Elective home education
Educating your child at home
Deciding to educate your child at home is an important decision as you are legally responsible for ensuring your child receives an education.
As a parent you have a legal right to choose to educate your child at home. Parents are not required to register or seek approval from the local authority. However if you are thinking about educating your child at home (also known as elective home education or home schooling), or are already educating your child at home then we can help. We can discuss your child’s education with you and offer advice.
What are parents’ responsibilities?
Parents or carers who choose to educate their children at home must be prepared to take full financial responsibility for the education including the cost of any public examinations.
Your child’s path into home education depends on their individual circumstances. It is expected that there would be:
- access to appropriate resources
- the opportunity to interact with other children and adults
You may wish to consider:
- An effective education ensures that a child acquires attitudes, skills and knowledge in preparation for the demands of a rapidly changing world.
- A broad education introduces a child to a range of material which helps to develop an open mind.
- A balanced education ensures that there is room for more than one subject and also time for creative and stimulating leisure activities.
What do you need to do?
If your child:
- has never been to school you don’t need to do anything but it is helpful if you inform the Elective Home Education Service.
- is registered at school you must write to the head teacher. This also applies if you child has a Special Education Need, a statement or Education, Health and Care Plan.
If your child:
- attends a special school you need to contact the head teacher and the Elective Home Education Service
- has a school attendance order you need to contact the Elective Home Education Service
What is the role of the Elective Home Education Service?
We will contact you on an annual basis to see if you are still home educating and whether we can provide any further advice. We only have a duty to intervene if it appears that parents are not providing a suitable education.
The new medical alternative provision pathway for supporting pupils with significant health needs is available below.
The way that the Education Service for Children Out of School (ESCOS) reports to schools, for the pupils they are supporting, is changing. For further information, please see letter attached below.
ASIST is aimed at everybody (over the age of 16). PAPYRUS aims to train as many varied professionals and members of the community including; natural helpers and advisers, emergency service workers, counsellors, teachers, ministers, mental health staff, workers in health, welfare and justice, parents/relatives and community volunteers.
For further information and to book on please see links below.
Updates and changes
These pages are updated regularly and should be used as the main source of information. Printed versions should be used with care as they can become out of date.