Skip to content
Home Education Foundation

Serving, promoting, defending and publishing for Christian and secular home educators in NZ and overseas.

Home Education Foundation

Serving, promoting, defending and publishing for Christian and secular home educators in NZ and overseas.

NO MORE Home Schooling ERO REVIEWS!!!

Barbara, August 6, 2009July 6, 2012

NO MORE Home Education ERO REVIEWS!!!

Echoing then Minister of Education Dr Lockwood Smith in 1994, that he could not justify the expense of regular reviews on such a low-risk group as home educators, Chief Review Officer Graham Stoop wrote in February this year that reviews of home educators are not efficient or effective. Posted on the ERO website is the following: “From 1 July 2009 ERO will carry out reviews only when requested by the Secretary for Education, or in other particular circumstances.”

This is in line with the present central government’s drive to cut bureaucratic costs. Minister in charge of the ERO, Anne Tolley, said in February: “I have asked ERO to identify schools that are performing consistently well and, accordingly, from March 1, these schools will be exempt from the current three-yearly ERO reviews and will instead be reviewed every four to five years.”

In December 2008, the Finance Minister advised Cabinet to do a line-byline review of expenditure. Home Education reviews were found to account for $283,000 out of a total budget of $28,675,000 or 0.987% (less than 1%). Graham Stoop wrote: “This programme is considered to be low risk to the education priorities of the Government. In 2007/08 ERO completed 644 homeschooling reviews from a total of 6,169 homeschooled students [at an average cost of $439.44 per review]. ERO could not provide assurance that the terms of exemption were being met in only 35 of the 644 reviews [a 5.4% “failure” rate]. This has been the pattern over many years.”

About 35 reviews a year will continue to be made, reviews initiated by the MoE as a result of concerns brought to the Ministry’s notice about particular home educating families. It was felt by home educators in discussions with the ERO back in the years from 1994 to 1999 when no regular reviews were being held, that the bad eggs rose to the top and became very obvious to everyone. Consequently, more exemptions were revoked during that time, with fewer reviews being held, than in the years prior to 1994.

A senior member of the ERO, with much experience in dealing with home education reviews, wrote the following in an email dated 30 July:

The reality is home schooling has been found to be low risk. Several things stand out in my mind relating to home schooling and they are:

  • home schooling families have support from other homeschoolers and access to people through support networks and
  • through the Internet;
  • home schooling families are no longer isolated unless they choose to be;
  • there is easy access to a considerable range of resources;
  • the skills of home schooling parents are well used;
  • home schooling is being seen more as a viable educational option;
  • ICT is a powerful communication and information gathering tool and home schooling families use this tool;
  • people liked the affirmation that home schooling reviews affirmed good practice; and
  • despite initial concerns the feedback ERO has received relating to the home school review process is mostly positive.

This person also felt that home  education reviews would not be reinstated for quite some time.

Conjecture will not be slow among home eduators in relation to “what will the MoE do now? Will they make it more difficult to get an exemption?” There is no particular reason to believe this, apart from the obvious fact that National has the same totalitarian tendencies as does Labour…they only tend to move a bit slower. This coalition with the ACT Party, however, does change things a bit.

Heather Roy of the ACT Party is an Associate Minister of Education… home education fits perfectly into their philosophy of freedom of choice for parents in education and freedom of self determination in how to order one’s family affairs.

Back in 1995, the MoE instituted, for one year only, voluntary written reviews wherein home educators wrote to the MoE about how their home education enterprise was doing. The MoE said they really enjoyed reading the reviews as it was the only feedback they ever got from home educators after issuing the exemptions, the ERO being the ones to contact home educators after that. But the MoE also caught a lot of flak as a result of requesting these reviews, being accused of going outside their statutory powers in asking for such reviews and of trying to get home educators to  incriminate themselves, etc.

What we home educators need to remember just now is that the current coalition government with ACT MPs holding Ministerial portfolios means we have friends in Parliament and an officially friendly MoE philosophy for the time being. This is a time to raise the flag of accomplishments, achievements,  discoveries, the joys, benefits and satisfactions of the home education option to the population at largeand to the MPs in particular.

From TEACH Bulletin

No 130 July 2009

To see the rest of the articles in the July 2009 TEACH Bulletin:

https://hef.org.nz/teach-bulletin/

or

https://hef.org.nz/category/teach-bulletin/

July TEACH Bulletin 2009

NO MORE Reviews!!! Page 1

The Excellence of Home Education Page 1

Inter-Party Working Group – for increasing parental and student choice in education Page 2

Sweden Page 3

United Kingdom Page 4

NCEA Grades Dubious Page 5

A Bit of Political Advice to Home Educators page 5 https://hef.org.nz/2009/a-bit-of-political-advice-to-home-educators/

Coming Events page 8

ERO Review TEACH Bulletin ACT PartyEROMoEPoliticsSecretary for EducationTEACH Bulletin

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

For Updates on Craig’s brain cancer:

Updates on Craig’s health written by family https://hef.org.nz/about-us/craig-smiths-health and Craig’s diary: Diary of a Brain Tumour https://hef.org.nz/about-us/craig-smiths-health/craigs-diary/ Youtube videos: https://hef.org.nz/q-a-with-craig/

Bank account details

A number of people have asked for the Smith's bank account details to be put up on this website to make it easier to give a donation to cover medical costs: CS BE Smith 020 727 0838357 00 BNZ Thank you for your donations
View Barbara Smith's profile on LinkedIn

  • Home schooling in New Zealand
  • http://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/2002/02/26/john-gatto-teacher-of-the-year-acceptance-speech/
  • Trademe

H/E with Special Needs

  • 3-step approach to treat autism
  • Aspergers Syndrome – Understanding and Educating
  • Autism
  • Autism web
  • Autism: academic instruction
  • Brain Balance Center
  • BrainSkills
  • Christian naturopath mother of autistic children shares info,
  • Communicating with an Autistic Child: A Parent’s Guide
  • Drug free Asperger
  • Gifted Children NZ
  • HSLDA-Struggling Learner
  • Learning Processes
  • Lifestyle help with autism
  • Making Up Lost Time In Literacy
  • Nathhan News
  • Natural child
  • Raising your spirited child
  • Real Special NZ
  • Regional Health School (MoE NZ)
  • Sensory Integration for the Child With Autism
  • Struggling Learner
  • Testing for Special Needs Children
  • VerasKidsNZ
  • Zane Education

HEF Email discussion Groups

  • .Christian Classical Home Educators (ccednet)
  • .Christian Home Educators (chednetnz)
  • .Diana Waring History Alive (dwha)
  • .Home Education Foundation (hefnetnz)
  • .TEACH-eForum
  • Facebook: CraigandBarbaraSmith
  • Facebook: Home Education Foundation
  • Facebook: Home Education in NZ

Help with Exemption Application

  • Contacts for personal help
  • Lesson Plans
  • NZcurriculum
  • Online exemption form
  • Resources/Links
  • Sandra Dodd: Curriculum
  • The Exemption
  • The New Zealand Curriculum Online
  • Unschooling exemption

Maths

  • All in one homeschool
  • Cool math – games
  • Futureschool
  • Living math
  • Math Games-Free Printable
  • Math Worksheets
  • Maths curriculum including resources posters..games etc
  • Maths-NZ
  • Multiplication
  • On line math learning
  • Xtramath

National blogs

  • 3 Kiwi Home Schoolers
  • 4 Kiwi Girls
  • Adventures in sideways living
  • Altariel
  • Ang the FLYing Kiwi
  • Bethany’s Stories
  • Blight, Samuel and Kim
  • Bumble bee wrangler
  • Catching the Magic
  • Charmagne Smith
  • Cynthia’s Notes
  • Dream For Three
  • Family Integrity blogspot
  • Family of Girls
  • Freedom and Dreams
  • General Blogs in NZ
  • Grow Mama
  • Harts at home
  • Hilldogg Visionary
  • Home Making With Heart
  • Home School Journal
  • Home Schooling Diary
  • Home Schooling in NZ
  • Homeschool Family Life
  • Homeschooling on board
  • Kate's blog
  • Kiwi Kids
  • Kiwi Mum of Five
  • Last in line (HE in NZ)
  • Laughing around the Globe
  • Mama Shaw
  • Mamma With a Mission
  • MandM
  • Many little blessings
  • Mazuran sailing
  • Mermaids purse
  • METTLE Weekly Newsletter
  • Most Tranquil
  • Normal Education
  • Nouthetic Studies
  • NZchildrensbookreviews
  • NZchildrensbookreviews
  • NZchildrensbookreviews
  • Outside Hollywood
  • Rabbits Nest
  • Radiant journey
  • Read, Learn and Shine
  • Roman Kids Home School
  • Roses 07
  • Rosie Boom
  • scaryman-13 years old
  • Section59 blogspot
  • Sherena-KuraKainga
  • Sima J
  • Single Parent Homeschooling
  • Smith Family blog
  • South Auckland Home Educators
  • The Pukeko Patch
  • The Purple Pirate Ship
  • The Right Reply
  • Unschooled kids
  • Us in a bus
  • Visionary Daughters
  • Watching Kereru
  • Water Colour Dreams
  • West Coast Home Educators
  • West Coast Home Educators
  • Wild Child 222
  • Women Abiding
  • Wonder-mints

National websites

  • Across
  • Bookish
  • Boom family
  • Carey College
  • CHECH using ACE
  • Christ in Education
  • Christian Education Services
  • Christian herbalist
  • Duffy Entrepreneurs Club
  • ERO
  • ESA NZ
  • Family Integrity
  • Geneva Books
  • HomeschoolingNZ
  • Issacharian
  • Learnex
  • Learning as Families – Hamilton
  • MoE statistics
  • MoE-homeschooling
  • New Zealand Home Education
  • Nouthetic Studies
  • Saturday School of Music
  • Scholarships for Home Educators
  • Singapore Maths
  • South Auckland Home Educators
  • The Broad Room
  • The New Zealand Curriculum Online
  • Writing Excellence NZ
  • Yr 1-10 Resources and NCEA 1-3

New Zealand

  • Basic Maori practices, protocols and New Zealand history
  • Careers New Zealand
  • Correspondence School
  • Culture
  • elocal
  • ESA NZ
  • Kiwi stories for Kiwi kids
  • Korero maori – for learners
  • MoE statistics
  • NZ Earthquakes
  • Songs in Maori
  • The New Zealand Curriculum Online
  • Tki – The Online Learning Centre
  • Why choose NZ: compare NZ/Singapore
  • Yr 1-10 Resources and NCEA 1-3

NZ Home Education Support Groups

  • Auckland Home Educators
  • Canterbury Home Educators
  • Dunedin Home Educators (Sheaf)
  • HE West Coast
  • Home school tuition
  • Manawatu Home Educators (MHE)
  • Meetup.com/Wellington-Unschoolers
  • Nelson Christian Home Educators
  • NZ Home Education Support Groups
  • Rodney-Hibiscus Coast
  • SHEAF Dunedin
  • The Home Educators Network – Hamilton
  • Twin City Home Educators
  • WaiCHE(Karakariki)
  • Wairarapa Home School Group
  • Wairarapa Homeschool
  • Wellington Home Educataors
  • West Coast Home Educators
  • Whangarei Home Educators

NZ-r-Online Encouragement for Home Educators

  • .Christian Classical Home Educators (ccednet)
  • .Christian Home Educators (chednetnz)
  • .Diana Waring History Alive (dwha)
  • .Home Education Foundation (hefnetnz)
  • .TEACH-eForum
  • Auckland – East (East Auckland Home Educators)
  • Auckland South Home Educators
  • Auckland unschoolers
  • CMandFriends-ANZ · Australians, New Zealanders-Down-Under
  • Designer Kids
  • Facebook : Te Anau Home Schoolers
  • Facebook: AS Homeschooling NZ
  • Facebook: ASD Homeschooling South Auckland
  • Facebook: Canterbury Home Education
  • Facebook: Far North Homeschoolers
  • Facebook: Gifted Homeschoolers NZ
  • Facebook: Gisbornehomeschoolgroup
  • Facebook: HamiltoNZ HomeEducation
  • Facebook: Harvest-Curric-Swap-New-Zealand
  • Facebook: HASCA – Homeschool Auckland Sport & Cultural Association
  • Facebook: Home Education Foundation
  • Facebook: Home Education in NZ
  • Facebook: HomeEducationNZ
  • Facebook: Homeschool-Outings-Auckland-Area
  • Facebook: Homeschoolednz
  • Facebook: Kapiti Homeschool Families
  • Facebook: Manawatu Home Educators
  • Facebook: NCHENZ
  • Facebook: NelsonHomeSchool
  • Facebook: NZ Homeschool Curriculum Sell/Trade/Swap
  • Facebook: NZ Homeschool Curriculum Sell/Trade/Swap
  • Facebook: NZHomeSchoolTechTalk
  • Facebook: Secular Home Education Discussions (SHED)
  • Facebook: SHEAF Dunedin
  • Facebook: SHENET (Shore Home Educators Network)
  • Facebook: Single Parent Home Education NZ
  • Facebook: Sth Taranaki Home Educators
  • Facebook: Trademe-Homeschoolers-Support-Group
  • Facebook: Unschooling NZ retreat/networking
  • Facebook: Waldorf Inspired Homeschool NZ
  • Facebook: West Auckland Natural Learners / Unschoolers
  • Franklin Homeschool Group
  • Frugal-Kiwis-In-Christ
  • Harvest – for new books
  • Harvest – for Second Hand material
  • HE Trading post – furniture, books, clothes and appliances.
  • Home School Holiday Accommodation/Home-swaps
  • Home Spun Learning
  • Homeschool-Outings-Auckland-Area
  • Horowhenua Home Educators
  • HS Free Thinkers NZ
  • Kapiti homeschoolers
  • Manukau Home School Support
  • NCHEofNZ
  • NZ Catholic Home Ed
  • NZ Home Ed using Cambridge
  • NZ Home Educators
  • NZ Home Educators (Political)
  • NZ homeschooling (Christian textbooks)
  • NZUnschoolers
  • Radial Unschoolers (RUA)
  • Sharing (Diana) Waring
  • Single parent homeschool NZ
  • Single Parent Homeschooling
  • Taught of the Lord
  • Taupo home school
  • TAURANGA treasure chest
  • TePuke support group
  • THEN-Waikato
  • Trademe MessageBoard Unschoolers / Homeschoolers Support Thread
  • Twin City
  • Wairarapa Home School Group
  • Wairarapa Homeschool
  • Waldorf Steiner at home in New Zealand
  • West Auckland Natural Learners / Unschoolers
  • WHSA-Wellington

oAustralian blogs

  • Every Bed of Roses
  • Homeschool Downunder-Charlotte Mason style
  • Otherways: Home Education Network Home Education in Victoria

oAustralian email discussion groups

  • Aussie homeschool
  • chooz · Classical Home-based Options in OZ
  • Christian Homeschooling in Australia
  • Homeschool Victoria
  • Melbourne homeschool excursions

oAustralian Websites

  • Always learning books
  • Anselm Study House
  • Aussie homeschool
  • Australia Homeschooling
  • Australian Christian Home Schooling
  • Australian-rockpoolhomeschool
  • Department of Education
  • EDNA
  • Home Education Association Inc
  • Home Education in Victoria
  • Home Education Resources for Australian & New Zealand Home Educators
  • Homeschool Australia
  • Homeschooling Supplies
  • Life Long Learning
  • National Home Education Camp
  • National Homeschool Network

oInternational blogs

  • Around the world
  • Be Ready Compass
  • Doug's Blog – Hot topics
  • Fallacy Detective
  • First Class Homeschool Ministries
  • Home Education in England: the politics
  • Home Schooling in Cyprus
  • Homeschool Nations
  • Homeschoolblogger
  • Preschoolers and Peace
  • Sheila in Germany
  • Tarry in South Africa
  • The Mango Times
  • The Rebelution
  • When readers write

oInternational websites

  • Beginning Home Schooling
  • Christian Filmmakers
  • Christian Logic
  • Considering Home Schooling
  • Currclick.com
  • Diana Waring Presents
  • Early learning – UK
  • Entrepreneurial Homeschool Fathers
  • Exodus Mandate
  • Family Reformation
  • First Class Homeschool Ministries
  • Fraser Institute
  • Free and frugal homeschooling
  • Hesfes
  • Home Educating Family Reviews
  • Home School Legal Defense
  • Home school world
  • Home Schooling in Sweden
  • Home Schooling Today
  • Home Service — UK
  • Homeschool Penpals
  • Homeschool World Forum
  • Homeschool World: Contests for Homeschoolers
  • Homeschool-corner
  • Homeschooling.about
  • John Taylor Gatto
  • John Taylor Gatto Speech
  • Ladies Against Feminism
  • Lesson Library
  • Modesty Survey
  • National Home Education Research Institute
  • Patrice Lewis
  • Preschoolers and Peace
  • Rainbow Resource Centre
  • Sandra Dodd: Curriculum
  • Show And Know
  • The Chalcedon Foundation
  • The home school channel TV
  • The Home School Mom
  • The Homeschool Magazine
  • Trivium Pursuit
  • Vision Forum
  • Vision Forum Ministries
  • Visionary Daughters
  • Wolsey Hall Oxford
  • You can Home School
  • You can Home School

Reading

  • 72 basic phonograms
  • All in one homeschool
  • Burt reading test
  • Free Kindle books
  • Free Reading A–Z Samples
  • Futureschool
  • Homespun Bookslueths
  • Learner's Library
  • LibriVox – free audiobooks
  • NZchildrensbookreviews
  • NZchildrensbookreviews
  • NZchildrensbookreviews
  • Online practice reading tests
  • Progressive phonics
  • Read, Learn and Shine
  • Readability tests
  • Reading/writing for boys

sForeign Languages

  • El Rincón Español – homeschool Spanish support

Smith Family Websites and Blogs

  • bookspoems
  • Charmagne’s new blog
  • Charmagne’s old blog
  • Essential Oils
  • Family Integrity
  • Issacharian
  • PD Woodcraft
  • PDWoodcraft Youtube
  • Rainbow Resource Center, Inc.

Teaching Reading

  • Futureschool
  • NZchildrensbookreviews

zFree Preschool games

  • Apples 4 the Teacher
  • BBC-UK
  • Fisher Price
  • Gamequarium
  • Kids aol
  • Learn 4 Good
  • Preschool Learning Online
  • Preschool science activities
  • Radacadabra

zFree Stuff on the Web

  • 200+ page anatomy colouring book
  • 72 basic phonograms
  • All in one homeschool
  • Ambleside Primary
  • American History
  • Anatomy colouring book
  • Ancient History
  • Basic Maori practices, protocols and New Zealand history
  • books on line
  • Books, ebooks and audiobooks
  • Calendar-children make their own includes stickers
  • Childtopia
  • Christian Homeschool Bible Study
  • Class Room
  • Climate-NASA
  • Coloring book pictures, crafts and photos-printable
  • Craft workshop
  • Custom Writing Paper
  • DIY
  • E Learning
  • Early Learning
  • Early learning – UK
  • Educational videos
  • Engaging Science
  • Free books
  • Free Curriculum
  • FREE downloadable Swimming lesson plans (NZ MADE)
  • Free Harmonica Lessons
  • Free Kindle books
  • Free online classes
  • Free Paper Toys, Paper Models and Paper Crafts
  • Free Printable Flash Card Maker
  • FREE Sky Maps Each Month
  • Free Stuff For Homeschoolers
  • Free Thematic Units and Activity eWorkbooks
  • FREE workbooks
  • Free-Downloads-Teachers
  • Fun way to write definitions
  • GA Henty books by time period to read online or download
  • Half-Size Nature Journal
  • Hand writing work sheets
  • Home School Share
  • Home schooling library
  • Homeschool Planner
  • Homeschool World: Contests for Homeschoolers
  • Homeschoolshare
  • ICE FreeBooks
  • If it's not free it's not for me
  • Itsy Bitsy Books
  • Joy of Baking
  • Jumpstart-Worksheets
  • K-12 Student Interactives
  • Learn how to draw
  • Learn to Read
  • Learner's Library
  • Learning Island
  • Learning Page
  • Learning styles Questionnaire
  • Lesson Corner Puzzle Makers
  • Lesson Plans
  • LibriVox – free audiobooks
  • Links-heaps of them
  • Maps
  • Maps-clear and printable
  • Math Games-Free Printable
  • Math Worksheets
  • Maths curriculum including resources posters..games etc
  • Mr Printables
  • Multiplication-interactive games
  • Music games from N York philharmonic
  • myhomelearning-game directory
  • Nature Journal
  • Nature Journal – Half-Sized
  • Nature Journal – Printable Files
  • Nature journalling booklet 16 pages
  • Nature Journals – the how and why
  • Newseum – todays front pages USA only
  • Notebooking – Science & Nature Pages
  • Notebooking pages
  • Outdoor hour – check the side bar for heaps of links and ideas
  • PBS Learning Media
  • Playful Learning
  • Playfulearning
  • Printable booklets
  • Read me resources
  • Reading assessment workbook for younger kids
  • Science Experiments and Science Projects
  • Science resources
  • Sewing
  • Smithsonian Education – Introduction to the Nature Journal
  • Sparkle box 2 UK
  • Sparkle box NZ
  • Start a Nature Notebook
  • Summer (and Beyond!) with a Nature Notebook
  • Super teacher worksheets
  • Superteacherworksheet
  • Teacher created materials
  • Teachers' Pet
  • Teaching Good Things
  • Thematic Units, eWorkbooks,
  • Twinkl
  • Unit studies by grade
  • Work Sheet
  • World History
  • Xtramath
  • Young Novelist Workbooks
  • Your child learns: Geography
  • Yr 1-10 Resources and NCEA 1-3
  • zFree Stuff For Homeschoolers

zHealth

  • 56 fermented recipes
  • Cancer
  • Cancer Outside the Box
  • Cancer Truth
  • Water Cure
Follow Me on Pinterest
Homeschool Domination
Created by: College At Home
©2023 Home Education Foundation | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes