Agenda item

To consider PowerPoint presentation.

Note – the Chair will allow 20 minutes for this agenda item.

The Committee received a presentation on understanding Elective Home Education – the purpose of the item was to education / inform members on issues around elective home education (EHE) and covered - the legal framework, the Council approach and responsibilities, data, provided information on the partnership working in the Frome area, changes in legislation and guidance in the pipeline.

This includes a mandatory register of children not in school, guidance on what is a ‘suitable education’, including focus on literacy and maths, guidance about support available to EHE families and guidance to support more consistent approach across LAs to school attendance orders.

The Commitete welcomed and noted the presentation.

The Committee received a presentation from Dr Rob Hart, Service Director for Inclusion and Julia Ridge, Strategic Manager Head of Vulnerable Learners who provided an introduction and overview of Elective Home Education (EHE).

The presentation set out the Council’s approach and responsibilities to EHE children and their families, the current data set for EHE in Somerset and specifically Frome as an ‘area in focus’ due to its high number EHE children, and the changes to government guidance and legislation in the pipeline including mandatory registers of children not in school, guidance around what is considered to be a ‘suitable education’, more support for EHE families and guidance on Local Authority schools attendance orders.      

The Committee asked a number of questions and made a number of comments which were responded to at the meeting, as follows:

·         A Cllr said they had visited a local EHE alternative education setting and was concerned that the children in that setting felt that ‘the Council does not care.’

·         A Cllr queried whether EHE settings have any relationship with Ofsted and was advised that Ofsted do not regulate EHE settings directly.

·         A Cllr queried whether the Council monitors attendance of EHE children or is a parent free to take their child out of education, for holidays etc, as often as they choose; whether parents can access the National Curriculum; in its EHE regulatory role, does the Council require proof that those children that are electively home educated receive ‘a suitable level of socialisation.’ In response, the Service Director Inclusion said that the Council does not monitor the attendance of EHE children in the same way that it does for children who are in education settings – however in its role the Council does look for assurance that the education being offered to EHE children is ‘full time and suitable.’ In terms of supporting EHE settings with national curriculum resources, reference was made to Bridgwater College Academy - Get Ahead Programme and Oak National Academy (thenational.academy).

·         A Cllr queried if there is a potential for flexi schooling, so that families can ‘touch base’ with schools for support and was advised that the Mainstream Plus offer is helping schools to respond to a wider range of needs in communities.

·         A Cllr asked about what has been learnt from the ‘area in focus’ study on Frome and was advised that one of the key findings was about the need for the Council to do more around Public Health and ensuring EHE children have been offered all relevant vaccinations.

·         A Cllr asked about what data we have around EHE children going into Higher Education and was advised that there is currently no data on this.

·         A Cllr asked about the drivers for parents/carers choosing to home educate, and to what extent this choice is down to preference, rather than necessity. The Service Director Inclusion agreed that there are number of reasons for parents/carers choosing to home educate, and that in some cases this choice is also driven by ‘off rolling’ - in the past there have been examples where families are encouraged to choose home education, because that would be an alternative to either prosecution around attendance or exclusion; Ofsted routinely ask to see files of children who have been taken off the school’s roll to be EHE to check; another example is around growing numbers of children for whom it feels like schools ‘aren’t working for them’ and so choose to EHE. The Service Director also referred to the SomersetWorks service, which is open to EHE children.

The Chair thanked the officers for the excellent presentation and the Committee noted the information provided.