Home education

Services to Home Educators (SHE) supports and monitors the education of pupils whose families have elected to educate them otherwise than at school.

Parents should be encouraged to contact SHE before making the final decision to home educate.

Guidance for schools and services

Please note that all references to schools include any other state education provider for pupils from reception to year 11. All references to parents include carers.

The DfE guidelines for local authorities state that schools must not seek to persuade parents to educate their children at home as a way of avoiding an exclusion, or because the child has a poor attendance record.

In the case of exclusion, they must follow the statutory guidance. If the pupil has a poor attendance record, the school and local authority must address the issues behind the absenteeism and use the other remedies available to them.

De-registration

A child can only be de-registered when the school receives, in writing, the parent's intention to educate their child other than at school. The pupil must be de-registered on receipt of such a letter.

Parents are not legally obliged to notify the local authority if their child is being home educated. The school should inform SHE as soon as the parents have made the decision to home educate.

SHE will work with the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) team to ensure, where applicable, a child's EHCP is maintained. If their child is at a special school, parents must seek permission from the local authority before they can de-register.

SHE has no authority in law to refuse a family the right to home educate. However, SHE has a statutory duty to intervene if there is reason to believe that the parents are failing to provide a full-time, suitable and efficient education.

Parents have a duty to provide an efficient full-time education suitable to their child's age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have.

More information about parents' rights and responsibilities can be found on the Services to Home Educators page on the main Norfolk County Council website.

On receiving written notification from the parents of their decision to home educate their child, the child’s name must be deleted from the register of the school or service.

Under Section 13(3) of the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 1995:

• Headteachers are required to inform the local authority, providing details of the child's full name and address, within ten days of receiving the parent’s written decision to educate their child otherwise than at school
• Headteachers and head of services are required to complete the off roll notification online form. They must send this, along with the written communication from the parent, requesting home education to the SHE team

The exception to this is if the child is on the roll of a special school. In this case, permission for parents to home educate must be given by the local authority.

The local authority has a statutory duty under section 436A of the Education Act 1996 (inserted by the Education and Inspections Act 2006), to make arrangements to establish the identities, as far as it is possible to do so, of children in the county who are not receiving a suitable education.

If the child is being home educated, this will be recorded on the local authority’s database. SHE will, in due course, contact all the parents of children who are known to them to establish that the home education provided is suitable.

If, after reasonable steps have been taken, the local authority is not satisfied with a child’s home education programme, a school attendance order may be served. 

If parents wish to maintain their child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, the local authority has a duty to ensure that the child’s needs are met. SHE is responsible for seeing that Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan reviews take place annually, so it can be assessed and amended if necessary.

Although local authorities have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section 175(i) of the Education Act 2002, they do not have the power to enter the homes or otherwise see children who are home educated, unless there are grounds for concern. See section 17 and 47 of the Children Act 1989.