Al-Marjaan Academy
Mondays – Fridays:
Home-schooling, otherwise known as Elective Home Education, is when a parent decides to educate their child(ren) at home rather than send them to school. A parent may begin home-schooling at any stage of their child’s primary or secondary education, and can be very fulfilling and successful for both the children and their families.
Benefits of home-schooling:
Home-schooling often leads to the children achieving better than expected academic outcomes and qualifications, and does not limit a young person from going on to university and having a fulfilling career. Home-schooling also enables parents to protect, control and develop their family faith and moral beliefs, something which is becoming more difficult by the day in mainstream school settings.
Legal position to home-school your children:
In the UK parents – not the state – have the legal responsibility to ensure their child, if he/she is of compulsory school age, is properly educated, which does not have to be undertaken through attendance at school. There is no requirement for home-schooled children to have a fixed timetable, set learning hours or follow the national curriculum, however, parents are responsible to ensure their children receive ‘efficient suitable full-time education’.
Home-schooling compared to school education:
Children in schools normally attend for five hours a day for 190 days a year spread over about 38 weeks. Home education does not need to mirror this. A school day includes registration time, breaks, lunch-time, setting-up and clearing-up times, assemblies as well as many other ‘extra’ activities. In home-schooling there is often almost continuous one-to-one contact or small groups of children learning together, so children can learn more, be more confident to ask if they don’t understand and receive education more catered to their individual needs.
What does Al-Marjaan Academy offer?
Home-schooling can seem daunting to parents, especially if it is the first time or they have a busy work schedule. Al-Marjaan is the first Islamic home-schooling academy in Havering set up to offer up to 17 hours of exceptional primary educational support a week teaching ‘core’ and ‘foundation’ subjects as well as Qur’an/Qaidah and Islamic studies. Classes are between 10am-2pm and there are breakfast and evening clubs available too. We offer a flexible friendly, caring and Islamic environment with a first aider and DBS cleared teachers.
The Department for Education has listed reasons why parents may choose to home-school their children:
- Ideological or philosophical views which you feel would be better promoted through education at home
- Religious or cultural beliefs
- Dissatisfaction with the school system
- Distance to a local school
- Bullying
- As a short-term intervention for a particular reason
- The child’s unwillingness or inability to go to school
- Special educational needs not being met within the school system
- Health reasons, particularly mental health
Home-schooling also offers flexible daily routines as well as personal choice of holiday dates and off-peak travel.
How can I learn more about home-schooling?
There is lots of information available online about the benefits and responsibilities of home-schooling, which is well worth reading. Please visit the relevant pages of our website for more information about Al-Marjaan, and we are more than happy to discuss how we can help your child(ren).
How do I take my children out of school for home-schooling?
The www.gov.uk/home-education website has full details about home-schooling and how to start this.
Simply:
- Send an email to your school informing them of your decision to home-school
- Send an email to the elective home education department of your local council informing them of your decision to home-school
- You may be emailed a form, which you complete and email them back
- You may be offered a telephone appointment to discuss your decision, which you can accept.
- This whole process can be completed within two to three days.
If you require help at any stage of this process do not hesitate to contact us and we will be more than happy to assist, and we advise any parents wanting to join Al-Marjaan to contact us before notifying the council to home-school.
Children with special needs:
The Al-Marjaan online application form will ask questions about any special needs or learning disabilities your child may have. Please provide as much information as possible. If we have any more questions, we will contact you and may ask you to attend a meeting to discuss your child’s needs. If we feel we are unable to provide the special needs your child requires we will also contact you to discuss possible options and alternative choices.
