Happy Joy Baker Day!

Joy Baker Day for Home Education Freedom (UK)

15 November

A few years ago in the UK, an alliance of organisations and individuals committed to promoting freedom for parents to educate their children at home, decided to claim the 15th of November as a day on which home educators can celebrate as a national community. This date can be traced back to Joy Baker’s successful court appeal in 1961. Joy was what we might consider an “ordinary”, but determined, British home educating mum, and winning this appeal marked the beginning of the end of the ongoing campaign by her local authority to prevent her from educating her children herself. 

Joy’s book “Children in Chancery” (1964) documents the struggles of the family to be left in peace to learn without school. Her eloquent turn of phrase continues to inspire and to challenge us today to “hold the line” as parents, to protect our children from overzealous intrusion into their lives. She stands as a reminder to us that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things, and that our freedom to raise and educate our children in a way that is best for them is something precious to be fought for. 

On Joy Baker Day, we encourage families to celebrate by sharing all the benefits of home education on social media, or out in the public. We also normally host a livestream from the Joy Baker Day page on Facebook, which is accessible to the public. https://www.facebook.com/JoyBakerDay

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A huge thank you to Juliet English who wrote the above for me, and brought Joy and her wonderful books to my attention.