ℕ𝕖𝕨𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕡𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤
What I've learned about Home Education
Sunday, March 12, 2023 by Sam McCormick | Uncategorized
People Electively Home Educate (EHE) their children for many reasons:
1. The child has had a bad experience at school such as bullying;
2. The school is unable to meet the needs of the child such as not making reasonable accommodations;
3. Suitable school placement cannot be found such as at transition phase;
4. It was their intention early on and the child has never attended a school establishment.
I've had a the same question asked of me many times, and so I thought I would put some information in one place for parents who fall into any of the first three categories. I realise that at the time that home education being considered there is already a considerable amount of stress going on due to what's happening at school and considering moving from school takes a massive adjustment, often mentally, professionally and financially. But home education can be a totally viable (and thoroughly enjoyable) option if you're open to making those adjustments.
So firstly, who can do it?
Well, if you child is at a mainstream school you have every right to tell the school you are removing your child. You do not ask their permission, you do not need to discuss it, you do not need to inform your Local Authority (LA - whoever you pay your council tax to). You send a letter/email to school only informing them of your choice quoting the relevant legislation - Template deregistration letter (England/Wales). You can do this even if your child has an EHCP
The process is a little different for those attending specialist schools - more information here.
I have done this myself with my eldest, Jamie. It was an extremely simple process. Just make sure you get either an email read receipt or written confirmation back from the school.
Now what?
Now it's over to you! You have full responsibility to deliver a full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude. How you do this is up to you. However,
You do not have to replicate school at home.
You do not have to follow the national curriculum (one of the first things we did was ditch languages because Jamie just didn't enjoy it).
You do not have to be a qualified teacher, or teaching assistant.
You do not have to feel isolated.
You do not have to do it alone.
But that's just a list of what not to do?
True. But the point is that EHE can look like whatever you want it to. I have worked with home educating families who prefer to timetable their time to ensure the subjects they're interested in are covered each week (admittedly these were older children with an idea of their future qualification paths). I have worked with home educated families who prefer to plan their formal work around all the groups they go to. I have worked with home educated families who like to use a tutor, or attend tutor groups. Where you fall in all this is up to you. You may feel your child needs structure - you may indeed need it yourself. You may also find that actually, you love the freedom of not following a fixed timetable.
How do we decide what subjects to follow?
The idea is that now you are free from the education system, you can follow your child's lead. If they really enjoy a certain subject you can study that - and this includes watching documentaries, reading magazines, going for visits. If they have an idea of what they'd like to do when they're older, you can find subject areas that explore and compliment that. If you don't really know, then initially stick with maths and English and work from there.
The beauty is, that you can allow your child to spend as much time as they want on the learning they want to do.
Isn't it lonely?
There are so many home ed groups locally that no one need get lonely - not your child nor you! There are education groups, physically active group, general interest groups and just regular social groups. Groups tend to be term time only and take advantage of the fact that most places are quiet when everyone else is in school. Which is great for those of you with anxious children (or who don't like busy places yourself!).
And what does it cost?
Well, that's kind of up to you. You can spend as much or as little as you like, but the cost falls to you. That said, there's also no school uniform, school trips or other school-related expenses to worry about. There are lots of free online resources available - BBC Bitesize, Oak National Academy and many GCSE resources for older children. There are also lots of low cost options - subscriptions to online interactive learning websites. When Jamie was at home, we had IXL, EdPlace and Mathswatch as annual subscriptions to cover maths, English & Science, and the total annual cost for these was about £25. When you get to that stage, we can point you in the direction of where to find these.
You can decide which groups to attend - there are free groups, and other more expensive options. You can attend only groups locally to keep transport costs down, or can travel the whole of the north east region. Again, these choices are yours depending on your circumstances and priorities.
But will I have to give up work?
Potentially, depending on the age of your child. But there are financial options available to many people, and even if you think you wouldn't - maybe you think your partner earns too much, or you own your home - you may still be entitled to some help, it's worth doing some investigating. Online tools such as Entitled To can be useful, or contact your local CAB.
From a childcare point of view if you're working from home, many groups allow you to drop off your child. You may be able to approach your employer to to more flexible with when the hours are worked so you can fit it around your child's needs. You may find parents in similar situations and between you find a way to juggle groups, social time and working.
There are options, though these will depend on individual circumstances.
And how do they get qualifications?
There are many paths to qualifications, if this is the route you wish to take. You can privately enter yourself into a local exam centre (self funded). You can attend local colleges as a part time student to study core subjects - either GCSE or Functional Skills. Or you can wait until they are old enough to explore vocational qualifications and apprenticeships. Many home ed students go on to do A Levels, go to university or study Open Univesity independently. Being home educated doesn't limit your options!
How do the LA then keep track of what we're doing?
They don't. They like to think they can, but they can't. You have an obligation to supply an annual report explaining how your child is receiving a suitable education. You do not need to speak with them on the phone. You do not need to meet with them. You do not need to invite them into your home. There are specific local groups that will help you navigate dealing with the elective home education officers (EHEO) - again, we can point you in the right direction once needed - and please do reach out for these because EHEOs can overstep their responsibilites with naive new home ed parents.
