My recent post on Cheryl Moy and her pernicious influence garnered many comments. I wish today to address some of the points raised in those comments. Those writing seemed to be divisible into three categories. There were those who agreed with what I said and expanded upon it, those who disagreed and felt that Cheryl had been unfairly maligned and finally those who felt that it did not really matter and that if people did not like Cheryl and cronies of hers such as Alison Sauer; then they should just give them a wide berth. Let's look at the idea that those who do not get on with Alison Sauer and her various proxies should simply keep out of their way; a reasonable point on the face of it, but in practice easier said than done.
Many home educating parents, especially those who have withdrawn their children from school, miss the camaraderie of the school gate. They wish to associate with other parents, talk things over with them and have some sort of social life based upon their child’s educational arrangements. This is perfectly understandable and explains why many join home educating groups or online communities. Surely, there are so many such things running that it should prove possible to avoid falling foul of Alison Sauer and her various chums? In practice, new parents very frequently stumble across Alison without even trying. I have been accused of having an obsession with Alison Sauer which, if true, would be unfortunate indeed! I think it is more the case that at every touch and turn, I come across her and her influence on the British home education scene. Let us see how this works by imagining a newly home educating mother who has decided to make a few connections on the internet with other home educators.
Almost the first online group that one comes across when googling is one largely run by and solely moderated by Cheryl Moy. Cheryl chooses who may join this group and is very ready to chuck out anybody who either disagrees with her or even asks too many questions. Let us suppose that our hypothetical mother then decides instead to join Education Otherwise. Alison Sauer and her friend Wendy Charles-Warner have their feet well and truly under the table in this organisation. The moderators of the support list for EO are, like Cheryl Moy, always ready and willing to chuck off the list those to whom they take a dislike. Perhaps our mother has a question about social services involvement? Ah, there is an official contact at Education otherwise to deal with this sort of question. It is… Cheryl Moy.
Dear me, thinks our mother, this won’t do at all. I don’t care for these women and so I will go elsewhere on the internet. She googles home education and finds that Roland Meighan is a well-known and independent figure in British home education. He runs a charity that anybody can join for a small fee. Our mother signs up to Personalised Education Now and then to her horror finds out that one of the trustees is Alison Sauer! She flees in terror and then finds Home Education UK. This is one of the biggest lists and support groups. What she may not know is that Mike Fortune-Wood who runs it is an old friend of Alison Sauer’s. he was involved in helping her draw up the guidelines on home education for local authorities that were so nearly foisted on us. He too has a strong connection with Roland Meighan and has been paid for his work at Personalised Education Now.
Our mother has now been through four of the biggest groups in the home education scene. She decides that since Alison Sauer and Cheryl Moy seem to be all over the place, she will now contact an MP who has an interest in home education and acts as its advocate and defender. She emails Graham Stuart with her views. But wait, what happens next? Graham Stuart passes her details on to Alison Sauer and the next thing she knows is that Alison has sent her a sniffy email. (No, I am not making that up. Several people who have contacted Graham Stuart have had their names sent to Alison Sauer!)
It is very difficult to avoid coming across Alison, Cheryl and Wendy if you are interested in home education in this country. If they were pleasant and good natured people, this would not be a problem. They are not. I know for a fact that people who disagree with them are threatened with legal action; both civil and criminal. I know that others have been told that information about them will be passed to social services. How do I know this? For one thing, Alison Sauer has told others that Wendy Charles-Warner intends to take legal action against me for revealing that she lives in a manor house surrounded by a sixty acre estate. I know because people have actually gone to the police and accused me of stalking and harassing them on this blog. I know because I have received nuisance deliveries to my home, after Alison Sauer publicised my address and suggested that people might arrange nuisance deliveries. I have received many emails from other parents, thanking me for drawing attention to the problem; people who have become frightened of what these characters might do next. One mother was worried that her children might be taken into care, after she fell out with two of these women and hints were made that social services might get involved.
The suggestion that home educating parents can just give Alison Sauer and her friends a wide berth and keep clear of them is ingenuous. They crop up in all sorts of unexpected places in connection with home education and it is hard not to encounter her if you are at all interested in the topic of home education. She was heavily involved in both the Welsh consultation and the flexi-schooling business. In fact, I defy anybody to take an active interest in home education in this country and not to keep tripping over Alison and her confederates.