So Simple and Easy

Just wanted to give a huge thank you to the entire Accelerate team, especially April who has been there anytime I had any kind of worry or doubt. The whole process of applying to NESA seemed daunting to me at first, but it was all made so simple and easy. We were approved for 1 year on our first ever application, which I think was due to the plan Accelerate puts together, and the support I received giving me a great confidence in what I was doing.

Stephany, Wetherill Park, August 2021

Our plans blew him away!

We had our first NSW registration with the AP today. Very pleased to say that our plans blew him away. His comments were 'very thorough', 'excellent standard,' & 'comprehensive'.

He has given us the maximum term of 1 year and we are so over the moon!! Thank you for all the help and support, its been so valuable. Our children are super excited too!

Bronwyn, Goonellabah, January 2021

Very happy indeed

Very encouraging!

We finally had the AP from NESA visit us and really was a blessing, very encouraging!! She saw the program and all the PACEs and instantly recognised A.C.E. With all confidence she said that is okay and very organized. The only recommendation to add to that program was more variety of books from the NESA Website.. but overall very encouraging!

Thanks for the help and the tips!

Mabel, Croydon Park, January 2020

Very happy with everything!

I had the AP come over and she was really nice. She asked me what I wanted to show her, then she asked me if I had the Scope and Sequence and the program.She was very happy with everything. Then for the rest of the visit we just talked about our pets. She has given me a year's approval.

I am so happy! Thank you for all your help.

Kerry, Buxton NSW, January 2019

All boxes ticked

Overall it went really well. Edwina is nice and supportive but obviously still a government employee so she was making sure all the boxes are ticked.

I had the kitchen “decorated” with Laura’s paintings, her ribbons from horse events and Greg’s trophies/ medallions from his sport events as well as boxes with all the finished PACES stacked up at the front door....

That went down very well.....

Edwina registered us from the day she was there till next year 16^th of December. Her visit will then be checking on progress for Greg as much as giving Laura the year 10 Certificate/ completion of year ten.

I would like to say a big thank you for all the material you sent to me prior to the visit. There is no way I could have prepared that and with the extensive stage description it was clear to follow and helped greatly in satisfying the demands.

Nicole, Hazelbrook NSW September, 2018

Authorised Person... blown away!

"The Authorised Person from [the Department of Education] was blown away at the quality of [your registration] documentation and program. He has never seen  Accelerate before and was amazed at how thorough it was. He said he usually visits for 1 hour. He was with us for maybe 20 minutes and he didn’t even need to open his bag of goodies and samples etc.

So thank you for making such a high quality, easy journey for us."

Laura, NSW Feb 2018

New assessor...genuinely impressed!

Thank you so much for all the attached documentation... it was such a huge help & I think the assessor was quite impressed that we had that on us, so thanks again.

That being said, our assessment yesterday was a success & we have been certified for 12 months! Thank you so much to yourselves and all the staff involved for taking the stress out of preparing for what would have otherwise proven quite a daunting process. You have helped our family achieve something we were so worried would not be possible, and even [our daughter] was so happy when the assessor said he was going to approve us. We look so forward to working with yo.

Adam & Naomi, Manilla NSW, June, 2017

Happily approved

We just had our follow up BoSTES visit as our current approval was due to expire. We were fortunate that the same person as last year came as she was lovely (Jasbir).
After a quick look she happily approved us for 2 more years.
From last year and this year I would say that organization is one sure way to impress the inspector; also having lots and lots of work for her to look at.
Thanks again for all your efforts in putting the NSW school Outcomes documentation together; it truly is a valuable tool.

Donna, Tregear NSW, March 2016

A.C.E.'s Biggest fan!

Paul, the assessor, was very positive towards the A.C.E. curriculum, and expressed the BoS desire to work with A.C.E. to develop a curriculum that satisfies the A.C.E. philosophy and meets the BoS guidelines.  He said that he has been impressed by those he has spoken with from A.C.E. and is confident that the A.C.E. curriculum will be seen as a highly credible learning tool, as it is already gaining much popularity in Australia.

He mentioned the 'American' content and I showed him the social studies PACEs on Australia. This was a point of criticism at my last appointment: the lack of Australian studies in A.C.E. I mentioned this, and pointed out that I chose to use A.C.E. because it has 'Australianised' its maths content...and I have found that has been consistent across all subject areas.  He was highly impressed by the Australian PACEs [that I showed him]. So, hopefully he has left with an even greater respect and appreciation for A.C.E. And, he gave me two years registration!!!

A big thank you for all the wonderful aspects of A.C.E...I'm sure that I am your biggest fan!!!

Sandra, Cooranbong NSW, June 2015

Registration with no fuss

[Your] outcomes documentation proved invaluable for my child to be granted the Board of Studies approval. I was nervous and unsure of what to expect throughout the whole process, but [you] gave me good insight into what the Board of Studies were looking for and what to expect. I simply edited the original document that you provided, and tailored it to suit our additional parts of the program (such as PDHPE), and we were granted one year's registration with no fuss. I couldn't have done it without you, for the initial registration.

Amanda, The Rock NSW, June 2015

Confirmed what I already knew

The Inspector, Judy, came today and gave us approval for 12 months which is great news. She was very friendly and helpful. She looked at the diagnosis I had for dyslexia and really believed I was making the right decision as one on one teaching at his level would be best for him. She seemed to have a very good understanding of dyslexia which was wonderful. She looked over the programme and was happy with it...
It was so encouraging having someone from the Board if Studies telling me I was doing the right thing. It confirmed what I already knew.

Thanks for all your help.

Angela, Cabramatta NSW, June 2015

Sigh of Relief...

Despite the fact we have had a few visits from the BOS, over the last few years of homeschooling, I was still concerned about this year's visit. To me, having someone come to my house, was like an exam - on me. I felt the same level of stress as when I did the HSC over 20 years ago! This year was different because I was registering all four children, not just the older two. My twins were old enough to do "school", and while this was an adjustment in itself, it did not seem lately to compare to the stress of documenting for all four children (as opposed to only two).

I had an added stress of having acquired CFS over the last two years, as well as my husband's health issues. Many times I found writing and documenting things difficult due to my own periodic encephalopathy ("brain swelling" headaches), which would hinder my ability to concentrate to write or document things. I was fine teaching the twins (younger two children) because it was not academically hard, and I wasn't really writing very much, but I found academically written work that required analysis and preparing difficult things, much harder. So when it came time to seriously start putting things together for today's visit, it was very daunting. I knew my own inadequacies, and that under normal circumstances, I would have coped much better.

Bring in [Accelerate's] wonderful support! With their A.C.E. program set out according to each Stage, preparing for each program was so much easier. Our inspector was very familiar with ACE, and immediately complimented my programs for our children.

The words, "Congratulations Heidi", rang like church bells in my ears!! Another 2 years approval, Praise the Lord!!

P. S. I think I'll start the next two years work this week, while I'm on a roll!!

Heidi, Minto, April, 2015

Passed with flying colours

It was a lot quicker and simpler than I had thought it would be (though I am sure you knew that). And we 'passed' with flying colours.

She was particularly impressed with the documentation that you have put together to show how the ACE curriculum fulfills the BoSTeS requirements. I find that quite useful too as a guide especially in PE and Arts area. I like music, and sports but want to make sure the things we are doing 'tick' the boxes.
I am filling in the dates on it when we are completing the various paces, where those PACEs appear. In looking through I have noticed that some appear in a couple of the categories, which is good as far as covering more, in perhaps less time.

Donna, West Sydney, NSW, April2015

... within my rights to educate my children."

Paul Bills from BOS visited us Monday. It went really well & he said we were very organised, although I didn't totally feel it being new but I thought the visit should go OK. He said he had come to be of help. He also said I can feel enpowered and within my rights to educate my children. He said he would be asking for us to be given a one year certificate of registration as this is the maximum that can be granted for an initial registration.

Donna, Cooranbong, NSW, March 2015

Inspector was very interested, positive and confident with our programme

Our visit today with the Board of Studies went very well. Mr Marshall arrived on time and was excited to meet our four children. He was very interested in all that they had to show and tell him. We went through our plans for the year and he was very positive. He said the A.C.E. PACEs are good and was very positive about our help from [Accelerate]. He said that [the team at Accelerate] know what needs to be done for schooling requirements and was confident that we had all the resources needed for the year. Mr Marshall said because we haven't been registered with BOSTES before he would have to come back and see us again in about 12 months.Mr Marshall was also positive about the learning programs that we have for our 2 children with disabilities. I was showing him some extra things I was doing with one of the children to reinforce what is being learnt in the PACEs. He told me he has a list of website links to free resources on the Internet that could also be beneficial for reinforcement of what is already being learnt. I was grateful to him for wanting to share those with me. He also suggested that he could send me an email with ideas of how to cover PDHPE with the older students.
We finished off our visit with the children showing him the pets and Aquaponics.
A big thank you to [Accelerate] for their wonderful help and support!! Also thank you for all the work you have put into matching the outcomes with the PACEs. The small fee you charge is very well worth it. I never would have been able to sort through all that by myself!!

I am also very aware that God has helped me through this whole process as well. The children and I had a little prayer time before he came. I wasn't one bit nervous and all that I had heard about Mr Marshall was true. He is a lovely man.

Leonie, Tamworth, NSW, February 2015

Nothing negative to say

We just had our inspection on Saturday and it went very well thank you.  Our inspector (Judy) had not seen the stage comparison to ACE paces that you had prepared for me to use. She was very impressed and had a good look with nothing negative to say. It was only when we came to some of the electives that we struck a little trouble. However she was only ever encouraging and helpful. (Our daughter's) 2 electives are French and PDHPE. Judy was happy with French as (our daughter) is doing Rosetta Stone. Now that I have Stage 4 and 5 for PDHPE from you that will make it so much easier for me, so thank you very much once again for doing the hard work.

Wendy - Cooma, NSW, February 2015

Lovely and very helpful!

The appointment with the approved person went very well. She was lovely and very helpful. She seemed pro homeschool and kept telling the girls how much fun they were going to have. She said that the program matched the curriculum well and she is happy to recommend one year registration. So thank you very much for all your help. The approved person's name is Wendy Maynard. Debra - The Ponds, NSW, February 2015

All the hard work had been done

My husband and I were so pleased to have [Accelerate's] documents that match the PACEs to the NSW Board of Studies stage outcomes. All the hard work had been done, including sample activities for areas that are not directly covered by the PACEs. We presented the documents to the Authorised Person and he was very happy with them. He also said he was happy for us to just make notes over the example activities when the child had completed something similar to the examples. Thank you... for making them available.

Michael and Kathryn - Stannum, January 2015

So encouraging

We are so thankful to the Lord for a really positive time with the inspector - she was so encouraging - and the for approval of 12 months' registration (which is the maximum time you can receive for an initial application).

Philip & Leane - Panania, January 2015

We have not yet compiled comments from Queensland families.

Thanks!

I just received an email stating that VRQA has approved the registration of my three children.

Thank you for your support and help.
Special thanks to Greg for providing feedback on the learning plan and April for administrative assistance.

Minah, Vic, 2021

Relieved and very pleased!

We had an audit conducted by the VRQA last year (2019), being the first year of homeschooling for our family. We submitted quite a detailed plan and sought to follow through with it as much as possible.

As we approached the time (Oct 2019) for the audit to take place, we felt under quite some pressure not knowing what to expect and concerned that we hadn't quite ticked all the planned boxes.

When the audit took place, which was over the phone (our choice), the paces covered Maths, English, Science & SOSE extremely well. We had not done the art paces, which was of concern but had the children doing piano lessons. The auditor was very happy and said that the piano lessons covered the arts part of the curriculum very well.

In addition, we had our children attending science practical/experiment classes to ensure that they didn't miss out on that important part of science.

To cover PE, our children did swimming lessons, rode their bikes, kicked the footy in the backyard, played basketball together at the local park, went for walks with us & that was more than acceptable.

The VRQA gave us a total pass on the audit and did not refer to the original plan at all & told us that they only considered it a guideline and would not hold parents to it.

We came away from the audit relieved and very pleased that we had chosen A.C.E. as the basis and foundation of our homeschooling curriculum.

Julie, Vic January 2020

Fast response - Approved!

We have submitted the VRQA registration last Friday and we received the response yesterday. We did not expect to get the result that fast. The application is approved, thanks be to God!

Accelerate Christian Home Schooling was very helpful during our VRQA registration process. They provided us with helpful details that we can use in order for our registration to be successful. They are very easy to reach. They reply promptly in all our calls and emails with all the information we need.

Edmira, Vic September 2018

Awesome Meeting

Wow! That was an awesome meeting….we crossed t’s dotted i’s and the moderator was very happy with our overall learning plans and ideas. She also had some good suggestions, thank you Lord…and thank you and bless you who prayed. We don’t have to see her for 12months…exhaling now! - Julie, WA