Memorandum submitted by Office for Standards in
Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted)
1 Summary
1.1 The review highlights the main weaknesses which exist in the
current legislation around elective home education.
1.2 The recommendations have the potential to improve the education
and safeguarding of home educated children, while retaining the right of
parents to home educate.
1.3 More information is needed about:
n the extent to which some parents may feel that they are
put under pressure to educate their child at home rather than at a school
n what constitutes 'successful' home education
n the views of a range of home educated young people
n the destinations of home educated young people.
1.4 It is intended that these areas will be explored in Ofsted's
forthcoming survey on this subject.
2
The conduct of the review and
related consultations
2.1 Ofsted has no comments to make on the
conduct of the review.
3 The recommendations made by the review on elective home
education
3.1
Balance between the rights of the
child and the rights of parents
3.1.1 Ofsted
agrees that, under the current regulatory regime, there is not 'a correct
balance between the rights of parents and the rights of the child either to an
appropriate education or to be safe from harm.' (Review of elective home
education, para 3.1).
3.1.2 The
current legislation and resulting system does not take sufficient account of
the needs of the child, the rights of the child, or the safety and well-being
of the child. The proposals within this review have the potential to introduce
much-needed rigour into the system.
3.1.3 While
the 2004 Act places a duty on local authorities to take into account the
child's wishes and feelings with regard to the provision of services, this does
not apply to home education because it is not provided by the local authority.
This balance needs to be redressed.
3.2 Registration
3.2.1 It is essential that a register is kept in
order to strengthen safeguarding arrangements and improve the quality assurance
of home education.
3.2.2 Currently, local authorities are unable to
retain a reliable record of children being educated at home or to track their
whereabouts; under current legislation and guidance (Guidelines for Local
Authorities, Department for Children, Schools and Families 2007), parents are
not required to register or seek approval to educate their child at home. This
raises safeguarding issues. The requirement to register would be an
improvement. However, it is not clear whether this would cover children who
have never been registered at a school, and if so, how this would be tracked
and enforced. Moreover, if a child educated at home moves authority, this
cannot currently be tracked. It is unclear whether this will be addressed by
the current proposals.
3.2.3 All the information suggested in the review
and the subsequent consultation paper should be provided when a child is
registered to be educated at home. However, we would like to see the following
added:
n In the 'statement of approach to
education', details should be given about: the intended outcomes of the
education being provided, for example, whether qualifications will be taken,
and if so, which ones; the way in which each of the Every Child Matter outcomes
will be achieved, for example, how the child will be given access to sufficient
physical activity; and how social skills will be developed and friendships
facilitated.
n Part of the definition of
'suitable' under the 1996 Education Act is that the education 'primarily equips
the child for life in the community of which he is a member, rather than the
way of life in the country as a whole, as long as it does not foreclose the
child's options in later years to adopt some other form of life if he wishes to
do so' (Education Act 1996). Conversely, schools have a duty to promote
community cohesion. This is potentially contradictory. We suggest that this
aspect of the law is reviewed, and that parents should who choose to educate at
home should be required to provide an education which equips their child for
life in the national and global community.
n Current guidance states that
parents may employ other people to educate their children and that parents are
responsible for 'ensuring that those whom they engage are suitable to have
access to children'. Registration would not of itself prevent those who have a
conviction for offences against children, including parents, step-parents or
privately-employed home tutors, from home educating children. Criminal Records Bureau
(CRB) checks should be a requirement of registration.
n The views of the child or young
person should be included on the registration form, and should be followed up
during a home visit.
n Work experience is not a statutory requirement. However, the
Government's objective is for all Key Stage 4 pupils to undertake work
experience in the last two years of compulsory schooling. Over 95% of Key Stage
4 pupils go on placements each year but children educated at home have no
entitlement to participate in work experience under the arrangements made by a
local authority. Where the young person is aged 15 plus, this should be clearly
stated on the form, and parents should state the arrangements they intend to
make for work experience, and whether they need help from the local authority
to arrange it.
3.2.4 All this information should be provided before
the child is removed from the school roll.
Where assistance is needed, for example in the question about work
experience, this should be completed during the initial home visit - again,
before the child is removed from roll (see response to question 11).
3.2.5 Ofsted agrees that the Department for
Children, Schools and Families should take powers to issue statutory guidance
in relation to the registration and monitoring of home education. This should
include the following:
n The support which the LA should
give to any family who may feel that they have had no choice but to home
educate (for example, where relationships with a school have broken down) in
order to help get a child back into a school as appropriate.
n The steps the local authority (LA) must take to ensure the safety of
the home-educating arrangements
n The steps the local authority (LA) must take to ensure the suitability
of the education
n The way in which they should seek the views of children and young
people, and the steps to take if the child does not wish to be home educated
n The support which LAs should
offer to parents who home educate
n The way in which education at
home should be monitored, and the frequency of such monitoring
n The importance of ensuring that
the person doing any monitoring has a full understanding of the different needs
and wishes parents may have for their child's education, the different reasons
for home educating, and the different models of home education which LA staff
may encounter
n The training which any person
monitoring should receive (to include the above)
n The additional responsibilities for children with a statement of
special educational needs.
3.3
Safeguarding
3.3.1 The
review recommends that changes are made to the legislative framework to enable
local authorities to refuse registration on safeguarding grounds and that local
authorities should have the right to revoke registration should safeguarding
concerns become apparent. Ofsted's view is that under no circumstances should
children about whom there are substantial safeguarding concerns be home
educated. Serious case reviews (where children have died or been seriously
harmed) have mentioned children who move and go missing, and those who have
been missing from school, including occasionally those who have been taken
off-roll by their parents to be home educated (Learning lessons, taking action:
Ofsted's evaluation of serious case reviews April 2007 to 31 March 2008).
3.4 Home visits
3.4.1 Ofsted agrees with the recommendations relating to home visits. It
is essential that both the parents and the LA are clear about the parameters of
the visit. It should be ensured that an appropriate person from the LA visits
and that this person is well informed about the different philosophies of home
education. They should also have appropriate training in safeguarding, and
should be skilled at speaking with children and young people, bearing in mind
that a certain proportion of young people educated at home have special
educational needs, and some will have had a negative experience of school.
3.4.2 An initial home visit should be carried out before the child is
removed from the school roll to
determine the safety and suitability of the home education.
3.4.3 Where there are concerns, the child should be seen by two members of
local authority staff, not with the parent or carer, so they can give their
honest views and opinions. This would be consistent with inspections of
schools, where children and young people would usually give their views without
school staff being present. It would be essential that this did not come across
as any kind of 'test' for the child, but was approached positively and
sensitively.
3.4.4 These procedures will have significant resource implications for
local authorities, which need to be considered.
3.4.5 In
order to gain further information about the views of children and young people
who are home educated, consideration should also be given to setting up some
focus groups and regular surveys of young people educated at home, in the same
way as currently happens for looked after children (these are run by the
Children's Rights Director for England, at Ofsted).
September 2009
