Elective home education (EHE)

As the local authority, we aim to establish positive and supportive relationships with home educating families, recognising the rich and diverse range of approaches, philosophies and methods.

The elective home education service keeps a register of all children whose parents have chosen to home educate them. On receiving notice that a parent has elected to home educate their child, the child will be placed on the register and allocated to an elective home education officer.

Initial appointment

The officer will make contact with the family to arrange an initial appointment where parents can discuss the plans they have in place for the child’s education. The officer will not give directions on the methods of teaching or resources to be used, but will give support and guidance.

The discussion may include:

• parents plans to ensure the child is offered a broad and balanced curriculum
• short and long term plans
• how the work will be organised
• planning for a mixture of work including written tasks and practical activities
• provision for physical development
• opportunities for mixing with other children of a similar age for education and/or social interaction
• possible involvement of a tutor, tuition centre and/or online schooling
• how the parent will record and demonstrate progress and how the child will be helped to overcome difficulties in their learning
• how the education package will enable the child to access further education, higher education or career opportunities
• plans for the child to take exams and how this will be facilitated - including the need to identify a suitable exam centre, and exam fees which can be expensive

This meeting may take place in the family home although meetings can be arranged at alternative venues if parents prefer (or using video calls such as Zoom).

Written report of the child's education and progress

In some cases parents may wish to provide the EHE officer with a written report of the package of education and the child’s progress. This report needs to demonstrate that suitable education is being provided.

Sharing information with us

Parents are not legally obliged to share information with us regarding arrangements for EHE, however if we feel it has insufficient information about the education being provided and it appears that the child is not receiving a suitable education at home it may be necessary to refer the child to the children missing education team who may serve a school attendance order.

If the EHE officer is not satisfied that suitable education is being provided

They'll share their concerns and parents will be given a reasonable time to rectify the situation. If the local authority is still not satisfied, parents will be required to register their child at a school.

If your child does not attend school and the standard of EHE provided is not deemed to be suitable, the local authority would be legally obliged to proceed with a School Attendance Order.

This would only happen if the EHE officer was convinced that the parent was not educating the child according to their age, ability and aptitude and if, following a detailed discussion of the issues, the situation was not shown to have improved.

How often an officer will visit

The EHE officer will usually visit families at least every 12 months, although visits will be more frequent if there are concerns. If your child had a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an education, health and care (EHC) plan while at school then the local authority retains the duty to review the statement/plan and your child’s progress on an annual basis.

We also have a safeguarding responsibility for all home educated children. Should any member of the elective home education service have any concerns regarding a child’s safeguarding they are obliged to share these concerns with relevant agencies within the local authority.