Home Educator Packs

For many home educators, the problem is 'where and how to begin?' Many parents would like to feel that they are providing an adequate education - indeed, it is their legal obligation to do so - but they lack a structure or strong ideas about what they want to teach. We, therefore, follow National Curriculum in supplying packs so that you can:

Feel assured that your child is covering the same material as in school except at their own pace.

Ensure you are paving the way for a smooth transition between Key Stage 3 (11-14) and KS4 (14-16) when your child may wish to work for GCSE qualifications.

Feel confident that, should your child need to return to school, s/he will be up to date.

Feel secure that you are able to demonstrate to your LEA that you are providing a suitable and adequate alternative to school.

Enable your child to proceed to IGCSEs that will provide them with access to higher education or employment opportunities.

The Environmental Management pack-7 assignments

What Our Packs Include

Because all children are different and we cannot adapt our packs to each individual child, our packs are based simply on what, according to National Curriculum or, later, the exam syllabus, the 'average' child might be learning at a particular age. It is for you to adapt or use this information as you feel befits your child. You do not need to comply to every detail. You may choose to adapt an exercise to make it more relevant or to provide stronger appeal to their interests. What our packs do do is :

Set out what you will need to do in a year at KS3 or for an IGCSE
Provide a suggested study plan
Supply suitable textbook(s)

Include assignments to provide you with regular feedback from qualified teachers so that you can feel learning has been effective
Offer an end-of-year assessment (SATS equivalent) or mock exam.

What we cannot do in a pack is provide the day-to-day encouragement , support and interest that a child needs in order to make good progress. Only you, the home educator, can provide this . This is why we consider our packs a co-operative venture between home and school, allowing children to achieve academic progress without sacrifice of other, often more fundamental, principles, be they social, health, moral or religious.

Home Educator Packs

Learning Materials - Each of our home learner packs is different, geared to the specific demands of the subject. For instance, our Key Stage 3 English packs are carefully structured courses which will take learners from Key Stage 2 English (age 11), right through the three years of Key Stage 3 so that, at 14, they will be prepared and ready to commence (I)GCSE English courses.

English 11-12:
This pack takes learners back to basics - full stops, capital letters, commas, sentences and paragraphs. It is very important that these basic skills are learnt before proceeding to more advanced work. The course gradually progresses to different types of writing - autobiography, descriptive writing, producing a script. There are plenty of exercises on grammar, punctuation and spelling and an accompanying book provides further examples for students to work through. Assignments encourage learners to produce their own writing and response to literature. A recommended reading list is included as is a Spellings Kit which provides weekly spelling exercises with a self-test CD and record sheet.. The assignments are marked constructively to offer positive advice to students and the course concludes with a SATS type test so that students can monitor their own progress.

English 12-13:
This course assumes familiarity with the main learning points covered in English 11-12. There are opportunities to revise and reinforce these skills but full explanations are not repeated. This course aims to progress the learner’s reading and writing skills. As in English 11-12, there are also opportunities to enhance listening skills provided by an accompanying CD. Again, an additional textbook offers more exercises in the basics of spelling, punctuation and grammar. Students learn to analyse language and to produce their own transcripts, articles, letters and summaries. A Spellings Kit progresses students through more difficult exercises whilst a Recommended Reading List builds on the literature studied in the earlier course. There are ten tutor-marked assignments to offer personalised advice and a final SATS test to provide teacher assessment of a student's skills.

English 13-14:
In this pack we seek to bring together all the skills and learning of English 11-12 and 12-13. The course includes a study of Shakespeare and includes opportunities for writing poetry, articles, descriptions and responding to a variety of texts. The course seeks to provide thorough preparation for KS3 SATS tests and aims to leave students well equipped to commence GCSE studies.A Recommended Reading List, CD of listening excerpts, a Spellings Kit and a copy of a Shakespeare play accompany the student file.