Home education guidelines

These notes of guidance have been put together to help those families who are thinking about, or who have recently started, educating their child or children at home.

The information which follows should clarify the way in which the local authority works with families who are educating other than at school.

The 1996 Education Act section 444 states that it is the duty of parents to secure an appropriate education for their children.

This can be done either by regular attendance at school or ‘otherwise’.

For most children in Norfolk, this means that they will attend the school which serves their local community, but for a wide variety of reasons, a number of parents decide to take on the ‘duty to educate’ their children themselves.

This requires an enormous commitment of time and energy, often without access to the kinds of facilities, resources and expertise provided by the schools.

Under Section 7 of the 1996 Education Act, it is the parents' duty:

To cause (the child) to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his (her) age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs he (or she) may have either by regular attendance at school or 'otherwise'

Defining the act

Unfortunately, the words 'efficient' and 'suitable' are not defined in the Act.

However, education has been held to be efficient if it achieves what it sets out to achieve and 'suitable' if it prepares the child for life in our society and also enables the child to achieve their full potential.

Certainly what is provided need not be the same kind of 'lessons' as are provided at school but must be of a high quality if it is to be effective.

It will be up to parents to show the local authority:

• That their style of provision is helping their child to learn
• That their child is developing according to their age, ability and aptitude
• That any special educational needs they may have are being met

Although the National Curriculum does not apply to children educated at home, it does provide a useful checklist of skills and knowledge which one would expect of a balanced curriculum.

You may wish your child to enter or re-enter a local-authority-maintained school at some point in the future and re-integration will be easier if you take the requirements of the National Curriculum into account.

Academies are publicly funded schools which operate outside of local authority control. They are described as independent state-funded schools and they do not have to follow the national curriculum. They can choose their own curriculum, as long as it is "broad and balanced".

Whether you choose to follow a curriculum or not, the local authority will expect your provision to: be broad and balanced, promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development as with any child within society prepare children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.

It is important for your child to mix with other boys, girls and adults to learn from, and with them. There are many home education groups in Norfolk which are organised and run by home education families.

The National Curriculum covers the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. Other subjects include history, geography, languages, art and design, music, physical education, citizenship, computing and design and technology.

Pupils are divided into key stages:

• Key stage 1: ages 5 to 7, year group 1 to 2
• Key stage 2: ages 7 to 11, year group 3 to 6
• Key stage 3: ages 11 to 14, year group 7 to 9
• Key stage 4: ages 14 to 16, year group 10 to 11

Unless the family has philosophic, medical or religious reasons for not doing so, a broad balanced curriculum should include personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) outdoor and environmental education, work experience (KS4) and careers advice.

A parent’s provision should cater for the child’s physical, intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual development and be broad, balanced, relevant and differentiated. It should be:

• Broad: It should introduce the child to a wide range of knowledge, understanding and skills
• Balanced: Each part should be allotted sufficient time to make its special contribution, but not so much that it squeezes out other essential parts of learning
• Relevant: Subjects or topics should be learnt so as to bring out their application to the child’s own experience, to adult life and to give due emphasis to practical aspects
• Differentiated: Home education needs to be matched to the child’s abilities and aptitude. It should also be sufficiently challenging so that a child can show that some progress is being made.

If your child is of pre-school age then you are not obliged to do anything.

If you are withdrawing your child from a school and they are of statutory school age, you should inform the head teacher of the school in writing, stating that you intend to educate your child at home.

Your child’s school has a duty to inform the local authority when deregistration takes place. However, it would help us considerably if you made contact with us too, giving your child’s name, date of birth and the date you intend to start home education; please also include your address, telephone number and email address.

Many parents take advantage of this contact with the local authority to ask for advice and assistance.

Once a child is known to us, we will offer to visit to discuss your home education and to answer any queries you may have.

Parents have the same rights to home educate a child with a Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) or an Education Health and Care plan (EHCP).

We retain a duty to ensure that the needs identified in the statement/plan are being met, to maintain the statement and review it annually.

If your child is registered at a special school named in their Statement of Special Educational Needs or EHCP, they cannot be de-registered without the agreement of the local authority; for this you will need to speak to your child’s EHCP Co-ordinator.

You do not have to follow a timetable but if you do choose to, it does not have to be rigid or comply with local-authority-maintained schools dates and times, however you should be able to show that you are serious and committed to your child’s learning and development.

It is your responsibility to plan and carry out your arrangements. The Service to Home Educators Team may be approached to offer informal advice but cannot undertake either to specifically direct your child’s learning or to provide resources.

We cannot recommend private tutors to replace or supplement teaching in schools. You could look online and/or the small ads in local papers. 

You may like to consider the following points when you plan your child’s education:

• Try to see that the learning process is as active, practical and participative as possible and systematically planned
• Try to take full advantage of educational textbooks, workbooks and all the resources available in your locality and in your home
• Give great importance to a wide range of reading, writing and discussion. Give a substantial amount of time to all aspects of numeracy
• Keep your child’s learning as broad and as balanced as possible. Be prepared to develop and encourage any particular skill or interest shown by your child
• Have a selection of educational visits and broadcasts planned. Make sure they are prepared in advance and followed up afterwards
• Provide opportunities which help with physical development and ones which allow social interaction with adults and children to take place in different settings
• Keep records of educational progress and dated examples which show it. Make learning enjoyable by varying the style and content, and the processes it involves.
• When necessary, give opportunities for independent study and research and provide a quiet area for sustained study/work.
• Public examinations and regular testing are available to children in our schools and colleges. You may feel that your child needs these opportunities to demonstrate their progress and attainments.

Occasionally, schools may make special arrangements.

This is often described as flexi-schooling.

However, this would be at the discretion of the head teacher.

If a flexi-schooling arrangement is made, your child will be registered with the school, and would not be with Services to Home Educators.

Local colleges sometimes allow access to courses for the equivalent of Key Stage 4 (years 10 and 11 in school).

You will need to approach the college to see what they are able to offer if anything. 

Please be aware that if you deregister a child who is already attending a college course, fees will no longer be paid by the school for your child to continue the course. 

Under Section 437 of the Education Act 1996, the local authority must satisfy itself that parents are fulfilling their duties.

If you don't provide any information about your provision, either in written form or by discussions with the local authority, we may conclude that your child is not being effectively educated and needs to return to school.

Providing us with information

Services to Home Educators (SHE) aim to offer a home visit from a member of our team within two to three months of becoming known to us. The purpose of this visit is to discuss your home education and to answer any queries that may have arisen since you started home educating your child. A record of the meeting will be written up at the time, including advice and recommendations if appropriate and a copy will be sent to you.

Please be aware a home visit is not a legal requirement and you may choose not to have one. Perhaps as an alternative, a meeting could be arranged to take place at another venue. Alternatively, you could provide SHE with written information, and you may like to include recent examples of your child's work.

We enjoy meeting with families and children and it is a fabulous opportunity for us to see the rich, stimulating and eclectic styles of home education in Norfolk. We aim to keep visits informal, open and honest.

Whatever way you choose we would expect to see a serious intent by you to educate your child and evidence of a coherent educational philosophy. But the real criterion is that any information that we see should convince an informed professional in the field of education that a child is receiving an efficient, full-time education suitable to his or her age, ability and aptitude and any educational needs they may have.

If we feel that the education you are providing fails to offer the child an appropriate education, we will discuss this with you and give you the support and opportunity to put things right. We will give you a reasonable period of time before a follow up visit is made to look at the situation again.

If no improvement is evident, we will require you to register your child at school. Failure to comply will lead to a School Attendance Order being issued. But we would stress that this is rare. It will only happen if we are convinced that you are not educating your child according to his or her age, ability and aptitude, and that you have consistently failed to remedy the situation by ignoring advice and guidance.

Your child cannot legally enter full time employment until the end of their statutory education.

This is the last Friday of June in the academic year during which your child has their sixteenth birthday.

Part-time work

For further information about the working hours allowed for a child still in statutory education visit our pages on child employment .

• Opting for home education is opting out of the state system in its entirety. Our local authority role will be advisory. You will have no access to any of the broad range of teaching services offered, including access to exam entry or specialist teaching services.
• Think long and hard about it. It is a great responsibility and a considerable commitment of time and energy.
• Plan what you intend to do for your child before deciding to opt out
• Look at the costs involved. For example, for educational visits, equipment, books, exam fees and subject tutors. There is no funding available for home educating families.
• Provide opportunities for your child to be involved in social activities, contact other children, and take part in joint activities with other children and groups. These activities may provide a useful social setting and improve your child’s motivation to succeed with his or her learning.
• Keep your options open. As your child’s needs may change at different ages and stages. Older children need more challenging and sophisticated materials across a range of subjects if they intend to make good progress.

Do not take your child out of school simply because you have a disagreement with the school or a teacher. In such circumstances, talk to the head teacher or consult the lead teacher of Services to Home Education.

If you decide that home education is not the best course of action, then we will be glad to talk to you about your child’s entry into school.

You might like to discuss this with the lead teacher of Services to Home Education or our school admissions team.