Preparing for a successful Assessment
Enclosed is a perspective that hopes to shed light and provide a balanced but informed approach to help you navigate or give you a starting place to make a more informed decision on how best you want to approach your home education assessment. Our intention is to help give an alternative perspective but acknowledge and respect that all families will choose their own path. We are here to support this and help our HEN community as best we can as parents. It is a guide and we hope to offer guided support through kindness.
Advice: Read this web page to get an idea of what is needed. There are links and lots of information out there and we hope by having them all in one place, it will help you to navigate the assessment process. Reach out to other families, HEN is a community of parents that support one another. Other people have experience of this and will always lend a hand. Just contact us. Here is a list of members of the committee.
Information
Enclosed is what Tusla AEARS use as a guideline to approaching all assessments. Perhaps getting familiar with this will give you an idea of the requirements they use for all assessments. Guidelines on the Assessment of Education in Places Other Than Recognised Schools
To apply to Tusla AEARS for home education you will need to fill out the R1 form. Then a preliminary assessment will take place at a later stage, once the R1 form has been submitted. Link to Tusla AEARS R1 form.
For a review assessment enclosed is a sample that AEARS may use.
The parent has the right to choose how they home educate their child in the way they see fit and article 42 of the Irish constitution allows us this right to do this.
For us to get onto the home education register; AEARS, which is part of Tusla, have appointed assessors and will assess the home education provision that is currently being undertaken within the home. This link contains a video outlining what AEARS requires.
AEARS have requirements that they need to address and that they need to do an assessment. They will need to be able to see how home education is done. These are their requirements that they will use to assess:
Tusla AEARS Assessment Requirements:
- The Learning Environment
- The Education Provision
- Language Literacy Skills: Oral language, Reading Skills, Writing Skills
- Other Areas of Learning
- Physical Development
- Social Emotional & Moral
- Irish/and or other languages
- Assessment and record keeping
The assessment is carried out in accordance with age, ability and aptitude of the child.
Some suggestions:
How you present this is up to every individual family. One way is being able to show what your home educating journey looks like for your family. Journaling or perhaps writing out what you do that is supported by e.g. pictures, worksheets or anything that lets the Assessor see how your child is benefiting by being home educated. This link is to an article by one of our HEN members on record keeping.
Tell a good story, the assessor wants to see how this is done and they need to tick boxes. Help them to help you get through the assessment as positively as possible. Documentation may help. Click on the button below for a suggestion on how to use it.
Positive engagement, preparation and having the confidence and self-belief will go a long way in preparing for your assessment. Being confident comes with preparation and it creates your own luck. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. This is a good opportunity to tell a good story. You have the power to control the narrative.
Assessment Process
Once you have passed your assessment and are successful on being placed on the home school register the next review assessment might not be for another couple of years.
If AEARS are unable to determine or unable to assess the requirements they use, then they will direct the home educating family to perhaps recommendations or conditions attached to their homeschool registration. This could result in repeated on-going visits which could happen every 6 or 9 months. They will communicate this with the family.
Recommendations = AEARS will give these after the assessment in writing. They can be followed, or it is up to the home educator to provide an alternative approach, and clarify why they have used an alternative to the recommendation.
Conditions = AEARS will give these after the assessment in writing. They must be adhered to and usually a follow up assessment will take place allowing a family to implement these conditions for their home education registration.
If Tusla AEARS feel the criteria has not been met at all this could lead to another assessment called for a more in-depth “comprehensive assessment.” Again, they will communicate this directly with the family. Our advice is to contact Tusla AEARS directly and get the information you need.
There is an
Advice Line Home Education
to get further information contact
home.education@tusla.ie
or call 01 771 8635 or 01 771 8854. Or leave a message on the answer machine and they will get back to you.
FAQ and assessment video
Understanding the Assessment Process
Perhaps a good start is to really become familiar with the requirements and see how they fit in with your family and make the plan that suits your household.
Some Suggestions:
- Understand what the preliminary and review assessment process looks like.
- Remember if the assessment date is not convenient make contact with your assessor and get a good date when is good for both parties. A suggestion is to have a family member or friend help support you during an assessment. Perhaps agree a framework prior to the face-to-face assessment and determine what good looks like for you?
Tusla AEARS will write to you and contact you prior to the assessment. Perhaps use this time to create a good framework on information you require and perhaps get their email address so you can send any information prior to your physical visit? It could give them invaluable insight into your perspective. It could be a good place to “set the scene” and use this as a place to start your assessment from your perspective. It is your narrative and you are guiding them on what is important to you to show for your assessment. - Things are changing in legislation. Become familiar with the new requirements and announcements on the Tusla AEARS website. Keep an eye on the Home Education and Regulatory Notices. Please look at the highlighted sentence under “Section 2 Update” in the Amendment to Assessment process document in the first link below:
Amendment to Assessment process
- Being informed means you have a better idea and understand how best to go about your assessment that suits your family. Remember that after an assessment takes place you will receive a “factual statement” outlining your assessment by post. You have 10 days to reply, query and amend what you believe to be correct and is satisfactory to you.
- Knowledge is power and knowing what you need to do and how you are going to do it could help with getting a plan in place.
- Connect with other people that have gone through it, connecting with other families will help you determine the best path you want for your family.
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.
Special Needs
If you have special needs, or your child has special needs, perhaps prior to meeting the assessor is to provide if you can any OT, SLT, GP, CAMHS supporting information that helps to provide an understanding of your family’s special circumstances. We understand that while this can be very difficult perhaps journaling the approach and support you give will help the assessor to understand your unique perspective. Remember it is on a case-by-case basis that the assessor takes.
Each child is unique and different and not a “one size fits all” approach can be applied. Positive engagement and showing how your family dynamics approach home education will help paint a picture.
Remember if a child has been traumatised, by e.g. school system, there is a period of Deschooling that can take place. Mental health is vital and seeking help is important. Remember it is according to the age, ability and aptitude of the child that is key here. It is on a case-by-case basis, so let the assessor know. Do not feel isolated, reach out, there are many families in similar circumstances that can offer a wealth of knowledge. A lot of folks have gone through this before and there is strength in community.
Respect & Dignity
Our aim is to provide you with the relevant information and to keep abreast of the many changes that are ongoing to home education. We respect and acknowledge that every family will do what they see fit for their own preliminary/review assessment and we respect and support this entirely.
There are several approaches and here we take a “non-prescriptive” approach. We know that the assessment process is one that we try to get a handle on and how to navigate this. This is our web page to offer in one place helpful links, information and suggestions to guide you and help you in your decision-making process. It is a guide and we hope to offer guided support through kindness.
Solidarity and support are the cornerstone of our goal to support you all.
Ádh mór!