Preparing for Assessment

Just as the Irish Constitution allows us, as home educators, to provide at least a minimum education for our children, the Education Welfare Act details the minimum that an assessor must do during an assessment. And just as most of us want to provide more than a minimum education for our children, the assessor will look for more than the minimum dictated by law. Specifically, the assessor will need to find evidence that the home educator is providing at least a minimum education for their children.

Before the assessment you should ask your assessor for clarification on a number of points:

• What is their plan for the assessment?
• How long will the assessment take?
• What are their objectives for the assessment?
• Will they be examining the learning environment?

This way you can assess things like if the assessor will want to speak to your child. If so, you should ask for further clarification around what this entails. What questions will they be asking your child? Remember that the assessor is a complete stranger to your child. You have to think about how you will react if they e.g. ask to see the child’s bedroom. Is this OK if this is the area where the child does their learning? The assessor should provide reasons for anything that they do with your child(ren).

The main point is that you and the assessor have agreed a framework for the assessment in writing, usually email. If the assessor will be speaking to your child, you have an idea of what they will be asking and can prepare your child.

How to approach the assessment (and the assessor)

Tusla are part of the Department of Education. They tend to be mistrusting and hypersensitive about things being hidden. Just as it is human nature not to buy from somebody that we do not like, the assessor will be wary of someone who comes across as combative or obstructive. It is in your interest to be seen as helpful and willing to work with the assessor.

Open, honest and transparent communication is the best approach. The assessor should not perceive you as being obstructive. You should look on the assessment as a chance to tell how great home education is. Having a good story to tell will go wide and be far-reaching, as you can tell your home education story.

There are advantages to being open. It puts you in a stronger position; you are giving them no option to nitpick. The stronger you are the less they will have to nit-pick; so give them no chance to nit-pick. Impress the assessor, be engaging and open, show them the advantages of home education.

Workbooks, worksheets, schemes of work, lesson plans all aid the assessors ability to determine your child’s home education experience.

Embrace the assessment and show how good home education can be.

The onus is on the educator of the child to show proof of learning, so that the assessor and Tusla may make an informed decision in your favour.

Accomodate the assessor with their requests. E.G. Speaking to your child. Find out before the visit what are the criteria. What is the objective of this? What does the assessor expect to achieve? This will give both you and the assessor a framework to work within an acceptable, compatible approach. We need to help the assessor as much as we can to make an informed decision, with a favourable outcome during this assessement.

An assessor will be able to speak to your child under an agreed approach and term of reference that will be applied. The assessor has the right to make this request. It is imperative that you are open, honest and transparent and not perceived to be obstructive. The more you work with the assessor and give them the tools to do their job, the more favourable the assessment outcome.

Use this chance to create an open, honest rapport with the assessor.

Embrace the assessment in a positive light. This is your time to shine and show Tusla, beyond a reasonable doubt, why home educating our children is an opportunity to cater to you childs needs, whatever they look like to you. Be strong, be prepared and advocate for your child and how you support their learning journey.

Evidence / Proof of Learning

You can pick your learning approach that best suits your child. But it must be supported with examples, with documentation and a definitive path showing the progression of learning. You are welcome to read on of our articles on record keeping at this link. In a nutshell, whatever your learning methodology, you must bring to the table concrete evidence and proof of learning.

You must show evidence of the learning you are giving your child. Follow the law of common sense. Some assessors may view home schooling through the traditional lens of education. So show them that you are taking a solutions-based approach, centred around the specific needs of your child. Once you can show progression of learning, they will have to accept that your approach is getting results

These are some examples of ways to provide evidence:

• Workbooks
• Worksheets
• Templates
• Diary entries
• Scrapbooks (with pictures in it)
• Photographs (including photos on your phone)

From day 1, or now, prepare for your assessment. Do not leave it until the week before to try to remember what you did. Get a diary, use google docs, use your phone to record everything that you do. The key is preparation. The key is documentation. The key is to be open, honest and transparent, and show how you home educate your child. You must prove it no matter the learning methodology, e.g. unschooling, eclectic, classical, etc. No proof, no documentation will just make your life a whole lot harder and more stressful.

If you can write one sentence in a diary every day of what you have done, at the end of the year you will have over 300 entries. Also it will be great for you to look back on and realise just how much you are achieving. If it is not written down or captured in some way – it never happened. Help yourself by helping Tusla to see what an amazing job you are doing. The less prepared you are the more stress you will have. Be a constant documentor and charter your child’s learning journey in a structured, sequential, purposeful way, so that Tusla can reward you with the outcome you deserve.