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Below here you will find news and updates of all kinds which are of interest to home educators. Send us your reactions and comments.

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Casey Report, House of Commons Library Briefing, Wood Review

In January 2017 the House of Commons Library produced a research briefing on home education http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN05108 to bring MPs up to speed after Louise Casey mentioned home education during an evidence session with the Department for Communities and Local Government Committee http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/communities-and-local-government-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/integration-review-16-17/ . There are no signs that the Government plans to take action on home education as a result of http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38200989 the Casey Review.

Someone else who has mentioned home education in the course of a Government review is https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2016/05/27/wood-review-and-home-education/ Alan Wood, former Director of Children’s Services in Hackney. http://blogs.bbk.ac.uk/bbkcomments/2017/01/23/action-on-home-education-impact-challenges/ At the suggestion of Daniel Monk, https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2017-01-11b.1952.3#g1952.4 Baroness Deech recently asked about the Wood Review and home education in the House of Lords.

However, just as with the Casey Report, there has never been the slightest impression that the Government will do anything about it. Casey was asked to look at community cohesion, while Wood was asked about safeguarding. Neither Casey nor Wood was asked to look into home education or to make recommendations about home education.

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New home education guidance for Wales was published in January 2017 which you can read here http://gov.wales/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/pupilsupport/elective-home-education-guidance/?lang=en There are some big improvements on the version which went out to consultation a couple of years ago, even though at first sight it looks quite similar. There is much less of a suggestion that the LA must talk to children to find out if they agree with their parents, and the annual monitoring section has been taken out. I have made a line by line comparison here http://edyourself.org/articles/welshconsultation2015.php

We are specifically reminded that the guidance is non-statutory which is less strong than statutory guidance, more about suggestions and recommendations than directing local authorities. The law would have to be changed before the Government could issue statutory guidance and it is incredibly unlikely that the Welsh Government would take this step; the non-statutory guidance will be as far as it goes.  The Welsh Government says the new Home Education Guidance is part of a package of measures related to children outside school. We already know that the Labour-led Welsh Government and the Conservative main opposition party reject the Children’s Commissioner’s call for compulsory registration and monitoring. Both parties say that the new Social Services and Wellbeing Act provides a strengthened legal framework for safeguarding children. I explain more about this here http://edyourself.org/articles/eheguidance2017wales.php

Main points New Guidance

General 

1. Parents can go to Parent Partnership if there are disagreements with school.
2. Parents are not required to register or seek approval from the LA to home-educate their children
3. The LA should ensure that  all aspects of potential education otherwise than at school are explored with the family
4. LAs should analyse the reasons parents give for taking children out of school to home educate
5. The LA should have a named contact to provide advice and support to home-educating families
6. LAs should have a written policy on home education which has been prepared in consultation with home-educating families
7. LAs should seek to develop positive working relationships with home-educating networks and groups in their area
8. LAs should adopt an understanding and supportive approach with home-educating families so that parents may be more willing to engage
9. LAs have a duty to make arrangements where possible to identify children not receiving a suitable education
10. A school attendance order applies in cases when a parent of a child of compulsory school age fails to prove that the child is receiving suitable education and where the authority believes the child should attend school
11. During truancy sweeps no further action should be taken where children indicate they are home-educated unless there is a reason to doubt that this is the case

Deregistration and After

1. The following steps could (not “should” or “must”) be taken when a family has decided to home-educate:
2. Parent writes to headteacher regarding their decision to home-educate and request that their child is taken off the school roll
3. The child’s name must be removed from school roll when the school receives written notification from the parent (unless it is a special school)
4. Headteacher notifies local authority.
5. An initial meeting between LA and family is recommended to discuss provision and any advice and support and where parents elect not to meet LA officers in their home, alternative arrangements should be sought.
6. Meetings are an opportunity to provide information and support to home-educating families, to listen and respond to any concerns they have.
7. Meetings also provide an opportunity to discuss the views of home-educated children and young people regarding the education they are receiving, their preferences, aspirations and ambitions.
8. If the family does not wish to meet with the LA, the LA should consider whether there are any issues which are cause for concern, and if the LA does NOT have concerns about child’s education and/or welfare, the LA could consider writing to the family every 6 –12 months. 

Annual Contact 

1. It is recommended that the LA seeks to make contact with home-educating families at least once a year. Contact with the family should normally be made in writing and should seek a meeting or request a written update.
2. LA officers may wish to (not “must” or even “should”) ask families for specific examples of learning, e.g. pictures, paintings and models, diaries of educational activity, projects, assessments, samples of work, books or educational visits.
3. After any discussion with the family the LA should prepare a report, copied to the family, stating whether the LA has any concerns about whether a suitable education is being provided, and detailing any recommendations made by the LA and any actions to be taken by the LA on behalf of the parents.

Safeguarding 

1. A parent’s decision to home-educate should not in itself be grounds for concern about the welfare of the child. However, there may be additional circumstances eg• where a child or family member has been identified as being in need • where a child or family member has been referred to social services or the police for child protection reasons, and the matter is being investigated • where a child or a sibling is on the child protection register • where a child or family member has been referred on care and protection grounds, and the referral is being considered • where a child is the subject of a supervision requirement • where a child is known to be a carer • where a child has not been seen for some time by any of the universal services • where a member of the public raises concern about a child’s welfare • where a family isolate themselves from routine services and healthcare.
2. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 provides a strengthened legal framework for safeguarding children and has introduced a ‘duty to report’ to the LA and defines a ‘child at risk’. Staff across the LA, health and police must report concerns to the LA where they have reasonable cause to suspect a child to be at risk of or experiencing abuse, neglect or harm.
3. The LA must provide people with information and advice relating to care and support, and assistance in accessing care and support and must promote early intervention and prevention
4. The All Wales Child Protection Procedures highlight the required approach in working with families in instances where there may be child welfare concerns.
5. LAs should have agreed systems, standards and protocols for sharing information about a child and their family within an agency and between agencies, see http://www.waspi.org/

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Apologies for the short notice!  You have been invited to take part in a consultation about the proposed children’s wellbeing section of the Dewis website.

You can either complete the survey using Survey Monkey in either English or Welsh and have the chance to win a Tablet by telling Wrexham County Borough Council what you think about the proposed children’s wellbeing section of Dewis Wales:www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/dewiscypconsultation

Cyfle i ennill Tabled drwy ddweud wrthym eich barn ynglŷn â’r adran lles plant arfaethedig ar wefan Dewis Cymru:www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YmgynghoriadDEWISCymru

If you would like a printed copy of the consultation questionnaire in an easy read version, please contact us and we will post one to you. Please specify if you would prefer it in English or Welsh. Postal versions should be sent to:-

Lucie Jankova, Children’s Social Care, Wrexham County Borough Council, Lambpit Street, Wrexham LL11 1AR

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27th October

Today Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening made a written statement to the House of Commons announcing the Technical and Further Education Bill.  The Bill focuses particularly on improving the quality of technical education and providing safeguards for students in further education by introducing an insolvency regime for Sixth Form and FE Colleges.  Undoubtedly Greening’s background in accountancy has influenced the financial focus of the proposals, and the bill itself is unlikely to attract the controversy which surrounded the earlier Education for All Bill.

The statement continues by referring to the Schools that Work for Everyone consultation which was launched in September of this year.  This consultation asks for responses on the practicalities of increasing the number of places in good schools and seeks views on how the independent and higher education sectors can help mainstream schools to provide better quality education.  The previous Education Bill’s attempt to force all schools to become academies is sidelined in the statement, which declares that no new legislation is needed in order to achieve the desired improvements. Schools will be encouraged to convert to academies but will not be forced to do so, and local authorities will retain their role in promoting school improvement.

The statement concludes: ‘The Technical and Further Education Bill takes forward the Government’s ambition to streamline technical education to ensure clear routes into skilled employment. … The measures in the Bill build on the progress the Government has already made by investing in high quality apprenticeships … in line with the Post-16 Skills Plan published earlier this year.’  You can read the full statement here.

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26th October

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11th October

On 11 October there was an article about home education (the ‘unschooling’ variety) in the Guardian which gives a mostly sympathetic and balanced account of  the subject.  The article can be found on the Guardian website here.  Alice Khimasia and her four sons are featured along with various comments and views from families, academics and others.

The article also mentions the Local Government Association’s recent call for registration of children who are educated at home.  Calls for registration and monitoring of home education have been resisted fiercely by home educators in the past because these measures would lead inevitably to state control of home education and loss of families’ freedoms.  Councils already have ample powers to address any problems which come to their attention.  It seems very unlikely that the Government will consider that home education is a priority when they have many other serious and high-profile educational issues to tackle during the lifetime of this parliament.

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23rd September

Recent research by the University of Loughborough has indicated that around 30 per cent of children are not ready for school by the time that they reach reception age.  Researchers discovered that large numbers of children suffer from poor mobility which in turn affects their balance and coordination, leading to reduced ability to learn in school.  Around 90 per cent of the children in the study were found to have some degree of difficulty with mobility compared with the expectation for their age.  Children who have been inactive in the early years are presenting with symptoms which are associated with conditions such as dyspraxia, ADHD and dyslexia, leading to an over-diagnosis of children with learning difficulties.  Dr Rebecca Duncombe of Loughborough said that greater physical activity in the early years is necessary to prevent children from suffering from these difficulties.

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13th September

The House of Commons Select Committee on Education held a conference at Westminster on 13 September as the latest part of its wide-ranging Inquiry into ‘The purpose and quality of education in England’.  The keynote speaker was historian and broadcaster Professor Mary Beard of the University of Cambridge.  In a hard-hitting address Professor Beard makes it clear that the debate on the purpose of education will never end because there is no right answer to this question.  Citing classical sources, Professor Beard reflects on the fact that people have always expected far too much of the education system, blaming social ills on educational failure.  We should keep in mind the need to teach children how to learn and not what to know.

Do we want to live in a world in which everyone agrees about what should go on in schools?  Professor Beard doesn’t (and neither do home educators).  Further, exam results, Pisa rankings and employment statistics are not evidence of quality in themselves.  She highlights the ‘welter of rules, regulations, initiatives and written guidelines’ which are set to solve problems in schools, noting the lack of willingness to trust the professionalism and judgement of teachers.  She questions the role and impact of mass testing, regimented responses, ‘assessment objectives’ and raises the prospect of the exam system sinking under its own weight; we are the most examined nation in the West.  She poses the radical question of whether or not we could do without most of the current GCSEs and trust the judgement of teachers on the ground more and ‘loosen up’.  You can read the whole speech on the Parliament website at goo.gl/YLuiJd

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12th September

Meanwhile the big news stories in education for England so far are clearly being decided not by the Secretary of State Justine Greening but by the new Prime Minister Theresa May who wants to change the rules on grammar schools and faith schools, so that both can expand. Although most of the attention is on grammar schools, I think that changes to faith schools admissions could have a knock-on effect for home education as people with very strong opinions about children mixing with those of other faiths and cultures will be putting forward their views.

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5th September

In addition to the amendments to the Pupil Registration Regulations, the Government has opted to issue a new version of Children Missing Education Guidance. This is the fifth time that CME Guidance has been rewritten, and on every occasion the Government makes some changes to the home education part. This time round the changes to home education are minor, but I think they are an improvement because they make it clearer exactly when the school should inform the council. This version also marks a departure for the Government in not publishing a draft for consultation but jumping straight to the final version which in its entirety is vastly different from its predecessor. I assume this was because everything had to be put in place in a tremendous hurry and the Government could conceivably argue that the changes were mostly ‘technical’ but it is still a notable precedent.

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11th August

Meanwhile, we still have to keep a close eye on Ofsted. There are now quarterly monitoring visits for local authorities rated by Ofsted as inadequate for safeguarding, and where we know from published advice letters that in at least one area (Birmingham) the focus has been on children out of school and home education. Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of Ofsted, continues to extremely preoccupied with the high number of illegal faith schools, particularly Muslim and Jewish schools, and invariably links this with councils being lax and with the abuse of home education freedoms. However, at the end of the year Sir Michael will be replaced by Amanda Spielman and I anticipate this will mark a difference in emphasis, as the Government said they didn’t want another ‘crusader’ in charge of Ofsted.

More about illegal faith schools here http://edyourself.org/articles/unregschools.php

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3rd August

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 have been issued and came into force on 1st September.  On the last day of Parliament when many schools had already broken up for the summer holidays, the Government confirmed that from the start of the new school year local authorities and schools would have to keep much better track of children who stop going to school. Schools were already supposed to tell the council when a pupil left to be home educated, but there were many other circumstances where schools didn’t have to inform anyone, and somehow the lack of home education registration always ended up getting the blame for these ‘missing children.’ The Government could have proposed a register of home educated children as a way to address these concerns and we know from the consultation responses that a few organisations called for this, so it is significant that the Government chose not to do this and to close the non-home education loopholes in the regulations instead.

Read more here http://edyourself.org/articles/pupilregconsult.php

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 1st August

There have been massive changes in Parliament since the last bulletin as a result of the vote in the referendum to leave the European Union and the political shake-up that has followed. In England Nicky Morgan has been replaced as Secretary of State for Education by Justine Greening and Lord Nash now has Ministerial responsibility for home education. Politicians and civil servants are expected to be tremendously busy and I believe nobody will have much time to think about home education.

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28th July

At the end of July the Supreme Court allowed an appeal against the Named Person scheme for children in Scotland. The issue for the Supreme Court was about the legitimacy of information sharing and data processing without knowledge or consent for the purpose of “ wellbeing” when there was no known risk of significant harm to the child. The measures were due to come into force on August 31st 2016 but have now been halted. Minister John Swinney has now told the Scottish Parliament that there will be a three month consultation with the aim of having an amended Named Person scheme in place by August 2017. Campaigners are now asking what happens with councils which had already begun versions of the scheme with the full backing of the Government but without the law actually being in place to support what they were doing.

Read more here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2016/08/04/named-person-every-child-scotland-supreme-court-judgment/

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11th July

In Wales, the Child Practice Review into the death of Dylan Seabridge was finally published in early July. Media reports focused on the fact that Dylan was home educated but the Review also pointed out that the family wasn’t hidden, and that information wasn’t evaluated properly and wasn’t shared with relevant professionals. Significantly, the Minister went on record as saying that ‘the home education element is just one part of this particular case’. There has been nothing further about the introduction of new Elective Home Education Guidance for Wales which was initially proposed two years ago. In my view the Welsh Government is stuck as it is aware that nobody was happy with the new proposals, since they went too far for home educators but stopped short of making registration or monitoring compulsory which is what safeguarding campaigners want.

Read more here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/dylan-seabridge-child-practice-review-july-2016/

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9th June

At the High Court in London, the judge backed Isle of Wight father Jon Platt who took his daughter on holiday during term time and refused to pay the fine. The judge said that magistrates should look at the overall pattern of attendance before deciding whether an offence had been committed. After the judgement was announced, term time holiday bookings rose, and some councils indicated that they would not be prosecuting parents until the Department for Education came up with something definitive which could not be challenged in court. Mr Platt has now said he will help other parents pursue refunds against fines but the Department for Education has offered financial support to the Isle of Wight in making an appeal.

Read more here https://edyourself.wordpress.com/2016/06/02/isle-of-wight-v-platt-high-court-judgment/  (families new to home education please note: home educators are not bound by the restrictions on taking holidays in term-time.  They may take their holidays at any time during the year)

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