Concerns: Returning to School Term 1 2022

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Are you concerned about sending your child back to school with Omicron, RATS and masks?

Parents are expressing online, their concerns about twice weekly Rapid Antigen Tests and mask mandates for children in schools during the largest wave of Covid in 2 years. Some parents are stating they will be choosing to take their children out of school for a time they deem necessary. The message from the Government though, is if parents choose to do that, they could face legal charges being laid for parents who fail to take their children to school 5 days a week when term 1, 2022 begins.

Where does this leave parents?

Facing possible criminal charges if they choose to shelter in place until the Omicron wave passes?

Unfortunately, the Education Acts around Australia can be rigid in requiring attendance and criminal charges would be the long term natural consequence of refusing to take their children to the school their child is registered as attending.

What can parents do?

Parents can simply apply to home educate their children in whatever state or territory they live in. Home education doesn’t have to be forever. It may just be a few months while this crazy time passes. But if you catch the bug and see what it really means to home educate, as opposed to school at home, maybe you will stick around. We would love to welcome you to our vibrant and diverse community.

If you would like support, enquire about a consultation in person or online. Just email contact@edconsult.com.au and we can help you land on your feet.

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.

Anxiety of Year 12 Students Wholly Unjustified. An ATAR is NOT Necessary for Tertiary Studies.

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The Victorian Premier, Mr Andrews, whose eldest son is in Year 12, said the Victorian Government was committed to ensuring all students were able to get an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

“It is my aim,” he said. “If they can get an ATAR, if not within this calendar year, then very soon thereafter. We’ve got six or eight weeks at the end of the year that we can catch up.”

Victorian Premier Mr Andrews

This is where the ignorance of our politicians and education leadership about what education can look like is failing Australian teenagers today causing wholly unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Students do not need an ATAR to start university

With only an average of 25% of all university admissions utilising the ATAR system, clearly 75% of successful applications to university studies demonstrates that there are other ways for year 12 students of 2020, to enter university without the school ATAR system.

Ed Consult has published a comprehensive list of alternative pathways. If you are looking for information on university access, then start right here

Whether you have had your year 12 studies interrupted, or are simply home educated, there are many alternative pathways to start your tertiary education studies. There is no need to repeat year 12 as suggested by the well meaning but ill informed Victoria Premier, Mr Andrews.

Further invaluable information for alternative pathways to tertiary studies in Australia.

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Directory for Australian Universities

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Tertiary Preparation Course Information

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STAT or SAT examinations

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.

Home Educators Leading the Way

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For the first time in 100 years, home education becomes mainstream.

As Corona Virus shuts down whole countries, there is a mass migration back to the home for Generation Z and away from their institutional educations at school.

A highly successful Facebook group run by an admin team of experienced and dedicated Australian home educators was formed quickly to help support families suddenly finding themselves at home with their children for up to 6 months. Home school due to Virus & School Closures In Australia Facebook page has been populated with free education support pages and online services. There is a buzz of support for how to reconnect with their children whilst also trying to understand how to continue to educate them without the help of the schools.

This is an amazing opportunity for home educators across the world to show mainstreamers how different education can look. Do our children need to do book work to still be learning? What will happen to our senior student’s chances of getting into university next year? Is free play really ok?

Jump online and join the new Facebook group to get the best out of your time at home with your children.

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.

Free Stuff

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It isn’t often that home educators become eligible for any financial support, but with #Coronavirus on the rampage, online education sites are opening their doors to new subscriptions for free for a period of time. Here is the big list:

91 Free Educational Websites for Kids + Companies Offering Free Lesson Plans for Kids
Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.

3. Alternative Pathways to Tertiary Education

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This is the third blog in the series on alternative pathways for entry into Tertiary education. To get the full story, click on the links below.

Open University

Many home educated students enroll and study online through Open University. Open University has no prerequisites for many of its units. You can complete a full degree through Open Universities or study several units and then use them to apply for entry to a degree at your chosen university. The number of units necessary may vary according to the subjects studied and the academic results obtained.

Subjects studied at Open University may even give credit for units in the degree you choose to switch to. The student is also eligible for Fee Help or HECS Help when they apply for an entire degree but not for single subjects, which average between approximately $800-$1400 per subject.

Sitting an Exam

A home educated student can choose to sit exams as a way to demonstrate their academic capacity to cope with the course requirements. They could take the SAT such as is offered through Melbourne University for example or with the STAT exams.

One alternative way to get into the course of your choice directly is through the Scholastic Aptitude Test or SAT 1 is a general test of literacy, numeracy and general reasoning skills accepted for USA college admissions and costs around US$52 with testing venues around Australia. If your student has completed the SAT 1 exam, they will need to manually submit a certified copy of the results to the state’s university admissions centre. As always, please check with the admission centre if your particular university will accept the SAT scores as entry.

The Australian Special Tertiary Admissions Test or STAT exam is a two-hour Multiple Choice test which evaluates skills associated with verbal and quantitative reasoning. The cost is around $150 however do check first if this is an accepted qualification before relying on it for entry into your student’s chosen course. Not all universities will accept this exam for entry.

An exam such as these may be an opportunity for a home educated student to demonstrate to themselves that they have the right skills ready for University level study if they have never sat a formal exam before. The exams are a can be an expensive way to help a students decide on the right path for them, and give them entry into their chosen field of study.

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators and Parents Across Australia.

What Have We Learnt with Ed Consult this February 2020?

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There is so much to learn about home education in Australia. In February 2020, there was a focus on HSIE – Geography and History as well as a Tertiary Education Mini Series and some helpful blogs on satellite internet, dealing with prejudice and the home educated child’s edge, time. Here is a list so you can stay informed and up to date.

Tertiary Education Special

A Focus on Geography / History and the NSW HSIE KLA

Technical and Personal Support Blogs for the Home Educator in Australia

And the Latest Videos from the Ed Consult YouTube Channel

Remember to hit the subscribe button to stay up to date with the latest video release.

If you would like to enquire about a consult, just email contact@edconsult.com.au and we can help you find your feet

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.

2. Alternative Pathways to Tertiary Education

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TAFE and TPCs

This is the second blog in the series on alternative pathways for entry into Tertiary education. To get the full story, click on the links below.

For home educators who purchase a complete curriculum some providers offer accredited courses to transition to university. Confirm which universities accept these courses before committing to this pathway.

Tertiary Preparation Courses or TPCs can be completed through TAFE, other Registered Training Authorities or at universities, and will provide students with an ATAR. The ATAR is the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. It may interest you to know that a mere quarter of all university admissions now use the ATAR system so clearly the majority of uni students are using alternative pathways. Not just home educated students.

TPCs are usually designed for applicants who haven’t completed Year 12 at school. Minimum age requirements may apply and the length of these courses differs between institutions. For admission purposes, most institutions will consider the tertiary preparation courses offered by other institutions. You are strongly advised, however, to check which courses each institution considers.

As an example, TAFE NSW offers a TPC, teaching

  • How to apply ethical practices in your studies.
  • How to read and respond to written text for further study.
  • Core essentials in mathematics, science, humanities and English studies, and more.

The Certificate IV in Tertiary Preparation is available to study full-time, part-time or through flexible learning options.

On completion, the student will be awarded the Tertiary Preparation Certificate (TPC), a qualification recognised by the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC), NSW universities and some interstate universities.

By way of example, from TAFE in NSW:

Western Sydney University applicants, for TPC graduates gaining a TES (Tertiary Entrance Score) of 168 out of 300 or higher, and for Charles Sturt University applicants (a TES of 157 out of 300 or higher), have guaranteed entry into many bachelor degree programs.

Some universities even offer a TPC for free such as Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory. So keep an eye out for savings like these.

Video 2 in a mini series designed to assist home educating parents transition their students to University

So keep in mind that each TAFE or RTO may have specific relationships with universities around the country that make the pathway clearer for your student.

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators and Parents Across Australia.

University of Victoria Launches a New Way to Study Full Time. The Block Method.

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There has been an interesting change at how courses are to be delivered at the University of Victoria by 2022. They call it the block model and in reality it would likely give better outcomes for the student. It has already been successfully trialled overseas and is now coming to Australia.

Usually a full time student would be taking 4 different subjects over a whole semester each with their own assessments and exams due around the same time causing a lot of pressure on the learner.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Dawkins said The VU Way is a new way of doing university.

“It is a future blueprint for universities that offer a combination of vocational and higher education learning. The Block Mode is a truly student-centric, student-success–led model.“

“It offers a unique and empowering learning experience to ensure our students are given every chance to succeed on their own terms, during and after study. In this way, the Block Mode fulfils our vision of creating opportunity and success for any student from any background.”

The block method, compresses a semester’s worth of study of a single subject into a 4 week block with all assessments and exams completed within that period before moving on to the next 4 weeks with the next subject. The block method means you will only ever be studying a single subject at any one time.

That sounds pretty good. A worthy question would be is it possible to do the block method part time? If so, you could organise your life around doing a single subject with 4 weeks of intense study followed by 4 or 8 or even more time off until you tackle the next subject. That would make for an interesting work/study/family/life balance.

For more information on how the Block Method will work click here. To watch a video embedded in Facebook from Victoria University click here.

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.

Research shows limitations in the HSC for Student Opportunities Due to Simply Being Poor

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Click here to read the Sydney Morning Herald article HSC subject hierarchy can lower students’ horizons, says study. Every subject in the NSW HSC program is scaled in preprogrammed ways in order to determine an ATAR number, rating every student into a single reference point for convenient administration of universities’ application processes. Every student receives a ranking in relation to every other student firstly in relation to their classmates at school and then in relation to their cohort in the state to determine their future path.

“The state’s most advantaged students have better access to high-status, high-scaling HSC subjects, new research has found – raising concerns that limited, low-status curriculum offerings are causing poorer students to lower their aspirations.“

Jordan Baker – Sydney Morning Herald December 13, 2019

The trouble is that there has been a schism opening up where schools with a higher socio-economic status of students are taking on subjects that have a more advantageous scaling such as Music Extension and Music 2, higher mathematics, or advanced English and lower socio-economic state schools may not even be able to offer those high scaling subjects with only 1-2 students applying.

This schism gives an immediate ATAR advantage to the rich kids over the poor kids simply because of the way the scaling of the more academically rigorous subjects is calculated. This scaling enables a student at an exclusive private school in Sydney an opportunity to have a higher ATAR simply by enrolling in a high scaling course of Music 2 compared to the student in far west NSW who enrols in Family Studies vocational training.

So upon graduation after 13 years of education, the students are already divided into class structures because of a mathematical formula.

Yet another reason to chose to home educate in the higher levels of highschool. The home educated student can study what they want to study and pursue the future they want to pursue without any impediments imposed upon them by the state education system. Home educated students are truly free.

For more information on how home educated students can enter tertiary education without an ATAR, read this blog post Alternative Pathways to Tertiary Education and take advantage of the freedom of choice.

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.