Elective home education (EHE)

"Families should be aiming to offer satisfactory home education from the outset, and to have preparations with that aim in view …. there should be no significant period in which a child is not receiving suitable education." – Elective home education: Departmental guidance for local authorities, Department for Education, April 2019 – GOV.UK.

Parents are not required to have a detailed plan covering several years but they should be able to demonstrate that they are committed to their child’s education and are systematic in planning an efficient, full time and suitable education.

It is advisable that some planning is done in advance of the child being taken off a school roll so that the child can start a suitable home education from the outset. Just as in schools teachers plan in advance so that children can begin their learning from the start of the September term.

Parents will identify a broad range of subjects their child will be taught, and this will include, for the majority of children, English, Maths and Science and opportunities for Physical Development and Social and Emotional Development. Other subjects and learning opportunities may also be included.

They may wish to draw up a timetable so that both parent and child know what subjects to expect each day. This may be flexible and incorporate other learning opportunities and activities.

Planning will need to take into account the age, ability and aptitude of the child and enable the child to be taught efficiently so that they make progress.

Parents may make use of a number of approaches and resources when planning for their child’s home education such as:

• online schooling
• text books, study books and work books
• online planning resources
• other online resources and educational websites to supplement the learning
• networks of other home educating parents for group activities and social and emotional development opportunities
• sports and activity centres, classes and groups
• private tutors and tuition centres – it is important that parents are aware of the need to select tutors, tuition centres or study centres with care.

Parents may also want to consider how the child’s learning will be recorded and organised such as using exercise books, notebooks, files and folders, as well as photographs and digital records of the child’s learning. They will also need to consider how their planning will enable the child to make progress throughout the year and how this will be demonstrated.

While parents are not obliged to follow the National Curriculum – GOV.UK it may be helpful to refer to this to ensure that the education is suitable to the child’s age and ability.

What your child should be taught

A curriculum is the content of learning that a child is taught. A good curriculum is one which consists of a broad and balanced range of learning opportunities and/or subjects which ensure intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual and physical development.

In maintained, community and foundation schools children aged 5 to 14 are taught National Curriculum subjects of:

• English
• Maths
• Science
• Art and Design
• Computing
• Design and Technology
• Geography
• History
• Music
• Physical Education (PE).

Teaching of a foreign language is expected from the age of 7 (Year 3) and Citizenship from the age of 11 (Year 7).

From the age of 14 schools are expected to teach:

• English
• Maths
• Science
• Computing
• Physical Education (PE)
• Several other subjects are included but these are based on the child’s options.

In Reception year (after the child’s 5th birthday until they transfer into Year 1) schools organise the curriculum around areas of learning, with a balance of teacher led activities, pupil led activities and opportunities to learn through play.

Examples of what to teach:

• communication and language – for example, spoken language, being read to, stories, rhymes, role play, vocabulary and language structures
• physical development – for example, gross motor skills: strength, co-ordination, indoor and outdoor play, stability, balance; fine motor skills – for example, small world, puzzles, arts and crafts, small tools etc
• personal, social and emotional development – for example, understand feelings of self and others, interactions with other children, friendship, cooperation resolving conflicts, persistence, patience, looking after body, healthy eating
• literacy – for example, language comprehension – book activities, rhymes, poems and songs, word reading – letter names and sounds, phonics, sight, writing – letter formation, representing words with letters, simple phrases
• mathematics – for example, understanding number, counting, patterns, spatial, shape, space and measures
• Understanding the world – for example, past and present, people, culture and communities, the natural world
• expressive arts and design – for example, creating with a variety of materials (colour, texture, design), being imaginative (including role play) and expressive including music and movement

Schools are also expected to teach Religious Education (RE), Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) including Relationships Sex and Health Education (RSHE) and Citizenship.

Parents are not obliged to follow the National Curriculum however the Department for Education states:

“2.10 a. Even if there is no specific link with the National Curriculum or other external curricula, there should be an appropriate minimum standard which is aimed at, and the education should aim at enabling the child, when grown-up, to function as an independent citizen in the UK - and furthermore, beyond the community in which he or she was brought up, if that is the choice made in later life by the child;” – Elective home education: Departmental guidance for local authorities, Department for Education, April 2019 – GOV.UK.

Many parents use the National Curriculum as a guide to what could be taught, and to ensure their child is not at a disadvantage if they later return to school, enter further education and/or higher education. Parents should consider how to ensure:

• development of competence in English and Mathematics
• understanding of concepts of Computer Science; use of information technology to solve problems, and that their child is a responsible, competent, confident user of information and communication technology
• development of understanding and skills across a range of subjects or areas of learning
• personal and social development
• physical development
• understanding of the world of work

Parents should also consider how they will provide opportunities for their child to engage socially with other children from their age groups and adults beyond the family unit.

It is the parent’s responsibility to decide what to teach and how it will be taught, but it is essential that the parent can demonstrate that the planned education package is appropriate to the child’s age, ability and aptitude and any special needs they may have. Children learn in different ways and at different paces, and parents will need to be aware of the progress the child is making in order to motivate and challenge them to achieve.

Parents are not obliged to follow a set timetable in the same way that schools do, however it is important to know what is going to be taught, how and when so that it is possible to monitor the child’s learning and their progress.

When your child become 16 years old

“A child becomes of compulsory school age from the first of the following dates (31 August, 31 December or 31 March) which occurs after she or he becomes five years old (or if the fifth birthday falls on one of those dates, on that day). The child remains so until the last Friday of June in the academic year in which she or he becomes sixteen. Children may also be educated at home in order to participate in education and training until the age of 18” – Elective home education: Departmental guidance for local authorities, Department for Education, April 2019 – GOV.UK.

At 16 she or he must then do one of the following until the age of 18:

• stay in full-time education, for example at a college
• start an apprenticeship or traineeship
• spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training

The elective home education service works closely with the Youth Advice Service. All Elective Home Educated pupils in year 11 are eligible for advice and support from the Youth Advice Service with exploring their options, and are referred to the service during the final half of the Autumn Term unless parents opt out of the offer of support.

Private tutors and tuition centres

Parents may decide to use private tutors for one or two subjects or to cover a broader range of the curriculum, but there is no requirement to do so. It is important that parents are aware of the need to select tutors, tuition centres or study centres with care; there is currently no requirement for private tutors to undergo Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.

Tuition centres and other settings may not be regulated in any way so there may be no assurance that they comply with basic standards, such as proper vetting of staff and safeguarding children. You may wish to check references and ask to see a recent DBS disclosure certificate.

Please use our tutor and tuition checklist used to ensure you ask the right questions in order to safeguard your child.

Safeguarding Luton’s EHE Policy 

Under Section 175 of the Education Act 2002, the local authority has a general duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The local authority has powers to insist on seeing children to enquire about their welfare where there are grounds for concern.

Such powers, however, do not give the local authority the ability to see and question children who are being home educated in order to establish whether they are receiving a suitable education.

The local authority will, nevertheless, aim to discharge its safeguarding functions in relation to home educated children by attempting to engage proactively with all home educating parents and will always seek to see, speak with and ascertain the views of children who are home educated.

Whilst the local authority recognises that children who are home educated are no more likely to be the subject of abuse or neglect than are children who attend school, the local authority nevertheless notes the particular circumstances of home educated children.

Should any safeguarding concerns emerge in the course of engagement with home educating families, or in consequence of a lack of engagement, these concerns will be consulted on with the safeguarding in education officer and, if deemed to have met the threshold of need and intervention, will then be promptly referred to children’s social care.

Whilst a failure to respond to the informal enquiries of the local authority will not in itself be seen as evidence of safeguarding concerns, a repeated and persistent failure to respond, together with other contextual information, may in certain circumstances cause the local authority to consider the need for further action.

If the parents of a child who is subject to a Child Protection Plan (CPP) declares an intention to home educate, the local authority will usually oppose this, unless it can be demonstrated that home education will be in the child’s best interests and will not prejudice the effective implementation of the child’s CPP.