We are working to continue to break down the barriers in this space, and huge thanks to members and representatives who have spent the time with us and are understanding the deep-rooted bias our community can be subject to, helping us replace it with equity and understanding. This means a lot to our community and a lot to the equity of families and students well into the future of education.

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Next I toddled across to meet our QHE education leader and discuss our "list" we keep adding to 🤣 and I LOVE that Dr Renae can run through things at warp speed, which allowed us to cover double what we planned! And I even got time for a sneaky peak at the wonderful art packs ready for isolated students! 🤫 My main concern was the AIC notices that Dr Renae and I are planning a multi-prong approach to.

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On that note, let's look at that:

‼️The AIC notice is a REMINDER ONLY.

‼️It is a check in just to ensure you maintain registration or let them know if you return to school.

‼️Our registration in Qld does NOT end, and all it asks of you is to have your proof you are registered if their system flags you as not and they contact to ask you for proof.

‼️You DO NOT need to upload anything.

‼️And if you do not have your proof, and require it, you can contact QHE for evidence.

We are working on a process to amend the wording of these notices to align with our Qld regulations and stop putting unnecessary stress or burdens on families.

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Dont forget to join EGPA & Changes to Home Ed - Discussion to keep up with full updates on progress and advocacy activities.

Spontaneous day in parliament today for the Education Committee hearing as a mention of Home Education popped up. And shortly, after some snacks, another meeting to hopefully help create some more appropriate wordings for our AIC processes 🙏

Always happenings going on behind the scenes of for the betterment of the community and making regulatory processes less burdensome.