home schooling (home educated)
Home Education
You can teach your child at home, either full or part-time.
Home Education or Home Schooling, more accurately known as Elective Home Education, is when parents chose to take the full responsibility to provide an education for their children in ways other than by schooling.
Parents and Carers home educate their child or young person for all kinds of reasons. Reasons include special needs that are unmet by the school or local authority, bullying, distance or travel to the school, lack of academic progress in school, stress or some other school related issue. A few parents never send their children to school in the first place, often these parents always intended to home educate. It is very rare, for a parent to home educate against the wishes of the child. Over all the main cause of home education is that it is in the best interests of the child. For more information - www.home-education.org.uk/faq-carers.htm
Parents do not need to give any reason for home educating and the law does not make any distinction between reasons for deciding to home educate.
You can get help with home education from Bexley LA.
Write to the headteacher if you plan to take your child out of school. They must accept if you’re taking your child out completely. They can refuse if you want to send your child to school some of the time.
As a parent, you must make sure your child receives a full-time education from the age of 5 but you don’t have to follow the national curriculum.
If your child has special educational needs, Bexley Local Authority may be able to help if your child has special educational needs and you want to educate them at home. You only need to tell them if your child has an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
If the council wants to check on your child’s education -
The council can make an ‘informal enquiry’ to check your child is getting a suitable education at home. They can serve a school attendance order if they think your child needs to be taught at school. You’ll get a School Attendance Order if the local council thinks your child isn’t getting an education. You have 15 days to provide evidence that you’ve registered your child with the school listed in the order or that you’re giving them home education. If you don’t, you could be prosecuted or given a fine.
Education Welfare Service (EWS) The role of the Education Welfare Service (EWS) team is to to support children, families and schools with school attendance issues. Most schools in Bexley have an Education Welfare Officer from the service attached to them, though some schools and academies use an alternative provider to support them with attendance. Contact them for advice - http://www.bexleylocaloffer.uk/content/9622
If you have a 'looked after child' - please contact Bexley's Virtual School
If you have a 'looked after child' - please contact Bexley's Virtual School