Home Education And Your Legal Rights

Isn't school a legal requirement?

No. Only education is, but there is no law that says that education has to be in a school.

Do I have to register as a home educator with the LA?

If your child has never been to school, then you do not need to inform the LA you are home educating.

If your child has been to a state school, you will need to de-register from that school and the LA will be informed of your decision to home educate.

Am I required to have home visits from the LA?

No. If the LA becomes aware you are home educating, they may invite you to meet with one of their consultants to discuss how you educate your child, but this is voluntary.

They can then ask for written evidence of the child's education. This is also voluntary, as the LA has no authority over home educated children. Their job is to over see schools and to monitor children who are not being educated at all, i.e. not in school and not learning at home either.

You can refuse to provide information to them, but it would be better if you didn't. Examples of information include samples of work, a diary of the activities you do or list of subjects your child learns.

Learning does not have to be formal, it could be part of every day life. For instance, my 6 year old daughter was telling the time on a clock on the bus we were travelling on.

If you would rather not go into explicit detail with the LA, you can write an 'educational philosophy' of your aims and objectives for your child's education.

What if the LA isn't happy with my response?

According to the Education Act 1996

'If it appears to a local education authority that a child of compulsory school age in their area is not receiving suitable education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise, they shall serve a notice in writing on the parent requiring him to satisfy them within the period specified in the notice that the child is receiving such education. (s 437 (1)).

This means that if you have not provided information or they aren't satisfied with the information, they have to serve you with a written notice to provide more information.

Section 437 (2) states that you are allowed a minimum of 15 days from recieving the notice to comply with their request.

If you don't respond, they can then refer you to social services. Legally, they are not allowed to refer you to social services without first serving you this notice and giving you time.

In the majority of cases, the education is found to be suitable. If not, they may make suggestions on how you could improve.

What If My LA Reports Me To Social Services Without Asking For Evidence Of Education?

Unfortunately since the government informed LA's they have no legal power of enforcement with home educated children, they sometimes refer parent's to social services without requesting evidence of the child's education.

If they do this, they are BREAKING THE LAW.

You can write a letter to your LA in this instance, and remind them of their legal obligation.

They did this to me and here's the letter I wrote them as an example:

'I recently declined home visits for my home educated child and telephoned your department twice to request that someone contact me about my daughter's education. I spoke to a secretary on one occassion who told me incorrectly that I had to accept home visits. I then informed her of the law on this subject and asked her to get you to contact me with regard my child's education. No one phoned me or replied to my telephone message.

I also emailed you to say I would send in a report of my daughter's work but I did not get any response. I was not told where to send the report. In fact, you have never spoken to me.

Now it transpires you have referred me to social services.

I would like to remind you of your legal obligation. It states in 'Elective Home Education: A Guide For Local Authorities', from the children, schools and families dept that

According to section 437(1) of the education act 1996, 'if it appears to the local authority that a child of complusory school age is not recieving suitable education, either at school or otherwise, they shall serve a notice in writing on the parent, requiring him to satisfy them within the period specified in the notice that the child is recieving a suitable education. '
Section 437 (2) states that the period will not be less than 15 days from when the notice was given.

It is only after that time and after I have sent in information, that you are allowed to notify social services if you are not happy with my response.

I did not recieve a written request from you for information, only a standard letter about home visits which I declined. I did not get any response to my repeated communications and I did not recieve a notice to provide information or have my minimum 15 days in which to respond.

What you did in referring me to social services without giving me a notice first, is illegal.

Please follow the proper procedure as defined in law. If you are unsatisfied with the information provided after you have sent me this notice, then I will see a social worker.

Please would you kindly inform me which email address I am to send information to or which address if you require it as a paper copy.

I look forward to your request for information.

Joanna Karpasea-Jones.'

If you have provided satisfactory information, then there is no reason for the LA to give you a notice to provide that information, or issue a school attendance order. If they don't respond to your communications, try again as they may not have recieved your letter or email. Telephone to clarify and avoid any misunderstandings.

If you have a social services visit and they want to discuss home education, tell them it is not a child protection issue and your child's education is a matter for the LA.

If there is any confusion as to why you have been referred, get your solicitor to write them a letter asking them to outline the details of why you have been referred.

If you are at all worried, you can have a solicitor present at the meeting. This can be helpful in case there are any unfounded allegations.

Remember, don't worry. Home education is LEGAL and the LA have no power of enforcement over home educated children.

The only time they can legally intervene is when a child is found to be not educated or there is an issue with abuse or neglect.

How Often Will The LA Ask To See Information?

There is no legal requirement for LA involvement with home educated children, so therefore there is no suggestion for how often any visits or requests for information are.

Some LEA's like to check once a term, other's once a year. There is no rule.

I've been told the health visitor can't close my child's file unless I inform the LA I am home educating, is this true?

That isn't true. She can close the file. At any rate, health visitors are voluntary, not mandatory. If you don't want to see one, you don't tick the box for child health surveilance on your's child's GP registration form and put a black line through it with permanent marker to make sure the surgery receptionist doesn't tick the box for you.

Then you won't have any difficulty if you choose to home educate.

Why Would I Not Want Home Visits?

Some parents find LA visits helpful, particularly if the consultant is pro home education. A parent can receive suggestions for activities and advice if there is a problem.

However:

Some LA consultants base their reports on the national cirriculum and school based education, which usually doesn't apply to home education, so they may unfairly judge you.

They can write negative reports and damage your confidence or your child's confidence.

Some parents don't like the idea of their home being inspected. If this is the case, but you would still like visits, you can request the visit somewhere else.

Sometimes LA's can be unsympathetic or hostile and involve social services, particularly if there are other issues like non-vaccination, single parenthood or disability, and many families find it easier just not to be involved with them.

If your child has never been to school, there is no reason to inform the LA and most parents in that position, choose not to have LA involvement.

Statement From Derbyshire LA

The principles we work to insist on positive, supportive language. We do our utmost to avoid negative or judgemental comments.
As a LA, we believe that the best place for the majority of children to learn is in a school, however we accept that for some children, EHE is as, if not more appropriate for them than attending school. We are never unsympathetic or hostile.

Editor's Comment:
In talking to other home educating families, I have found that experiences vary greatly depending on the area you live in and your particular consultant. Some LA visits can be positive, others not.