Elective Home Education- suitable education

Tania Berlow made this Freedom of Information request to Plymouth City Council

The request was successful.

From: Tania Berlow

3 August 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

I read that you currently have 112 children registered as
Electively Home Educated.
Therefore for the purposes of this FOI request , these children are
either de-registered from a school or have never been registered
with a school.

A) I would like to know of these children how many are there where
the visiting person has concerns that a 'suitable' education is
being provided?

B) I would also appreciate it if this information could be broken
down into categories:
1)whether they feel that no education is taking place?
2)whether they feel that the philosophy of education is inadequate
-for example in the case of autonomous or child led learning , that
particular child is not appearing to be learning 'enough'?
3)whether there are concerns because the family have not
implemented a structured approached?
4)or whether the fact that the national Curriculum is not being
followed is causing concern?

C)If there are children in the above 4 categories , please indicate
if further steps are being taken- for example , issuance of a
School Attendance Order?

D)Please also indicate if any any Education Supervision Orders are
currently in court for this population.?

E) Please can you confirm whether any children who fit into the
above categories of concern about 'educational provision
suitability' would also therefore be referred to Social Services?

F) Lastly is it possible in your Local Authority that Social
Services are involved with a family but that The EHE department do
not know of this involvement (This involvement would be on an
on-going basis rather than a one off referral which is found to be
of no genuine concern)

Yours faithfully,

Tania Berlow

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From: FOIChildrensServices
Plymouth City Council

4 August 2009

FAO: Tania Berlow

Dear Tania
Thank you for your email requesting information with regard to home
education. The request was received on 3 August 2009 and allocated the
reference IMT0937TD.

The Council will seek to provide the information that you have requested
within the next 20 working days or let you know from where else it can
be obtained. We may not be able to provide everything if we do not hold
the information, or if an exemption to releasing the information
applies.

Information is often provided free of charge, but if there could be a
fee for processing and delivering the information to you this will be
notified to you before we progress.

We will usually provide the information in either an electronic or paper
format according to how you contacted us. If you require the information
in another specific format please contact me to discuss your needs.

Any future correspondence or questions you may have in relation to this
matter should be sent to me.

Yours sincerely

Information Management Team
Tel: 01752307425
Email: [email address]

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From: FOIChildrensServices
Plymouth City Council

10 August 2009

Dear Ms Berlow

Your application for information that was received by the Council on 3
August 2009 has now been considered and this letter is a full response to
that application. In your request you asked for information about
suitable elective home education.

A. Of the children on record as electively home educated how many are
there where the visiting person has concerns that a 'suitable' education
is being provided?.

Answer: 9

B. 1. No education taking place.

Answer: 3

B. 2. Philosophy of education is inadequate

Answer: 5

B. 3. Concerns that the family have not implemented a structured approach

Answer: 1

B. 4. The fact that the National curriculum is not being followed is a
cause for concern

Answer: 0

C. List further steps being taken (in respect of children in question B)?

Answer: Each case is different a range of steps are used, communication
with parents, specific provision panels referrals, hospital school
referrals, supervision order process, legal direction to parents.

D. Are there any Education Supervision Orders are in court for the above
population?

Answer: None

E. Please could you confirm whether any children who fit into the above
categories of concern about ' education provision suitability' would also
therefore be referred to Social Services?

Answer: Not automatically, each case is assessed on the information
available.

F. Is it possible in your local authority that social services are
involved with a family but that the EHE department do not know of this
involvement (This involvement would be on an on-going basis rather than a
one off referral which is found to be of no genuine concern)

Answer: At present the school and the Education Welfare Service would be
the agencies to pick these issues up but in the very near future a new
protocol will be introduced to address this point and a number of others.

Please note that the information supplied to you continues to be protected
by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You can use the
information supplied for your own purposes, including any non-commercial
research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other
reuse such as commercial publication would require the permission of the
Council.

If you are not satisfied with the way your request has been handled you
may ask for an internal review to take place.

I hope that we have supplied the information that you expected to
receive. If you wish to discuss this email or the information that is
supplied then please contact me through the direct line telephone number
01752 307425, but please leave a contact telephone number if I am
unavailable. I can also be contacted by email
[email address].

Yours sincerely

Rebecca Shearing
Information and Communication Support Officer
Information Management Team
Services for Children and Young People
Plymouth City Council
PL1 2AA
Tel: 01752 307425
Fax: 01752 307403
email: [email address]
[1]www.plymouth.gov.uk

IMPORTANT
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From: Tania Berlow

31 August 2009

Dear FOIChildrensServices,

in the 5 cases where the reasons given are that the philosophy of
education is inadequate can you elaborate as to whether this
includes (as mentioned in my FOI request) autonomous educators? or
if there is a different reason please explain.

Out of interest as I know this was not in my original request, how
many EHE chldren are educated autonomously in this LA? thnak you

Yours sincerely,

Tania Berlow

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From: FOIChildrensServices
Plymouth City Council

1 September 2009

Dear Ms Berlow
Thank you for your email requesting further information relating to
electively home educated pupils. The application was received on 1
September 2009 and allocated the reference IMT0947TB.

The Council will seek to provide the information that you have requested
within the next 20 working days or let you know from where else it can be
obtained. We may not be able to provide everything if we do not hold the
information, or if an exemption to releasing the information applies.

Information is often provided free of charge, but if there could be a fee
for processing and delivering the information to you this will notified to
you before we progress.

We will usually provide the information in either an electronic or paper
format according to how you contacted us. If you require the information
in another specific format please contact me to discuss your needs.

Any future correspondence or questions you may have in relation to this
matter should be sent to me.

Rebecca Shearing
Information and Communication Support Officer
Information Management Team
Services for Children and Young People
Plymouth City Council
PL1 2AA
Tel: 01752 307425
Fax: 01752 307403
email: [email address]
[1]www.plymouth.gov.uk

IMPORTANT
This email (including any attachments) should only be used if
you are the intended recipient. Email should not be used to
convey personal, sensitive or privileged information over the
public network. Errors may be present and you should carry out
your own virus check. This message may be supplied to an
applicant under UK legislation. If the message is marked
private it does not represent the views of Plymouth City
Council.

References

Visible links
1. file://www.plymouth.gov.uk

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From: Tania Berlow

1 September 2009

Dear FOIChildrensServices,

This query should not take a further 20 days to answer. I am asking
for clarification of a point made in earlier in one of your
responses.Please answer the question or i will raise it to an
internal review.
Yours sincerely,

Tania Berlow

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From: FOIChildrensServices
Plymouth City Council

7 September 2009

Dear Tania Berlow

Further to your recent Freedom of Information request, ref: IMT0947TB
asking for details on autonomously home educated children I have been
asked by our Education Welfare Team (who hold data on home educated
students) to clarify the definition you are using of 'autonomous
educators' and 'educated autonomously'. Once we have this information we
will be able to proceed further with your request.

Yours sincerely

Rebecca Shearing

Rebecca Shearing
Information and Communication Support Officer
Information Management Team
Services for Children and Young People
Plymouth City Council
PL1 2AA
Tel: 01752 307425
Fax: 01752 307403
email: [email address]
[1]www.plymouth.gov.uk

IMPORTANT
This email (including any attachments) should only be used if
you are the intended recipient. Email should not be used to
convey personal, sensitive or privileged information over the
public network. Errors may be present and you should carry out
your own virus check. This message may be supplied to an
applicant under UK legislation. If the message is marked
private it does not represent the views of Plymouth City
Council.

References

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From: Tania Berlow

7 September 2009

Dear FOIChildrensServices,

autonomous education is a philosophy of education-which given that
a large percentage of EHE parents folllow this educational route it
is very surprising to me to have to explain it!

Autonomous education is where the child follows their own interests
and the parent aids them in this so for example some AE children
may not choose to read until much later than school children or
some AE kids may only be interested in a couple of subjects for
quite a long period before moving into a different area. hence it
looks nothing like school subjects studied and there certinaly is
no curriculum. Also of note is that AE kids progress can only be
looked at in retrospect so it is not possible for definite plans-
i.e. next term we will study the history of modern China etc etc

Yours sincerely,

Tania Berlow

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From: FOIChildrensServices
Plymouth City Council

8 September 2009

Thank you for your email - I have passed it onto our Education Welfare
Team who hold the data on Home Educated children.

Yours sincerely

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Services for Children and Young People

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only be used if you are the intended recipient. Email should not be used
to convey personal, sensitive or privileged information over the public
network. Errors may be present and you should carry out your own virus
check. This message may be supplied to an applicant under UK
legislation. If the message is marked private it does not represent the
views of Plymouth City Council.

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From: Tania Berlow

15 September 2009

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Plymouth City
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Elective Home Education-
suitable education'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/el...

Yours faithfully,

Tania Berlow

Link to this

From: Information Governance
Plymouth City Council

15 September 2009

Dear Tania Berlow,
I am responding to your request for an Internal Review in respect of
this request for information.
I note that you made one request which was dated 03 August and received
a response dated 10 August 2009.
You then asked for further information about one aspect of the response
dated 31 August 2009 which was acknowledged by the Council on 01
September as a new request for information and the Council should
respond within 20 working days to this latest request for information.
Please could you clarify your dissatisfaction over your requests for
information, so that the Internal Review, which is a full reassessment
of the Council's response to your requests for information, can consider
your specific dissatisfaction.

An Internal Review will be arranged once I have received details of your
dissatisfaction. An Internal Review is treated as a Stage 2 complaint
within the Council, please see
http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/news...
tm for further details.

Yours sincerely

Richard Woodfield
Corporate Information Manager
ICT
Plymouth City Council
Civic Centre
Plymouth
PL1 2AA

Telephone: 01752 304067
[mobile number]
Fax: 01752 304997
Email: [email address]

www.plymouth.gov.uk

IMPORTANT

This email (including any attachments) should only be used if you are
the intended recipient. Email should not be used to convey personal,
sensitive or privileged information over the public network. Errors may
be present and you should carry out your own virus check. This message
may be supplied to an applicant under UK legislation. If the message is
marked personal it does not represent the views of Plymouth City
Council.

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From: Tania Berlow

15 September 2009

Dear Information Governance,
I already have clarified my reasons.
I do not think a mere clarification should be treated as a new
request thus incurrng an extra 20 working day wait.

Yours sincerely,

Tania Berlow

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From: FOIChildrensServices
Plymouth City Council

22 September 2009

Dear Ms Berlow

With regard to your recent Freedom of Information request I can report
back that of the five children noted as having concerns that a suitable
education was being provided due to the philosophy of education being
inadequate were all being autonomously home educated according to your
definition.

With regard to your second question regarding the number of children
autonomously home educated in the authority our Education Welfare Team are
still ascertaining what information they might hold and I hope to be able
to report back to you on or before 29 September 2009.

Yours sincerely

Rebecca Shearing

Rebecca Shearing
Information and Communication Support Officer
Information Management Team
Services for Children and Young People
Plymouth City Council
PL1 2AA
Tel: 01752 307425
Fax: 01752 307403
email: [email address]
[1]www.plymouth.gov.uk

IMPORTANT
This email (including any attachments) should only be used if
you are the intended recipient. Email should not be used to
convey personal, sensitive or privileged information over the
public network. Errors may be present and you should carry out
your own virus check. This message may be supplied to an
applicant under UK legislation. If the message is marked
private it does not represent the views of Plymouth City
Council.

References

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From: FOIChildrensServices
Plymouth City Council

29 September 2009

Dear Ms Berlow

With regard to the second part of your recent Freedom of Information
request asking how many who are electively home educated are autonomously
educated I have now had a response from our Education Welfare Team.

The Council does hold the information that you have requested however, the
council considers that this information is subject to an exemption and has
therefore been withheld. The exemption that has been applied is that
contained in the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Section12. The cost to
the Council of providing the requested information would exceed the
Appropriate Limit as prescribed by the Freedom of Information Act.

In order the answer your request we would have to examine the cases files
for each child, this has been estimated to take approximately half an hour
per file, with a current electively home educated population in excess of
100 children it would take in excess of 18hrs to provide this
information. If you are able to refine your request further then we will
re-examine whether we are able to provide this information within 18hrs.

If you are not satisfied with the way your request has been handled you
may ask for an internal review to take place.

If you wish to discuss this email or the information that is supplied then
please contact me through the direct line telephone number 01752 307425,
but please leave a contact telephone number if I am unavailable. I can
also be contacted by email [email address]

Yours sincerely

Rebecca Shearing

Rebecca Shearing
Information and Communication Support Officer
Information Management Team
Services for Children and Young People
Plymouth City Council
PL1 2AA
Tel: 01752 307425
Fax: 01752 307403
email: [email address]
[1]www.plymouth.gov.uk

IMPORTANT
This email (including any attachments) should only be used if
you are the intended recipient. Email should not be used to
convey personal, sensitive or privileged information over the
public network. Errors may be present and you should carry out
your own virus check. This message may be supplied to an
applicant under UK legislation. If the message is marked
private it does not represent the views of Plymouth City
Council.

References

Visible links
1. file://www.plymouth.gov.uk

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