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Independent Review of Home Education in England

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire about processes for supporting and monitoring home education.  Completion of the questionnaire is entirely voluntary.  Responses will be completely confidential and used only for the purposes of the independent review.

The Government is committed to ensuring that systems for keeping children safe are as robust as possible.  As part of this continuing commitment, an independent review of home education will assess whether the right systems are in place for ensuring that home educated children have access to the five Every Child Matters outcomes.  This includes whether Government should do more to support local authorities in discharging their duties in relation to home educated children.  The full terms of reference for the review are available online at: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/ete/homeeducation

As organisations responsible for ensuring the safety, wellbeing and education of children and young people in your localities, we very much value your input into this review.

You may find it helpful to read through the questionnaire before attempting to complete it.  Please note you cannot save the questionnaire and go back to it at a later date.  Therefore, if you need to discuss responses with colleagues before submitting the form, please do so before attempting to complete the questionnaire. Please also note that we ask that the Director of Children's Services and Lead Member for Children and Young People 'sign off' the questionnaire before it is submitted and you will be asked to confirm whether that has happened at the end of this questionnaire.

Thank you for taking time to respond to these questions.

Privacy statement

About your local authority

Q1 Name of LA

Oldham

Q2 Tel. No of main contact

0161 770 6726

Q3 E-mail of main contact

[email address]

Q4 Would you be willing to take part in the next phase of the research in February/March (including in-depth interviews with key personnel in your organisation)?

yes


no

Q5 Which team(s) have the main responsibility for supporting and monitoring home educated children within the local authority and other agencies?

Advisory Teacher based at the Pupil Referral Unit ??

Pupil Services - People Communities and Society Directorate

Q6 List all teams / professionals involved in supporting home educating families

Advisory Teacher for EHE

Assistant Head at PRU - line manager

Headteacher at PRU

PCT Health Advisor

Connexions

Q7 List all teams / professionals involved in monitoring home educating families.

Advisory Teacher for EHE

Assistant Head at PRU - line manager

Headteacher for PRU

PCT Health Advisor

Q8 Describe how you ensure collaboration and communication between these teams / individuals

Weekly caseload meeting with Assistant Head at PRU

6 Weekly meeting with PCT Health Advisor

6 Weekly meeting with Connexion Team Manager

Frequent email

Data and Tracking

Q9 How many children are currently home educated in your local authority of primary age (Registered with LA)

13

Q10 How many children are currently home educated in your local authority of primary age (Non-registered with LA)

unknown

Q11 How many children are currently home educated in your local authority of secondary age (Registered with LA)

33

Q12 How many children are currently home educated in your local authority of secondary age (Non-registered with LA)

unknown

Q13 Total (Registered with LA)

46

Q14 Total (Non-registered with LA)

unknown

Q15 Are these figures accurate or based on estimates?

Accurate


Estimate

Q16 If accurate, where do you get this data from?

Total number of pupils registered as EHE with LA

Q17 If accurate, how do you know the data is accurate?

Liaison with families and schools

Q18 If estimated, what data have you used to arrive at this figure? (List all sources)

n/a

Q19 How confident is the local authority in the accuracy of this data?

Very confident


Fairly confident


Don't know


Not very confident


Not at all confident

Q20 How often does the local authority get updated data? (List frequency for each source separately)

??

Q21 What proportion (as a percentage) of your home educated population is statemented for SEN? (please state whether accurate or estimate)

0% on current register

Q22 What proportion (as a percentage) of your home educated population is non-statemented for SEN (please state whether accurate or estimate)

4.3% were funded for SEN before they de-registered from school

Q23 What proportion (as a percentage) of your home educated population is from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage (please state whether accurate or estimate)

4.3% on current register

Q24 What proportion (as a percentage) of your home educated population is made up of other Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups

4.3% on current register

Q25 Please list which BME groups.

Q26 Do you believe the local authority knows about all the home educated children in your area?

Yes, we are confident we know about all home educated children in the area


We think we know about the vast majority of home educated children in the area


We probably do not know about a fair number of home educated children in the area


We probably do not know about a significant proportion of home educated children in the area

Q27 Do you think that you will be better able to track children in your area in the near future? e.g. planned changes to your own systems, ContactPoint, other system improvements?

yes


no

Q28 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given

Contact Point should identify EHE families presently unknown to the LA

Supporting Home Educating Families

Q29 How does the local authority ensure families know about their rights and responsibilities in relation to home education? (List all approaches used)

Initial discussion with parent and administration personnel at Pupil Services and Information pack sent out to parents.

EHE Advisory Teacher contacts parent by phone and completes initial visit with family, leaving relevant information either to help family make their decision or to help them with starting points for planning the provision.

Q30 What support does your local authority provide to home educating families? (List all forms of support offered)

At the initial visit, discussion of the monitoring process and support is discussed and information is left with parents to support them with their planning. This includes:

At the educational visit completed 2-3 months later, support and advice is given to support parents with their educational provision where appropriate, and these recommendations are written up in a report and sent to the parent after the visit.

We have also set up a Lending Service for our EHE families where they can borrow relevant National Curriculum resources in Maths and English.

Q31 How does the local authority let families know about the services provided to support them in home educating their children? (List all approaches used)

Information given in home visits or phone calls. Occasionally parents will use email.

Assessment and Monitoring

Q32 Following the initial assessment visit, are further monitoring visits made to a home educated child?

Yes


No


Don't know

Q33 If yes, how often, on average, are these carried out?

More than twice a year


Twice a year


Once a year


Less than once a year

Q34 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given

If the provision is satisfactory then EHE amilies are seen on an annual basis. If the provision is in need of more support or unsatisfactory then more regular visits are made and can be every 2-3 months. Visits are followed up with a report containing recommendations for the parent to follow.

Q35 On average, how often is the child seen when a visit is made?

Always, at each visit


Usually, but not always


Sometimes


Never


Depends on the child / circumstances

Q36 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given

85% of the current EHE families accept visits to discuss their educational provision. Of these families who accept visits, the child is seen in 82% of them.

Q37 If the child is seen, where is s/he usually seen?

In the home


At the home, but do not go inside


Another venue


Depends on the child / circumstances

Q38 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given

95% of visits take place in the home and the child is usually present in the same room.

Q39 If you are not permitted access to a child, is any further action taken?

Yes


No


Don't know

Q40 If yes, what further steps are taken?

If the child is repeatedly unseen, liaison with partners in Health (PCT) and Connexions (if relevant), takes place to see if they have been seen by other agencies/professionals. Failing this, visits to the home are offered and then completed unannounced to try to gain access to see the child.

Q41 How is the suitability of the education provided to the child assessed? (Please describe)

In 11% of EHE families on the current register, written reports are submitted to the LA.

In all the families who opt for visits, discussion takes place about the educational provision and subjects covered. In some cases resource books and other teaching resources are shown to outline the structure followed, and completed work is available to see.

Q42 Is the local authority clear about what the definition of a 'suitable education' is?

yes


no

Q43 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given

`Suitable' education can be very subjective especially where National Curriculum is not being followed. Obviously an approach which is suitable for one child may not be suitable to another but it can be very difficult to assess and monitor progress. A clearer directive as to what is classed as `suitable' is needed.

Q44 Does the local authority have systems in place to track the educational progress of home educated children?

Yes


No


Don't know

Q45 Please use this space to add further detail to the answer you have just given

Reports and records are written and filed securely after each visit and communication with each EHE family, however it can be very difficult to track the educational progress a child is making as this is dependent on the type of evidence a parent is prepared to show and the curriculum a child is following. It is easier when National Curriculum is being followed, but evidence of completed work is not always available to see. As outlined in the Guidance document p.11, parents can choose to present their evidence in a range of formats.

It can also be difficult to track specific progress as parents do not have to formally mark or assess completed work, or provide a broad or balance curriculum. (p.10)

Q46 Of the home educated children in your area of whom you have knowledge, what proportion (as a percentage) in your estimation is receiving a suitable, full time (20hrs a week) education? (Please describe)

Difficult to judge as you only see a snapshot of the provision and it is heavily based on the parent's opinion/description of their provision. Also parents are aware that a measurement of contact time is not relevant to EHE where there is almost continuous contact time each day.

About 65% of the EHE families on the current register follow a structured , measurable provision which include carefully following National Curriculum schemes or coursebooks, GCSEs, and religious homeschooling schemes.

Q47 Does the local authority take any further steps if a home educated child's education was found to be unsuitable or not full time?

Yes


No


Don't know

Q48 Please use this space to add further detail to the answer you have just given

More frequent monitoring visits are completed, followed up with recommendations for improvement.

If no progress is made at all then the family is referred to the LAs School Attendance Improvement Service, who will then begin the process of serving the family with a School Attendance Order.

Q49 Does the local authority face any challenges in assessing whether home educated children receive a suitable education?

Yes


No


Don't know

Q50 If you answered yes to Q49, please describe the challenges and what you think could be done to overcome these

Q51 Thinking about your local area, in the last five years, how many cases have you come across that use the premise of home education as a 'cover' for child abuse, forced marriage or other aspects of child neglect?

none

Q52 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given. Please include the number of Serious Case Reviews you know about that have a home education element.

Since starting this role 2 years ago I have not known of any relevant cases of home education being used to cover anything, but it certainly could be abused in this way very easily. I am concerned that parents of children who are on the Child Protection Register are still able to elect to home educate. Surely children who have been assessed as at risk are safer placed in school where they can be monitored on a daily basis.

Q53 Do you think the current system for safeguarding children who are educated at home is adequate?

Yes


No


Don't know

Q54 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given

There are no powers for the LA to demand to see the child to discuss their feelings about EHE, only if there is already cause for concern.

It is difficult to gather grounds for concern, when there is no access to the family or child.

Q55 Do you think that home educated children in your local authority are able to achieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes? Please say why you think that for each of the five outcomes.

This will vary on the expectations, abilities and previous experiences of the EHE parents. It is also difficult to judge when access to the family and home is restricted or delayed and visits are not required on a regular basis.

All these outcomes are dependent on parents creating opportunities for EHE children to be able to achieve each outcome, and these will vary greatly from family to family.

Be Healthy - whilst some parents encourage and help children to adopt healthy lifestyles, others need more support and encouragement as to how this can be achieved. This advice is not always acted upon and for some children, access to socializing with other young people is a concern.

Be Safe - In some cases we are unable to assess whether this is possible, when access to the child and home is denied. In the case of children who are EHE and on the Child Protection Register it is questionable whether this is realistically achievable.

Enjoy and Achieve -This can be dependent on the breadth of provision and the direction the parents want to take. Some are extremely varied, stimulating and challenging, whilst others are narrow and need support and advice.

Positive Contribution & Economic Well-being - Very dependent on parents previous experiences and can be quite varied.

Q56 Do you think there should be any changes made to the current system for supporting home educating families?

Yes


No


Don't know

Q57 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given

Whilst home educating families have opted out of mainstream education, there is a lack of awareness and understanding of EHE and this can prevent these families locating and using resources they have planned in their provision. These include

Q58 Do you think there should be any changes made to the current system for monitoring home educating families and ensuring that home educated children are able to achieve the five outcomes?

Yes


No


Don't know

Q59 Please use this space to add detail to the answer you have just given

Declaration

Q60 Has the Director of Children's Services and the Lead Member for Children and Young People seen and agreed with the answers you have given above?

DCS


Lead member

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