Beyond Home Education

After 9 years of autonomous home education my son and daughter made a decision to take GCSEs as they wanted to go to college and take Level 3 qualifications. My son split his GCSEs over two years and passed 6 GCSEs plus his Level 2 Art.  He will be starting college in a few days to study BTEC computing and A Level Maths.  My daughter took 2 GCSEs this year and passed them both. She will be taking a few more GCSEs next year and hopes to go to music college the year after.

Moving from autonomous home education to following a strict GCSE syllabus and learning exam techniques has not been easy but both my kids have been very motivated to pass and achieved fantastic results. 

Silver Arts Award AEFES Documentary

Silver Arts Award Art Review Ant Man & The Wasp By Owen Bedford

We last saw Ant Man in action in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War which was a much more grown up film than the new movie, Ant Man And The Wasp. The latest in the Ant Man franchise has the same comedic tone as the first film (from 2015) and includes many of the same characters such as the Ant Man suit inventor, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly). This means that Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) who reluctantly powers down into Ant Man again also continues his funny and awkward relationships with Pym and Hope.

Most of the film’s other characters, whether from the old film such as Rudd’s business partner, Luis (Michael Pena) or new such as cyber gangster, Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) build the comedy which makes the film quite light hearted compared to other recent Marvel films such as Avengers Infinity War and Dead Pool 2, which had a funny and dark tone. The Ant Man film does also have a more sinister character, Ghost (Hannah John Kamen), who causes everyone trouble with her ‘phasing’ power. CGI is used well to show Ghost’s power to phase through matter and has the effect of looking like editing within the frame. 

The trouble with the film is there is too much going on. Scott also has to be a good dad to his daughter and trick the cops into believing he is at home under house arrest. One of my criticisms of the film is that there are too many  peripheral characters in set piece scenes whose main purpose is to distract the audience from the fact that the main narrative arc, about going back into the ‘quantum realm’ to rescue Pym’s wife, The Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer) is actually quite weak.  As with the first film there is lots of stereotypical science which gets a bit tedious. At one point Scott says to Pym “why does every word have to quantum before it”.

Although the plot is a bit on the thin side the visual effects come thick and fast. Ant Man shrinks and grows like a yoyo, supersonic cars turn into hot wheels toys and a whole building transforms into a suitcase. One of the best scenes is early in the film where Burch and his gangsters are chasing Ant Man through a hotel kitchen. It is watching Ant Man dodging giant kitchen knives and potato mashers that is great fun. It’s the same kind of comedy that made the giant bath and plug hole scene so memorable about the first film.

Anya Bedford Silver Arts Award - Interview with Inside Film

Silver Arts Award - Review 1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Silver Arts Award

Art Review 1 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

By Owen Bedford

 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the second movie in the reboot of the CGI dinosaur franchise.  The film follows Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) who both featured as the main protagonists in the previous movie, Jurassic World (2015), as they try to rescue the artificially created dinosaurs from the island Isla Nubar which is being engulfed by an active and deadly volcano.

The film begins with news broadcasts and clips from a court case that discuss the morality over whether artificially created dinosaurs should be saved from extinction or not, which is quite an interesting ethical question which I think is a theme that doesn’t get explored enough throughout the whole film.

It is a film of two halves. The first act of the film takes place on the island that audiences will be familiar with. The CGI dinosaurs roam, roar and rampage as we would expect and are shot from low angles to show their intimidating presence. There are plenty of great quality sound effects and an epic soundtrack which all create the right atmosphere.  However, the story is a bit flat and the characters are not very well developed. The rescue mission is led by stereotypical mercenaries who I thought were very two dimensional. Grady and Dearing team up with two other dinosaur conservationists but they are also weak characters.  There are some technically good sequences such as where the conservationists are trying to escape dinosaurs and lava in a pod and end up trapped under water. The editing is effective but I didn’t feel it was as exciting as it should have been.

Although this part of the film lacks suspense there is quite an emotional part where the rescuers’ boat, which is like a Noah’s ark of dinosaurs, leaves the island as it is being engulfed by the volcano. The sound comes down and the apocalyptic scene of brontosaurus dinosaurs disappearing in the ashen smoke is quite moving and upsetting.

After this the film slows down. The dinosaurs are all caged and sedated so they can be auctioned to the highest bidder. Unlike the first half of the film all the scenes in the second part are in dark interiors. The film seems to drag on for a long time without much really happening. Even when the dinosaurs break free I didn’t think there was enough excitement. I thought the rooftop fight was a bit lacklustre.

I think the film would have been better if more had been set on the island and the moral issues that were introduced at the beginning were developed more. Overall I wouldn’t recommend this film. The plot and characters don’t have a lot of substance and the second half lacks the spectacular CGI action of the first half (and the earlier films).

Silver Arts Award Interview with Inside Film

Anya Performing in His Dark Material at South London Youth Theatre

Straight to Hell sung by Anya B - Joe Strummer Tribute Maxilla Hall

Anya Performing at Arms Aloft in Acton Town Gig, Nottinghill

Anya B - I Will Survive Cover at Toulouse LautrecJazz Bar

In the night Sky Original Song by Anya B

1984 PlayHouse

Don't Dream It Over - Cover by Anya B

AEFES Home Education Festival 2017

Malta 2016

AEFES Home Education & Unschooling Festival

There is a new home education festival with a strong Unschooling ethos. Having been inspired by HESFES, many teens and young adults wanted to create their own festival and so AEFES was born. AEFES stands for Alternative Education Festival and so encompasses not only home education but many other alternative forms of education.They're a community of adults, teenagers and children all working in unity to create a festival where all voices can be heard, all opinions considered and all decisions made in a democratic setting. AEFES believe in trust, faith and community spirit. Working as a team to create something magical for everyone.  Tickets can be purchased from http://www.aefes.co.uk/acatalog/AEFES_home_education_festival_tickets.html.  If you want to join the community check out the facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/516810371859856/

Owen's Favourite Maths Site - How to do Algebra

Anya Bedford cover of High Time by Kacey Musgraves

Anya Quad Biking

Center Parcs Longleat - High Rope Challenge

Home Education Unschool Week - Center Parcs Longleat Aqua Jetting

Centre Parcs - Owen Paintball Combat

Centre Parcs Longleat - Segways

Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium - London

Making a Water Vortex Using Two Plastic Bottles

The Amazing World of M.C.Escher | Dulwich Picture Gallery

Anya at Garbage Concert - Brixton Academy

Museum of Childhood - London

Owen & Anya Learn with Guitar Hero!

I'm Not Down - The Clash Cover by Anya Bedford Age 12

Anya's Photography - Exploring Composition, Colour and Light

Blackheath Music Festival

Extreme Sports Day - Rock Climbing, Canoeing, Archery, Air Rifle Shooting & Axe Throwing