Elective Home Education Policy

Often a parent or carer's first point of contact regarding the decision to home educate will be with a member of school staff. A parent may inform the child's school that they wish to withdraw their child from the school and it is important that this decision is well-informed rather than in response to a disagreement or unresolved difficulty with school. It is therefore strongly advised that school staff establish the reason for the parental decision and make every effort to discuss and agree any appropriate support or intervention that will enable the child to remain on the school roll. Support may be offered, for example, via an Early Help Assessment, One Point application, or referral to an external agency for advice and support.

If parent/carers inform school they are considering home education, it is essential that school and parents are fully appraised of the expectations and implications of home educating before committing to making this important decision. Parents should be given contact details for and advised to seek advice from the council's elective home education officer before formally requesting the school to remove the child from the school roll.

Despite the intervention offered, should the parent/carer feel that the decision to home educate is still the right one they should be advised to put this intention in writing to the head teacher, requesting the child's name be removed from the school roll. On receipt of this letter the head teacher has a duty to remove the child's name from the school roll. Once the child is removed from the roll of the school the parent takes full and immediate responsibility for the child's education as the pupil will no longer be a pupil of the school or part of the school system.

However, where concerns or unresolved difficulties exist we would encourage the head teacher to consult with the elective home education officer and consider retaining the child's place at the school until an initial plan and/or contact with the family is established.

Immediately after the child's name is deleted from a school roll for the purposes of Elective Home Education the school must inform the council via a notification form to Stockton Council Attendance Team. (Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended) DfE 2016 Children Missing Education Statutory guidance. This notification should include a copy of the written notification from the parent, an up-to-date attendance record for the child, information on the child's most recent academic progress/levels and any other relevant information on the family e.g. other services involved. The notification form should detail all support offered to the pupil in an attempt to resolve any issues that have resulted in the parent deciding to remove the child from the school roll.

On receipt of this information the elective home education officer will action the notification within 10 school days and will complete a check of records with Social Care and Schools and SEN teams to establish whether there is any active or past involvement with the child or family.