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East Reading Adventure Playground (ERAPA)
Play hall includes a soft playroom,craftroom and music/library room. Outside structures accessible to wheelchairs including roundabout and swing. Special needs groups welcome. Please book. Outside has 24 hour access. Playgroup and tooddler group. Youth club.Use for childrens' parties.
(None of those typos are mine, they're from the council website).Anyway, that's where we were today - the Berkshire Home Educators group hires it on Friday afternoons for get-togethers and we went and had a go. It was great. From 12:30 to 4 pm Linnea played with kids of all ages (up to about 14, I think) and a wide variety of backgrounds, in a safe, challenging environment. she took to it immediately, much more enthusiastically than the groups of kids her own age we usually go to, though she does enjoy those as well and we won't be skipping them for a while yet.
The downsides... their electric equipment is regularly safety checked and the kettle didn't pass this month, so we had to use an urn for hot water. The fold-down changing mat in the disabled loo is too high for people as short as I am. It was hard to choose which tea to drink because there were so many options. Not all of the children were lovely all of the time. Man, life is tough.
The upsides... the children were incredibly well-behaved and sensible, and the adults were lovely, and everyone was welcoming and pleasant. They had decaf Earl Grey tea. I can cycle there in 40 minutes the long way along the river. We saw a heron, and loads of swans and geese and ducks and cygnets and goslings and ducklings. Neither Linnea nor I got sunstroke.
We're going to go again, I think.
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Do you have to satisfy the LEA in anyway about the standard of education ? are they going to insist on specific learning goals do you know ?
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"The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable
(a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and
(b) to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise."
* Provided the child is not a registered pupil at a school, the parent is not required to provide any particular type of education, and is under no obligation to
* have premises equipped to any particular standard
* have any specific qualifications
* cover the same syllabus as any school
* adopt the National Curriculum
* make detailed plans in advance
* observe school hours, days or terms
* have a fixed timetable
* give formal lessons
* reproduce school type peer group socialisation
* match school, age-specific standards
* seek permission to educate 'otherwise'
* take the initiative in informing the LEA
* have regular contact with the LEA
Many LEAs do go all funny and try to insist on setting annual exams for the kids etc, but Reading appear very clued up and the LEA site has a lot of info on home education already, so they are unlikely to give us any hassle.
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