Sutton Home Education Forum

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Welcome to SHEF, Sutton’s Home Education Forum!

Our aim is to provide a list of resources and a contact point for parents who are already home educating or are just contemplating it…

Follow our blog to keep up to date with activities in the London area.

 

 

 

 

28 thoughts on “Sutton Home Education Forum”

  1. Bev

    Hi I am a home educator. I have been educating my 10year old for five years now, I also have a four year old. I have been following your group on the SLHE.
    And interested in the gymnastics in sutton I live in the south east Bromley. And love the freedom of home edding. No schooling for us. Love & Light bev

    Reply
    3. Lea

      Hi Am thinking of Home schooling my daughter can you advise me please.

      Any mums on this site that have done this am currently residing in sutton.

      Cheers

      Lea

      Reply
  6. Abbie

    Hi I HE my 11 yr old with SEN and I’m trying to find a place that do drum lessons as my son loves music and drums. So if you know of any please could you let me know. We are in Mitcham.

    Reply
  8. Natalie king

    I would like to start homeschooling my 12 yr old son who has aspergers syndrome. In need of much advice on how to etc…
    Where do they sit gcses?
    Can i just teach him maths and english?

    Reply

    1. Hi Natalie,
      All these questions can be answered by having a good look around our website. Education Otherwise is also a great website full of resources as well as the HEAS (Home Education Advisory Service).

      You must arrange GCSEs yourself, check the GCSE section and posts. You need to find venue and mainly concentrate on IGCSEs as they are usually 100% examined, problem with courses that include assessment is finding someone to mark the work. Science is good via Sam Martell. Please check the GCSE section. Once they are over 16 they can take GCSEs at different colleges, for example Kingston College runs GCSEs. You have to check in your area.

      If you are able to come along to the Sports Village in Rose Hill, Sutton (see the Sports Village page for timetable) you can come and talk to the mums there. Jae Avery is usually there to coincide with the gymnastics sessions, she is one of our founders and has a lot of info. There are also a lot of home educating groups on facebook and online. Search on google for your area, your LEA might be able to point you in the right direction too.

      Reply

  9. Hi there,
    I have just opened a new arts and crafts centre in Sutton. It’s in a lovely old building in Haddon Road which is just off the high street.
    We are running pottery cafe, sewing classes, woodworking, general arts and crafts, Lego club, gardening club, possibly a baking club (subject to set up requirements), toddler singing sessions, children’s craft based parties,
    We will also be offering one to one tuition and small group learning.
    If you are interested then I will put you on our mailing list. I am also just constructing a Facebook page entitled ‘made in Sutton’ which has a pair of scissors on title page (there is more than one page under that name).
    Many thanks
    Kirsty

    Reply

    1. Hi Kirsty,

      This sounds like an interesting venue. I am happy to share events on our blog. We are also involved in an arts charity, Team Imagineers (www.teamimagineers.wix.com/teamimagineers), whose primary remit is running arts workshops in the community.

      Reply
  10. Elena Gamarra

    Hi, I’ll be starting homeschooling my daughter after easter, so would like to join some of your activities!
    Thanks!

    Reply
  11. Alexandra Rojek-Turner

    Hello

    I’m looking for some social gatherings/groups for my two home ed children. Boy (8) and girl (12). I’m hoping it may lead to play dates/meet ups? Any ideas out there for day time adventures?

    Reply
  12. Rob Maietta

    Hi all,
    We have a 13 year old tennis player, at Wally girls, and wanting to really give tennis a go. HE would really help her. She trains at the Sutton Sports Village normally (injured at present though). We also have a 10 year old, who is more into performing arts, and between them, they are both quite bright.

    So with that background, I have a few queries that hopefully someone can help me on the right path.

    1. How do I ensure HE provides good material, and can take appropriate exams? There are links on this website that give guidelines to exams. There is also plenty of information on this website regarding materials. A good source of national curriculum materials is Scholastic books. Most home educators rely a lot on internet searches too.
    2. How do we satisfy a local authority if we are overseas when they want to visit? You do not have to have local authority visits, a written report is good enough.
    3. How much time are we allowed to spend out of the UK per year? I am not sure, if you are claiming any benefits there is a limit which you will need to check. Try HMRC website. If not, I think 6 months in this country counts as being permanently resident. Again you need to check with HMRC or Google search.
    4. If we do spend a lot of time overseas, can we stay under the UK system? See above
    5. If my child is stuck on a particular subject, how would we get a teacher / tutor to help? There are hundreds of tutors around….search on the internet. There are also a lot of HE groups and some organise classes. Best to join the Home Education Advisory Service and Education Otherwise, they can give legal tips too.

    Many thanks,
    Rob

    Reply
  13. John Terra

    Hello everyone,
    I have one amazing 5-year-old, and as we homeschool, I’m looking for advice on introducing them to the digital world safely and educationally while managing screen time. Any suggestions? Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi John, my personal experience is that whatever you do, screen time is so addictive that it is almost Impossible to manage, certainly not without fights and tantrums. I don’t see any need for screen time to start at 5 anyway. I would delay as long as possible and it takes serious discipline. You need other activity that they enjoy regularly in place. In spite of parental controls it is very easy for them to end up on inappropriate platforms. It is easier to manage if you have only one child, but when the next comes along there is no delaying anything. It is also a massive temptation to use it as a baby sitter, that easily gets out of hand. There are many studies that show the detrimental affects of computers and mobiles on brain development. If you watch that series about social media, all the main founders of it say they don’t let their children use it. For example a game may take up to an hour to even get really started on building something or through a level, they might be half way through and their time is up and they will lose all their progress if they stop on time etc etc.

      Reply
      1. John Terra

        Hi Hana Horack-Elyafi, thank you for sharing your experience and concerns regarding screen time for kids. Managing screen time can indeed be a challenge. Delaying its introduction and having alternative activities in place is a wise approach. I’d like to share that there are tools like Magic Desktop(https://www.magicdesktop.com/?aid=ACE7) that can help parents maintain control and provide a safe and educational digital environment for children. I’ve been using it to ensure my kids’ screen time is not only age-appropriate but also beneficial. It’s a helpful solution to keep up with the times while ensuring that screen time is used constructively.

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