Across the UK, elective home education is a legitimate alternative to schooling. In England and Wales it has long been established that it is the responsibility of parents to provide their children with a suitable education.. The freedom to provide such an education "otherwise than in school" was plainly set out in the 1944 Education Act.

Since 2009 there has been a growing desire amongst politicians and civil servants to increase state supervision of all children, including those who are educated by their family. In 2019, revised Guidance for local authorities in England significantly shifted the finely tuned balance of power. In May this year, revised Guidance published by the Welsh Government shifted that balance even further.

This presentation was delivered during a 'Conference' session at the Home Educating Families' Festival in August, 2023. In it Randall reviews aspects of the journey of state education from 1870 to the present day, and the rise of the 'children's professional" vis a vis parents.

He asks the important question: when faced with the direction of travel towards state-supervised parenting, what can be done? Whilst intended in the first place for home educating families, his advice to "Fortify your backbone" is relevant to all parents.

To this end he suggests three steps to understanding the situation. These are (starting times for each):
• First step: Distinguish the 'normal' from the 'familiar' (03:34)
• Second step: Understand the implications (19:53)
• Third step: Take back your responsibility as a parent (29:43)

[Please note this video replaces the previous version. That had a typo on two of the slides and that has been corrected in this version. The change has been identified in the video.]