Elective home education Information for parents and carers
Contents Page Introduction 1 Do children have to go to school? 2 How many other people are educating their own Children in Lewisham? 2 What is the parent s actual duty? 2 What is efficient and suitable education? 2 What constitutes a curriculum? 3 What is the National Curriculum and does it apply to me? 4 How do I go about it? 5 What do I need to do? 6 What if I don t inform the school or Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate but just keep my child at home? 7 What kind of evidence will satisfy Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate? 7 What happens if Lewisham is not satisfied? 7 If I am able to educate my child how often will Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate check? 8 Finally 8 Can I change my mind later? 9 Other useful sources of information 10
Introduction The purpose of this booklet is to assist those who are considering providing their children with an education at an alternative location to a mainstream school. The information, which follows, should answer some of your questions and explain the policy and practice of Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate in such cases. If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact the School Improvement Officer at: Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate 3 rd Floor, Laurence House 1 Catford Road LONDON SE6 4RU Telephone number: (020) 8314 8599 There are several common questions that families ask when considering home education. The following examples are designed to help you reach an informed decision as to whether home education is an appropriate alternative to school for your child. EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 1
Do children have to go to school? Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 states that it is the duty of parents to secure an appropriate education for their children. For most children in Lewisham this means that they will attend the school which serves their local community. For a wide variety of reasons, a small minority of parents and carers decide to provide education for their children themselves. How many other people are educating their own children in Lewisham? There are currently about 150 children out of a total school population of about 35,000 who are known to be educated by their parents at home in Lewisham. Some parents teach their children themselves, while others educate their children in co-operation with other parents, neighbours and/or tutors. Some use materials and ideas from outside agencies such as Education Otherwise and some use correspondence courses. What is the parent s actual duty? The Education Act 1996 says that it is the parents duty: to cause (the child) to receive efficient full time education suitable to his (or her) age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs he (or she) may have either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. What is efficient and suitable education? These words are not defined in the Act. However case law holds that education is efficient if it achieves what it sets out to achieve and suitable if it prepares the child for life in the society to which he or she belongs and also enables the child to achieve his or her full potential. Certainly what is provided at home need not be the same kind of lessons as those which are provided at school. It will be up to each parent or carer to satisfy the local education authority that the programme of work is helping the child to learn and that the child is developing in accordance with his or her age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs, which may exist. EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 2
What constitutes a curriculum? Whether provided in school or at home the curriculum includes everything which is done in order to educate the child. It should provide for the child s physical, intellectual, social, spiritual and emotional development. The Department for Children, Schools and Families recommends that the curriculum offer should be broad, balanced, relevant and differentiated. This means: Broad: Balanced: Relevant: Differentiated: It should provide the pupil with a wide range of knowledge, understanding and skills. Each part should be given sufficient time to make its special contribution but not so much that it leaves no time for other essential parts of learning. Subjects should be taught so as to bring out their application to the pupil s own experience and to adult life and to give due emphasis to practical aspects. What is taught and how it is taught needs to be matched to the pupil s abilities and aptitude. It should also be sufficiently challenging to allow the child to demonstrate that progress has been made. It is our view that a good curriculum includes other elements dealt with at an appropriate level including personal and social education; health education; outdoor and environmental education; economic and industrial understanding; citizenship; careers education; home economics and use of modern technologies. The opportunity to mix and relate to other boys, girls and adults is also considered to be an important component of an all-round education. EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 3
What is the National Curriculum and does it apply to me? The National Curriculum does not apply to children educated at home; but you may wish your child to enter or re-enter the state school system at some future date. Reintegration will be made much easier if you take into account the requirements of the National Curriculum. The Education Reform Act 1988 states that every maintained school is obliged by law to provide a basic curriculum consisting of religious education and, for pupils of statutory school age, the National Curriculum. The curriculum in all of Lewisham s schools must: be broad and balanced; promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at school; prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. The following subjects are compulsory in Lewisham schools: religious education (unless parents exercise their right to withdraw their child) English mathematics science physical education information and communications technology. The following subjects are compulsory from year 1 to the end of Key Stage 3, age 14 design and technology history geography art and design music a modern foreign language (from age 11). Two subjects are compulsory throughout the secondary school up to age 16 citizenship careers education Young children acquire their learning in many different ways; in primary school parts of the curriculum will possibly not be taught as separate subjects but may be delivered through integrated and whole-curriculum activities. In secondary schools subjects will generally be taught separately. What you teach and how your child learns is up to you, provided that you can describe the ways in which the education is appropriate and efficient. There is no one effective form of education; children learn in different ways, at different times and speeds and from different people. Education at home does not always need to follow a set plan of lessons or even a timetable. But, it is a good idea when trying to explain to someone else what you are doing if you can at least show a longer-term plan and the ways in which you aim to get there. EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 4
How do I go about it? If your child is of pre-school age you do not need to do anything although it is recommended you inform the Executive Director for Children and Young People that you intend to educate your child (name, date of birth, address and telephone number) at home from the intended date. If you are withdrawing your child from the school which he or she currently attends and he or she is of statutory school age (between 5 and 16) you must write to the headteacher of your child s school requesting that he or she is removed from the school roll, as you are exercising your legal duty to provide your child with an education other than at school. The headteacher will inform Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate within two weeks of your request being received. Once the local authority has received notification from the school, or from yourself if your child is not on the roll of a school, you will you will be written to and your child s details will be referred to the School Improvement Officer who will contact you to arrange a meeting. The School Improvement Officer may be accompanied by an Attendance and Welfare Officer at the meeting. It may take up to three months for this visit to be arranged. Please do not expect the School Improvement Officer or the Attendance and Welfare Officer to tell you how to educate your child; it is your responsibility to plan your child s educational experience and to carry it out. The School Improvement Officer will want to speak with you and your child or children about the work for the next few months and your long-term educational plans. The purpose of this visit is to review the quality and range of the curriculum being offered by yourself and to offer advice where possible. The focus of the visit will be to discuss issues arising from the completed questionnaire. Frequently the following questions are used as part of the meeting: How are you planning to ensure that your child is offered a broad and balanced curriculum? What are your short and long term plans? Have you considered how you might link together different subjects or topics? How do you provide for your child s physical development? How do you arrange for your child to meet and play with others? How is the work to be organised? How do you plan a mixture of work including practical activities as well as written tasks? EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 5
Are you likely to enlist the support of a tutor? How will you record your child s progress/difficulties? Will your programme allow future access to further/higher education if appropriate? Will a wide range of career opportunities be available? There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. The School Improvement Officer (SIO) is keen to discuss the ways in which you feel that the education you will offer is the most appropriate for your child. The SIO will need to understand how you intend to fulfil your duties under the 1996 Education Act to provide an efficient full time education suitable to the age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs of the child concerned. If Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate considers that the education you are providing fails to meet the legal requirements, you will be told the reason(s) and be given an opportunity to make improvements. What do I need to do? If you have already decided to provide your child with an alternative education to mainstream schooling, it would be helpful if you could provide details of your education arrangements on the questionnaire, using extra sheets if necessary. Any further discussions will be based on the information you provide. After visiting you the School Improvement Officer will write a short report and send you a copy. Your timetable does not have to be rigid or detailed, but you should be able to show that you are serious and systematic about the education you are providing. It is your responsibility to plan and to carry out your arrangements. The School Improvement Officer may be able to offer informal advice but Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate cannot direct your child s learning or provide books or any other educational material. In our view, you are more likely to succeed in home education if you take note of the following suggestions: Try to see that the learning process is as active, practical and participative as possible, and is systematically planned. Try to take full advantage of all of the resources available to you. Give great importance to reading in your programme. Have a programme of educational visits planned and if you wish to use TV try to plan the series you watch. Aim to prepare in advance and Make sure they are followed up afterwards. EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 6
Provide opportunities which help with physical development, and opportunities which allow social interaction to take place in different contexts. Make your approaches to learning more enjoyable by varying the style, content and processes it involves. When necessary give opportunities for independent study and research, and provide a quiet area for sustained study and work. Public examinations and regular testing are available to children in our schools and colleges. In our view children educated at home should not be deprived of these opportunities of assessing their progress. What if I don t inform the school or Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate, but just keep my child at home? Under section 192 of the Education Act 1993, Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate must be satisfied that parents are fulfilling their duties. If you don t provide any evidence of this (in written form or through discussion with the School Improvement Officer), Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate may conclude that your child is not being educated effectively and would then consider legal steps to return the child to school. What kind of evidence will satisfy Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate? It could be in the form of a written programme or it might be an interview with a parent or carer. The best evidence is a combination of both, plus a discussion with the child. We would expect evidence of serious intent by you to educate your child and evidence of a coherent educational philosophy. The real criterion is that the evidence would convince a reasonable person that the child is receiving efficient, full-time education suitable to his/her age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs. What happens if Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate is not satisfied? You will be informed at the end of the visit by the SIO and later in writing of the areas in which you have not satisfied our criteria. You will then be allowed a period of time to improve the situation. And then? If we are still not satisfied, Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate may take legal action to require you to register your child at a school or return your child to school if he/she had previously been registered. We stress that this will only happen if we are convinced that you are not educating your child according to his or her age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs. We hope that through detailed discussion we will be able to show you exactly why this is so. EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 7
If I am able to educate my child at home, how often will Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate check? Normally if we are fully satisfied on the first monitoring visit, the SIO will visit about once a year to discuss your child s progress. However, if any doubts are expressed or other factors are determined then the programme of review will be more frequent. Finally: Do: Don t: Think long and hard about it. It is a significantly large responsibility to accept and one which requires a considerable amount of time, commitment and energy. Plan what you intend to do with your child before making a decision; Look at the costs involved visits; equipment; books etc. Provide opportunities for your child to be involved in social activities, contact with other children and joint activities with other children and groups. The impetus which comes from such activity may provide a useful social setting and improve your child s motivation to succeed with his or her learning; Keep your options open as your child s needs may change at different ages and stages. We will always be willing to find a place for your child at a school which can provide for his or her needs. Take your child out of school simply because you have a disagreement with the school or a teacher. In such circumstances seek an opportunity to talk to the headteacher or the Attendance and Welfare Officer of the school. You can also consult the Local Authority if you think it necessary. EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 8
Can I change my mind later? If you change your mind, Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate will be pleased to talk to you about your child s entry into one of our schools. If you are currently educating a primary school aged child at home but feel that you might like him or her to attend a secondary school at the appropriate age, please contact the Admissions Team of Lewisham Children and Young People Directorate (020 8314 8282). The School Improvement Officer will also be happy to discuss with you the re-entry of your child into the maintained school system at any time. EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 9
Other useful sources of information: ADVISORY CENTRE FOR EDUCATION (ACE) United House The Busworks 39-41 North Road London N7 9DP Tel: 0808 800 5793 Web site: www.ace-ed.org.uk DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES Sanctuary Buildings Great Smith Street London SW1P 3BT Tel: 0870 000 2288 EDUCATION OTHERWISE PO Box 325 Kings Lynn PE34 3XW Tel: 0845 478 6345 Web site: www.education-otherwise.org HOME EDUCATION ADVISORY SERVICE PO Box 98, Welwyn Garden City Hertfordshire AL8 6AN Tel: 01707 371854 Web site: www.heas.org.uk The local policy on Elective Home Education is on the Lewisham Council website (www.lewisham.gov.uk) EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 10
EDUCATION AT HOME - Guidance Notes for parents and carers page 11