Stop the Children’s Bill Cymru

29/07/2026

New research out from the charity Educational Freedom.
The UK national average of home educating families who have had a “home visit” from the education department of their LA is 10%.

However there is marked fluctuation between areas.
In terms of Wales, a number of councils report rates well above national average,

Notably:

Newport 64%
Wrexham 62%
Neath Port Talbot 51%
Carmarthenshire 48%
Ceredigion 46%
Merthyr Tydfil 43%
Flintshire 34%
Torfaen 30%
Swansea 29%
Conwy 28%
Vale of Glamorgan 24%
Caerphilly 20%
Cardiff 20%
Gwynedd 20%
Bridgend did not respond to the FOI.

To quote the study:
“It should be noted, the FOI did not seek to clarify the reason for the visits, whether unannounced, forced or chosen.
The FOI data does not distinguish between visits that were requested by families, mutually agreed, or initiated by the authority.
It would therefore be inappropriate to assume that all reported visits were voluntary or invited”.
We have no idea how many of these visits were unsolicited cold-calling “doorstepping”, how many were agreed to out of fear or because people were given the impression these were somehow a requirement, and how many were agreed to willingly with fully informed consent.

How, one might ask, do the findings by Educational Freedom tie to our research demonstrating that communications to families from councils in Wales are frequently misleading, including often only giving the option of home visits as a way to respond to their informal enquiries, or where such communications to families risk giving the impression that these are somehow a requirement to avoid any difficulties or legal proceedings?
https://wellbeingineducationwales.co.uk/review-of-welsh-councils-policies-and-template-documentation-on-elective-home-education-are-existing-lawful-remits-and-duties-adhered-to/

How, one might ask, does this relate to the confusing depiction of the concepts of home visits in the 2023 Welsh Government guidance, where David Wolfe KC had previously warned the Welsh Government that the use of the term “should” was wrong as it risked portraying a requirement where there was none?

How can we trust giving councils even greater powers under the CWS Act, when there are unanswered questions over the use of existing ones?

https://educationalfreedom.org.uk/2026-ehe-research/

Throughout the first half of 2026 Educational Freedom have carried out multiple FOI (freedom of information requests), you can read an overview of the results below.

15/07/2026

I get it. No one wants to admit that they messed up or that their idea of what something "should" look like is actually wrong.

But when you are responsible for 9 million school aged children - there is no place for ego and flawed ideology and you have to start listening.

Firstly. Listen to the children.
Learn from them.
It's quite simple, they show us clearly what they need.

Secondly. Listen to the parents.
Hear what has not worked.
And hear what does.

Thirdly. Listen to the research.
Understand child development.
Keep an open mind.

At this point. You can speak.

But only to ask questions.
To gain more information.
To develop a deeper understanding.
To brainstorm ideas.
To test your conclusions.

Finally. You can act.

But like any wise person will tell you, if you block access to the safety nets, without fixing the problems, you will not only be complicit in allowing the harm to continue...

But will be responsible for the additional harm that is created.

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We cannot afford to restrict access to home education, which can save lives and prevent further harm in school.

We cannot afford to move alternative provision to "short term" placements that put a sticking plaster on a wound that will just re-open once they are put back in school.

We cannot afford to refuse EOTAS packages to children who need a structured solution with professional input, outside of school.

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👉 Respond to consultations (see comments)
👉 Sign petitions
👉 Email your MP

27/06/2026

Will new Members of the Cabinet, the Senedd and the various Senedd committees agree to meet and spend time with actual home educating families BEFORE developing any policies or draft "guidance" about them?

Or will they determine to develop policies and guidance without doing so?

Which is the most "open and transparent" route?
Which is the most common sense approach for new Senedd Members and Ministers?
Which approach aligns with electoral promises?

25/06/2026

Misinformation and misunderstanding should not be used to lobby and pressurise governments.

This article is written reluctantly, with no desire to "shame" or accuse,
Hence no names used and the aim of constructive engagement,

but it is written from necessity,
to address misleading information
and damaging misunderstandings,
especially if and when these are used as fuel and motivation to lobby governments to bring about harmful "changes" that would damage family life and education.

Please do share and respond.

So – just whose children were being discussed? The meeting heard of repeated calls to lobby governments for change, seemingly fuelled and motivated by misinformation and misunderstandings.The meet…

21/06/2026

Yes to Children's Wellbeing
No to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act as currently drafted
All children deserve better.
When did we forget that parents are a child's primary safeguard? If a parent is not safeguarding their child, then, under existing law, the state was already required to step in before the CWS Act.
The measures in this act themselves pose safeguarding risks to children.

17/06/2026

This table may be a helpful introduction to approaches to child-led learning that are often utilised by home educating families.

A major differenceis that such approaches ENCOURAGE children to make what would be called "mistakes" by others.
To not focus on gettting the "right" answer but to embrace developing understanding of the processes that lead to that,
With making what school-based approaches would call "mistakes" being considered beneficial in that process of development of understanding.

Removing the pressure to have to demonstrate that can "get it right" enables childrem to be free to have a go, to experiment with different ways of tackling a question or problem.
Measuring and scoring inhibits this.
Many families choose to home educate to purposefully avoid inhibitory and restrictive "teach-to-a-test" styles of "education".

Home education cannot and should not be "measured" by school-based concepts, and to attempt to do so would be to crush and destroy invaluable approaches to education

An amazing post from Dr Naomi Fisher which is spot on as usual!
"School isn't the only way to get an education, and the school way isn't the only way to learn. In fact, some of the skills we need at school are quite different to the skills we need in order to direct our own learning.

This table from my new book 'A Different Way to Learn' contrasts some of the skills we need to do school 'well' with the skills we need to direct our own learning. Jumping in rather than waiting for instructions. Quitting rather than sticking with it when you've had enough. Diving down the rabbit holes rather than keeping on topic.

So many of us learnt how to do school without realising that in the process we were forgetting how to learn.

Table from A Different Way to Learn, Neurodiversity and Self-Directed Education by Naomi Fisher, illustrated by Eliza Fricker"

14/06/2026

“But can I add if it's if they said
‘if you send out a SAO and if they don't comply, you are entitled to see this child’
I'd be sending them all day long”.

SAO = School Attendance Order = legal action against parents,
leaving them with a criminal record if they do not comply and/or of their children are unable to attend school.

This council director for education would like to use the threat to parents of giving them a criminal record if could, to coerce them to act in ways they believe are not in their children’s best interests.

Words fail us on this quote.

Where do we start on this revealing comment.

Other than to add,
it is really surprising that families do not want their children to have to meet council staff, when this is an underlying attitude from management?

Is it really surprising that many families would prefer to not be known as home educators to their council?

School attendance orders are meant to be a measure of last resort
only to be issued if there is firm reason to be believe that a child is not in receipt of a suitable education.

Yet here we have admission of a wish to use the threat of legal action as a tool of coercion to force not just parents but children to comply with enforced measures without true consent and without specific reason in those individual cases.

This isn’t about concern of individual cases where there is reason to believe there is a safeguarding concern
- and powers already exist for intervention when that is the case anyway.

This is an expressed desire to routinely use the threat of legal action to regularly manipulate the behaviour of children and parents against their will and in the absence of cause for concern.

As a sword of Damocles to hang over the head of ordinary, loving, law-abiding families.

It may be dismissed as an off the cuff remark.
But it has still been stated in a public council meeting.

https://democracy.caerphilly.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=642&MId=14879&Ver=4&LLL=0

Still trust council staff to be the ones to act in the best interests of a wide range of children?
If the CWSA were implemented, that's what would be doing.
No independent complaints, appeals, mediation, advocacy or tribunal services for families.
No external redress or monitoring for if and when councils misunderstand or misuse unprecedented powers over ordinary families.

Safe?
just?
based on evidence?

14/06/2026

“And I think the danger here is
if we make this very comfortable and very um easy to manage,
we run the risk of more children becoming EHE
and that is, you know,
and that isn't something we particularly would want to see”.

"Um we try not to offer too much
because obviously we'd like
our ch,
our children,
the children -
sorry, because we’d like the families' children
to stay in school".

Admissions a Welsh council’s Director for Education, and a member of their staff,

Of purposefully determining to not act in a child’s best interests,
even when it is within their power to do so,
To not take steps that are within their power to improve the lives of children.

Why not act in the best interests of these children?

In order to influence family behaviour and choice of education,

In order to act on biases, be they conscious or unconscious ones, that school is preferable to and better than home education.

Even if we were to think the measures in the CWS Act were somehow required,
Even if we were to think it’s morally acceptable to have strangers rather than parents make the decisions about what is in the best interests of a wide range of children.

Can we really think it is acceptable for staff who express such biases to be the ones to be able to objectively determine whether home education or school education would be in a child’s “best interests”?

Especially with no independent appeals or complaints system,
Especially with no mediation or advocacy support for families,
Especially with no tribunal services,
Especially with no external oversight or monitoring of council conduct, policy and decision-making.

No accountability.
No redress for families.

Even if it were required,
even if it were morally justifiable?

Safe?
Just?

Apart, of course, from the question -

Just whose children do they think these are?

And that is only one small section of a range of highly concerning comments made by the department:

https://democracy.caerphilly.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=642&MId=14879&Ver=4&LLL=0

13/06/2026