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There are 16 places for youngsters, over the age of 8 years, to join the enthusiastic outdoor education staff to take part in a two hour activity session. The staff will be offering the opportunity to try kayaking and/or open canoeing on the loch. Places are strictly on a first come first served basis and must be booked in advance and are FREE. The session will run from 10am to 12 noon.

The AGM will be held at 11am at the Park Centre. There is a brand new park area with slides and swings etc and picnicking area, however in the event of inclement weather we have booked the meeting room in the Park Centre until 1pm. There is also an on site cafe which serves sandwiches, burgers and chips etc.

At 2pm the Fife Coast and Countryside Range Service are organising a two hour “bush craft” activity including a camp fire and mid afternoon snack. They are hoping to be able to take us over to Todd Island, in the middle of the loch, where some of the local home educated children have helped construct a roundhouse. Again this activity must be booked in advance and is FREE. Children must be accompanied.

The Park has some lovely walks including a circular walk around the loch, where there is a bird hide. It is possible to book individual activities with the outdoor education centre including mountain biking, sailing and canoeing. For more details visit http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/outdooreducation. There is also fishing on the loch – free in places for under 16s.

To make an early booking please contact Karen Sneddon sneddon@firenet.uk.net .

For more information about Lochore Country Park visit http://www.welcometoscotland.com/things-to-do/attractions/family-fun/fife/lochore-meadows-country-park

If your membership has lapsed and you would like to rejoin please go to http://www.schoolhouse.org.uk/schoolhouse/join-schoolhouse to renew your membership.  If you no longer wish to be a member, please reply to this email and your details will be removed from the Schoolhouse membership database.  This will enable us to comply with the Data Protection Act.

Beecraigs is located 3.2km. (2 miles) south of historic Linlithgow town, midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, in the scenic Bathgate Hills. It has a dedicated camping area that we have booked the sole use of for Friday 20th May from 2pm to Sunday 22nd May at 11am. The cost for the weekend will be £30 per family and should be paid at time of booking. There will be a discount of £7 for any families who are booking from last year’s camping trip.

There will be a limited number of places due to the size of the site.

The camping area is fenced and is therefore traffic free, however the car park is adjoining so not too far to carry camping equipment. There are static BBQ pits around the car park area. Whilst individual families remain responsible for their own meals, it would be nice to have a communal BBQ on the Saturday night like we did last year.

All the facilities for the camping have now been upgraded (although they are in the process of doing up the caravan block facilities). The Adventure Play area is also being improved at the moment and some of the old equipment is being relocated to a site nearer the camping area.

Entry to Beecraigs Country Park itself is free and there are lots of pleasant woodland walks and circular walks around a loch. In 1977 a red deer herd was established and is now maintained as a visitor attraction. It is possible to view the deer from raised platforms and from the walkways through the fields. As the calves can be born from April/May onwards it may be possible for us to see young calves during the weekend.

There is plenty of opportunity for off road cycling and there is an adventure play area and trim course within easy walking distance of the camping area.

We have been in touch with Historic Scotland’s Linlithgow Palace and arranged a free education visit for the Sunday afternoon at 14.00 hours for those interested in visiting the monument after striking camp.

The Ranger Service at Beecraigs is arranging a nocturnal walk at about 8.30pm on the Friday night at a cost of £3.15 per adult and £2.10 per child and then on the Saturday morning they will be running a further activity again at a cost of £3.15 per adult and £2.10 per child, the nature of which has yet to be confirmed.

There are a number of outdoor activities offered at the Park from Field Archery to Gorge Scrambling to a “Go Ape high wire forest adventure” but if folk are interested in these activities they need to be organised by individual families. Likewise any one interested in fishing will also need to organise that for themselves.

If you wish to book a place for your family please contact Schoolhouse with details of who will be coming, with ages ( for the children!), and details of whether you wish to participate in the Linlithgow Place visit, Nocturnal walk and/or Saturday morning activity. Then please send full payment for both camping and the activities (made payable to Schoolhouse HEA) to the Schoolhouse PO Box:

Schoolhouse Home Education Association
PO Box 18044
Glenrothes
Fife KY7 9AD

If anyone is keen to come but would rather come with a caravan then these will need to located in an area a short distance form the tent area and will need to be booked independently with the Country Park. However, please note that monies for the activities will still need to come to Schoolhouse.

SCHOOLHOUSE HAS MADE THIS SOLE-USE BOOKING IN ORDER TO OFFER FAMILIES THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET OTHER HOME EDUCATORS AND TO ALLOW THEM TO TAKE PART IN SOME SHARED ACTIVITIES. ATTENDEES SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN AT ALL TIMES AND THAT SCHOOLHOUSE MAY NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY INJURY OR DAMAGE SUSTAINED WHILST ATTENDING THE CAMP. IF INDIVIDUALS CONSIDER THAT INSURANCE IS NECESSARY THEN THEY SHOULD ARRANGE INSURANCE COVER THEMSELVES.

Families attending the weekend will be required to sign a disclaimer to this effect.

The opening of the stall, run by two Fife Home-ed youngsters, on Saturday afternoon nearly caused a stampede as hungry swimmers made a bee-line straight from the pool towards the stall.

Home-made gingerbread, fairy cakes and cookies tickled the fancy of the children, whilst the adults preferred the more sophisticated truffles and cupcakes. Home-made Christmas cookies were also donated by Ann Aitkenhead.

People kept coming back to the two-man stall, run by James Sinclair (11) and Ciaran Sneddon (14), who eventually closed after a couple of hours of heavy-selling with £45.00 in their WaterAid donation box, and a few tasty treats for themselves!

Today 4,000 children will die from drinking unclean water. WaterAid aims to prevent un-necessary deaths by building sanitation blocks and wells.

Including gift aid the total raised was £57.60

Thanks to all those who donated and bought the baking.

It was 4 weeks since Christmas, when everyone was feeling pretty run down. But they had one thing to look forwards to – New Lanark Schoolhouse Weekend 2011.

By 7pm on Friday night all 15 families had gathered in the YHA Hostel in New Lanark. The aromas of a whole variety of meals were swirling around the dining room, as I sat and ate a bag of chips, kindly collected by the DGs on their way to the hostel.

While some of the adults got to know each other, and others caught up with friends made last year, the children had fun. The perfectly tidy lounge area was immediately taken over, and the younger ones in the group enjoyed upturning every available seat to transform it into unusual structures.

Saturday brought bleary eyes and plenty of coffee for the grown ups – but most were keen to get to New Lanark Heritage Centre situated in the centre of the village. The famous Annie McLeod Experience ride was enjoyed by all who ventured upon it, and the coffee shop’s hot meals did for lunch.

Braving the cold, a small group of us made our way to the New Lanark Mill Hotel’s Leisure Centre to take advantage of the swimming facilities. The tiny pool suddenly seemed packed full, as everyone launched themselves in to the water. It was great to see parents and children playing together, and enjoying their time together. Almost 2 hours later we all came out into the cold, with wet hair and completely exhausted.

Everyone split up for teatime, but quickly reassembled throughout the Youth Hostel to spend more time together. The dining room was adult central, with parents sharing their experiences, while the children began bringing pillows from all over the building to put inside the tunnel that they had created from the seats. Cave, tunnel, air raid shelter… who knows?

By 10pm there was a small circle of people in the lounge, at least 7 of whom were knitting away. It just seemed so stereotypically ‘home-ed’! Meanwhile most of the kids were either in bed or settling down in the TV lounge, which was an unexpected privilege for some.

On Sunday it was time to go, but first the hostel had to be sparkling clean. People chipped in and soon it was ready to leave. The Ss provided soup for all those who wanted it, before they travelled home.

This year’s residential weekend will take place from Friday 14th January to Sunday 16th January 2011 inclusive. The weekend is a self catering weekend and is primarily to offer members the opportunity to meet other home educating families in an informal and beautiful setting.

The hostel is situated in the 200 year old Conservation Village of New Lanark and is surrounded by woodland.

Schoolhouse has rented the whole hostel and as such has spaces for 60 people. The accommodation comprises two 6-bedded rooms, one 5-bedded room, eight 4-bedded rooms and six 2-bedded rooms. There is a fully equipped kitchen and the dinning room seats 30 with a “spill over” common room with seating for another 30. On the first floor there is a TV room.

We have priced the rooms as follows:

6 bedded X2 at £99.00 for the weekend

5 bedded X1 at £82.50 for the weekend

4 bedded X8 at £66.00 for the weekend

2 bedded X6 at £33.00 for the weekend

Unfortunately there can be no over occupancy of the rooms as this contravenes the fire regulations – so, for example if you are a family of three you will need to hire a 4 bed room. All rooms are ensuite with both shower and toilet facilities.

This is a slight increase from last year’s cost which reflects the increase in Rent-a-Hostel hire.

The loose plan is that folk will arrive anytime after 5pm on the Friday.

On Saturday we have arranged discounted rates for the New Lanark Centre of £3 per child ( 3 years or under are free) and £4.25 per adult, which this year we are planning to ask folk to pay up front at the time of booking to make things easier. The pass allows entry into all areas of the Centre except the Interactive Gallery which is aimed at younger children and would cost £3 per child and £4.25 per adult. The New Lanark Centre has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and is a beautifully restored 18th century cotton mill village.The village first rose to fame when Robert Owen was mill manager from 1800-1835. Owen transformed life in New Lanark with ideas and opportunities which were at least a hundred years ahead of their time. Child labour and corporal punishment were abolished, and villagers were provided with decent homes, schools and evening classes, free health care, and affordable food.The New Lanark Centre could take a full day to explore with the ticket including access to the “Annie McLeod Experience” ride, the Millworker’s house, Robert Owen’s School for children, the village shop etc.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Falls of Clyde Nature Reserve is also within walking distance of the hostel . From New Lanark you can enjoy beautiful riverside walks through the Reserve, following in the footsteps of the many poets and painters including Wordsworth and Turner. There are three waterfalls upstream from New Lanark lying on the Clyde Walkway: Dundaff Linn (3 metres) is the closest to the village. Corra Linn (28 metres) is about 20-25 minutes walk, and Bonnington Linn (11 metres) about 30-45 minutes walk. The Falls of Clyde Visitor Centre ( cost £2 per adult, £1 per children, SWT members free) and “Foragers” shop is open from 12 noon to 4pm and would make an interesting visit on the Sunday afternoon after we have all completed the tidying and vacating of the Hostel at noon on the Sunday.

There is also a facility to purchase day passes for the Leisure Centre next door to the hostel for approximately £5 each. There is a hotel within the new Lanark Centre that serves bar food or has a posh restaurant. The youth hostel has cooking facilities and each family are responsible for providing their own meals, although tea and coffee will be freely available.

To check room availability, please contact Schoolhouse.

To secure places for the weekend, please send details of the number and ages of all occupants and how many of you wish to take advantage of the discounted rates for the New Lanark Centre. Also your address and contact details and a cheque payable to Schoolhouse Home Education Association for the full amount of the appropriate room costs plus New Lanark Centre charges to:

Schoolhouse Home Education Association
PO Box 18044
Glenrothes
Fife KY7 9AD

Rooms will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Refunds will only be offered in the case of cancellation if we are able to fill the room.

ATTENDEES SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN AT ALL TIMES. As there is the potential for accidents and incidents in any encounter with other youngsters and the great outdoors, commonsense should prevail at all times. Schoolhouse will not accept liability for accidents or injuries that may occur during the weekend. Children remain the responsibility of their parents at all times.

This is a great opportunity to meet other home educating families and make some new friends and we look forward to seeing you there

The words  ”Wisdom, Justice, Compassion, Integrity” are woven into thistles at the head of the Scottish mace  to represent the aspirations of the Scottish people for the Members of their Parliament. The head of the mace is surrounded by the words “There shall be a Scottish Parliament – Scotland Act 1998″.

It was with these values in mind that Schoolhouse sent a complaint to the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament following the deeply offensive comments made by Duncan McNeil MSP in the wake of the Riggi tragedy in August 2010. Not only did the Labour MSP infer that the children’s home educated status might have contributed to their deaths, but he also made misleading statements about the law relating to home education in England in an unedifying effort to make political capital out of the tragic events.

Schoolhouse wished to afford the Presiding Officer the opportunity to reply before publishing details of the original complaint, which is now copied below,  followed by his response. As was anticipated from the outset, no action will be taken by the Scottish Parliament to censure Mr McNeil for his deplorable behaviour, described by one Schoolhouse member as “tantamount to grave robbing”.  While Schoolhouse  fully appreciates the limits of the Presiding Officer’s powers, and thanks him for his guidance on how to pursue the  matter further, the response confirms that MSPs are immune from any form of parliamentary censure for misleading the public about the law and for articulating political views which are deeply offensive to, and deliberately stigmatising of, a minority community.

Letter from Schoolhouse to the Presiding Officer, dated 30 August 2010

Dear Presiding Officer

Complaint regarding the conduct of Duncan McNeil MSP

I write with reference to the deeply offensive, insensitive and wholly unacceptable comments regarding home education made by Duncan McNeil MSP in the wake of the recent Riggi tragedy, which were published in the Sunday Post on 8 August 2010 and later repeated in the Greenock Telegraph.

In the absence of an apology, which was requested of him in a letter dated 9 August and subsequently refused in his response dated 13 August 2010, I wish, on behalf of the members and supporters of Scotland’s national home education organisation, Schoolhouse, to make formal complaint about the conduct of Mr McNeil.  It is our contention that he has breached the key principles underpinning the Code of Conduct for MSPs, which are designed to “set the tone for the relationship between members and those they represent and between the Parliament and the people of Scotland”.

I refer in particular to the following principles:

Public duty

3.1.3 Members are expected to act in the interests of the Scottish people and the Scottish Parliament. Members should uphold the law and act in conformity with the rules of the Parliament.

Duty as a representative

3.1.5 Members should be accessible to the people of the areas for which they have been elected to serve and to represent their interests conscientiously.

For the record, I would ask you to note the following facts:

In seeking to make political capital out of this terrible tragedy, Mr McNeil deliberately inferred (without a shred of evidence) that the Scottish Government’s policy on home education might in some way have contributed to the deaths of the Riggi children. Referring to some poorly drafted  Parliamentary Questions he had previously tabled, he omitted to mention that these only concerned ”guidelines” issued by the Scottish Government  regarding “inspection” of “teaching arrangements” for “homeschooled” children. In fact he should have been well aware of the existing statutory “guidance” outlining the responsibilities of local authorities in respect of “home educated” children, guidance which rightly conforms with the relevant primary legislation (the Education (Scotland) Act 1980), which he has a duty to uphold under the code of conduct – and issued following a comprehensive consultation process in which Schoolhouse participated fully.

Mr McNeil also sought to discredit members of the minority community this organisation represents by deliberately misinforming the public via the media about the applicable legislation in England. Moreover, he chose to cite the Badman report (commissioned by the previous UK government), whose unevidenced statistics have been publicly discredited by independent professional analysts and whose recommendations were roundly rejected by the UK Parliament prior to the May general election. Indeed, in a written submission to a Select Committee Inquiry into the fiasco, Professor James Conroy, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Glasgow commented on the Badman review thus: “In my 30 odd years of professional life in education I have rarely encountered a process, the entirety of which was so slap dash, panic driven, and nakedly and naively populist.”

Such actions on the part of Mr McNeil in his capacity as an elected member are, in our view, reprehensible and have caused immense distress to home educating families in Scotland and beyond, most especially the home educated children who knew the Riggi family and have lost three friends in horrific circumstances.

The murdered children lived until recently in Aberdeenshire (not Mr McNeil’s constituency) and died in Edinburgh (not Mr McNeils’ consitituency), and so his personal interest in the intricacies of this case – and in particular his obsessive focus on the education of the children as opposed to any other aspects of the family’s background which have been extensively reported – is surely inappropriate for an MSP whose own constituency matters should be at the forefront of his activities.  Indeed Mr McNeil appears to have no interest whatsoever in the plight of his home educating constituents, whose efforts to elicit information from the local council on its home education policy (as required by statutory guidance) have been consistently frustrated. Such failure, along with Mr McNeil’s intemperate comments about the Riggi case, surely falls far short of what should be expected, and represents a dereliction of duty on the part of a Member of the Scottish Parliament.

You should be aware that members of the home education community throughout the UK and North America, along with many members of the public, have expressed to Schoolhouse their collective disgust at the conduct of Mr McNeil and consider that he has brought the Scottish Parliament into disrepute by allowing personal prejudice to get in the way of his duties and responsibilities as an MSP.

I trust I have directed this complaint to the appropriate authority and would be grateful for your early consideration and investigation of this matter.

I look forward to your response and meanwhile thank you in anticipation of your assistance.

Yours sincerely

Schoolhouse

Reply from the Presiding Officer to Schoolhouse, dated 21 September 2010

Dear  Schoolhouse

Thank you for your letter, on behalf of Schoolhouse Home Education Association, dated 30 August. I can confirm that your complaint against Duncan McNeil MSP meets the procedural criteria set out in section 9.1 of the Guidance to the Code of Conduct for Members of the Scottish Parliament. I am next required to consider whether the conduct complained about constitutes a breach of the Code.

It may be useful if I begin by providing a bit of background on the provisions in the Code and setting out my role in relation to members’ conduct. The key principles set out in volume 1, including those you refer to in your letter, underpin the specific rules set out in volume 2. Volume 2 is therefore the enforceable element of the Code. My responsibilities fall under sections 7 and 8 of volume 2 of the Code, these relate to members’ conduct in the Chamber and their engagement with constituents in their capacity as constituency or regional MSPs.

Given the parameters of the role of Presiding Officer, I do not have the powers to investigate the appropriateness or accuracy of the political views of an individual MSP, or how the expression of these views may impact on the perception of the Scottish Parliament as a whole. I have therefore decided not to uphold your complaint.

On a wider point, the Code expressly states that it does not cover  ‘members expressing their political views in their capacity as a member of a political party or organisation)’ (Volume 1, paragraph 1.3). In addition, I hope you appreciate that attempting t police the appropriateness and veracity of political comments made by all MSPs, or the accuracy of the reporting of those comments in the press, would be impracticable.

I appreciate that you are likely to have outstanding concerns in relation to the impact of Mr McNeil’s comments on the wider perception of the Parliament. It would be open to you to raise your complaint about Mr McNeil with the relevant party Business Manager, who is Paul Martin MSP, Room M1.11, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh EH99 1SP. Alternatively, you can email him at paul.martin.msp@scottish.parliament.uk.

Yours sincerely

Alex Fergusson

Schoolhouse was pleased to accept an invitation to participate in the Unreasonable Learners conference in Glasgow on 4 October which was attended by delegates from the private, public and third sectors and a number of academics. It was an interesting and challenging day which explored ideas and possibilities for change in Scottish society.

One of the speakers, Dr Tony Miller of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, has kindly given Schoolhouse permission to post the slides from his presentation which we believe will resonate with home educators.

People & Systems 

On the subject of intrinsic v. extrinsic motivation, he told the story of how he asked his students what they would do in his class if he just gave them all a blanket grade B for the year.  Their response was that they wouldn’t bother turning up! Presumably, they were only there to obtain the requisite pieces of paper.

Two years ago, Schoolhouse hosted an international conference, Learning without Limits,  to celebrate IFED 2008 and was privileged to welcome John Taylor Gatto as the keynote speaker.

This year we are celebrating the Scottish government’s affirmation of it support for freedom of choice in education after the education secretary responded positively  to parliamentary questions tabled on behalf of Schoolhouse by Lothians Green MSP Robin Harper.