According to section 7 of the Education Act 1996, the choice of how to educate a child is that of the parent so long as it is suitable to the child’s ‘age, ability, aptitude and to any special educational needs (the child) may have’. EHE (Elective Home Education) is of equal legal status to school education.
A child can be electively home educated between the ages of 5-16 (statutory school age). A parent takes on full responsibility for their child’s education, including delivery of learning and financial responsibility. There is no legal requirement for parents to follow certain subjects or the National Curriculum, follow a set number of learning hours per week, hit attainment targets, be assessed or take GCSEs.
The choice to EHE is a parents right and we believe we should do everything we can to work with parents to make this a success. The approach of the EHE team in Peterborough is to foster mutually respectful relationships built on communication, working together to support families and build trust. In Peterborough we recognise that every home educator has a different approach and that no one approach is better than another.
Parents decide to home educate for a number of reasons. The top reasons given by parents are:
- Philosophical or religious reasons.
- Childs physical and/or mental health, including SEND needs not being fulfilled.
- Lifestyle choices.
Parents rights and responsibilities
Parents are not required to seek permission from the LA or any public body to home educate. Parents must (although just one is required) notify the school in writing that they are withdrawing their child. The parent doesn’t need to give a reason for their decision. Consent from the LA is only required to home educate a child if the child is subject to a school attendance order, or if they attend a special school and the child has an EHCP where a meeting of parents and professionals will be convened.
The local authority may make an informal request for information about home education. Parents do not have to engage with the LA, but there may be consequences of not doing so if the LA cannot ascertain if a child is receiving suitable education. If a parent doesn’t engage with the LA after being given plenty of opportunity to do so the LA may seek support from the CME team and may issue a School Attendance Order.
General points for professionals to consider
Reasonable cause for concern that any child is at risk of significant harm should be referred to children’s social services, regardless of the education status of the child. It is important to remember that EHE in of itself is not a safeguarding concern and a home educated child is not a vulnerable child by virtue of being home educated.
Schools should offer a meeting with parents to see how they can support, however the parent is under no obligation to meet with the school and staff should not seek to dissuade or encourage any parent from home educating.
EHE procedure for schools
Once a parent/carer expresses a wish to home educate, the first step is to offer a meeting where you would inform them of their legal duties and obligations. If parents/carers refuse the meeting, please send an email detailing this and send the (‘thinking of EHE’) leaflet. If a parent/carer verbally advises you of their intent to home educate, please inform them that we need this in writing, either as an email or as a letter signed by them.
Complete the Referral Form and send to homeeducation@peterborough.gov.uk along with a copy of the written request. Please make sure to complete fully, paying particular attention to the safeguarding and SEND sections. The LA will aim to process all referrals received within 5 days and we will email to say this has been completed. If you have not had confirmation within 5 school days, please contact us as a follow up so we can ensure we have received all the relevant information.
Once you have confirmation of removal from roll, please send their school file, any safeguarding/CP files and SEN records to Sand Martin House, Bittern Way, Fletton Quays, Peterborough PE2 8TY, marked for the attention of the EHE team. Please note, we do not require the students school books.
If the deregistration email/letter does not state they are home educating please complete the Child Missing Education (CME) Referral Form and send to CME@peterborough.gov.uk
EHE referrals from special schools
If a parent/carer wishes to deregister for purposes of home education from a special school, complete the referral form as normal but DO NOT remove from roll. Once the completed form is emailed to the home education inbox, this will be passed to the EHE Monitoring Officer to arrange a meeting with the parent/carer, school representative and the SAMs officer. The parent will be invited to the meeting so they can provide evidence of how they intend to home educate and fulfil their child’s additional needs as outlined in their EHCP. All professionals will need to agree that the provision is acceptable before permission will be given to EHE.
If approved, EHE process will continue as normal.
If refused, the student must remain on roll and adhere to the school’s attendance policy.
