Suitability of education in the EHE population

Dear Mr Stafford

Freedom of Information Reference: 08040FOI

Subject: Request for information regarding electively home educated
children

Thank you for your recent request for information received by this office
on 4th August 2009. Your request is being dealt with under the terms of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your request will be handled by the Childrens Services Directorate. We
will aim to respond to your request, notifying you whether or not the
information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council and
communicating that information to you (provided that the information is
not exempt under the terms of the Act), within 20 working days from the
day after your request was received.

We may reasonably require further information from you in order to
identify and locate the information requested. If this is the case we will
contact you in due course.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Rachel Starmer
Resources Directorate
Lincolnshire County Council

[1][Lincolnshire County Council request email]

The information we have supplied to you may contain intellectual property
rights of Lincolnshire County Council. Your use of the information must be
strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as
amended), or other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not
re-use this information for any commercial purpose.
If you would like to re-use this information for any commercial purpose
you must make a formal request to us under the Re-Use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005. Please email us at
[2][email address]

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Stafford

Thank you for your enquiry

At the end of the statutory school leaving date in June 2009 Lincolnshire
Children's Services had 451 school aged pupils registered as receiving
Education Otherwise than at School. Sections 437 to 443 of the Education
Act 1996, places a duty on Lincolnshire Children's Services, to ensure
that all children receive an education appropriate to her/his age,
aptitude and ability and to take certain actions if it appears that a
child is not receiving such an education.

Families who elect to Home educate their child or children will be offered
the opportunity to meet with the Home Education Monitoring Consultant who
will discuss with the family the arrangements they have established for
their child and provide a report to the Local Authority

FOI Question A)

During the 2008/2009 school year 124 appointments were held with home
educating families providing for 168 individual students. From these
meetings 95.2% of the families were providing education which was suitable
for the age ability and aptitude of their children. The EHE consultant
considered 6 families (4.8 % of the students) were making unsatisfactory
arrangements for their children

FOI Question B)

I am unable to break down the numbers in to the categories you specify as
the assessment measures to which you refer are not applicable. Parents who
elect to Home Educate their children have a considerable degree of
flexibility around what they teach and how they choose to provide for
their child's education, they do not have to follow the national
curriculum, a fixed timetable or sit for national tests and exams.
Families may choose to educate their children in line with their own
personal philosophy and values. However Section 7 of the Education Act
1996 states that:

"The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to
receive efficient full-time education suitable

a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and

b) to any special education needs he may have

either by regular attendance at school or otherwise".

A "suitable education" has been defined in law as one which:

a) prepares the children for life in a modern civilised society, and

b) enables them to achieve their full potential.

It is on these principals that the Elective Home Education Consultant
considers the education provision a Home Educating parent makes for their
child and which forms the basis of their report.

FOI Question C)

When the EHE consultant considers the provision in place does not provide
an education suitable to the student's age ability and aptitude they
report the provision as unsatisfactory. The report is shared with the
parent and will include recommendations for areas of further development.
Families with arrangements which are considered unsatisfactory are
routinely offered a further appointment,

During 2008/9 follow up visits were carried out to 4 of the 6 families who
received a unsatisfactory report; Two families are currently awaiting
follow up visits and one family has been requested to consider enrolling
their children into a local school

FOI Question D)

There were no education supervision orders issued during 2008/9 for
Electively Home Educated Families.

FOI Question E)

The Local Authorities Policy and Procedure - Safeguarding and Promoting
the Welfare of Children who are Electively Home Educated states that "If
provision is deemed unsuitable after the second visit in some cases it may
be appropriate to refer the pupil for Local Authority provision if parents
agree. This will be judged on an individual basis and only when the
provision has been deemed unsatisfactory twice. In those cases where
parents do not agree to LA provision or a suitable placement is not
identified a referral will be made to Social Care through the customer
Service Centre who will undertake an initial assessment. Following the
initial assessment a meeting will be arrange to agree a plan of action."

This Policy and Procedure was ratified by the Lincolnshire Safeguarding
Children's Board in March 2009 and there have been no cases since then to
date which have been referred to Social Care resulting from provision
being deemed unsatisfactory.

FOI Question F

Whenever the Local Authority is made aware of a parents intention to
educate their child or children Otherwise than at School the agreed
procedure is followed which states that "The Education Out of School Team
shall undertake a number of checks to ensure that there are no
safeguarding concerns and that the child's welfare will be promoted
through home education. The Education Out of School team will contact
Social Care (via the Customer Services Centre by telephone initially.)
Where information is highlighted through the check of Social Care's IT
system, further information will be sought via the named worker if an open
case, or via the Team Manager in CSC if a closed case) and ask for the
following information:

a) Whether the child or any child living in the household has
previously been subject to a protection plan

b) Whether the child or any child living in the household is an open
active case

c) Whether the child and any child living in the household has been
open to social care for specialist services in the past 5 years.

Social Care will provide details and will offer a view as to whether they
consider there are any safeguarding concerns if the child is home
educated.

These procedures have been established to promote the welfare of the
students and to minimise the potential for professionals being unaware of
other colleagues and agencies involvement with a Home Educating Family.

We believe that this answers your request in full, if however you believe
that we have not fully answered or addressed all the questions you have
asked please re-contact us at the address above.

Once again thank-you for your request.

Yours Sincerely

Lincolnshire County Council
Children's Services

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

This e-mail may include legally privileged information and contains
confidential material intended only for the use of the addressee. If the
reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby
notified that any dissemination of information contained herein, together
with distribution or copying of this e-mail, is strictly prohibited.

If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by
return e-mail.

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Stafford

Thank you for your enquiry

At the end of the statutory school leaving date in June 2009 Lincolnshire
Children's Services had 451 school aged pupils registered as receiving
Education Otherwise than at School. Sections 437 to 443 of the Education
Act 1996, places a duty on Lincolnshire Children's Services, to ensure
that all children receive an education appropriate to her/his age,
aptitude and ability and to take certain actions if it appears that a
child is not receiving such an education.

Families who elect to Home educate their child or children will be offered
the opportunity to meet with the Home Education Monitoring Consultant who
will discuss with the family the arrangements they have established for
their child and provide a report to the Local Authority

FOI Question A)

During the 2008/2009 school year 124 appointments were held with home
educating families providing for 168 individual students. From these
meetings 95.2% of the families were providing education which was suitable
for the age ability and aptitude of their children. The EHE consultant
considered 6 families (4.8 % of the students) were making unsatisfactory
arrangements for their children

FOI Question B)

I am unable to break down the numbers in to the categories you specify as
the assessment measures to which you refer are not applicable. Parents who
elect to Home Educate their children have a considerable degree of
flexibility around what they teach and how they choose to provide for
their child's education, they do not have to follow the national
curriculum, a fixed timetable or sit for national tests and exams.
Families may choose to educate their children in line with their own
personal philosophy and values. However Section 7 of the Education Act
1996 states that:

"The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to
receive efficient full-time education suitable

a) to his age, ability and aptitude, and

b) to any special education needs he may have

either by regular attendance at school or otherwise".

A "suitable education" has been defined in law as one which:

a) prepares the children for life in a modern civilised society, and

b) enables them to achieve their full potential.

It is on these principals that the Elective Home Education Consultant
considers the education provision a Home Educating parent makes for their
child and which forms the basis of their report.

FOI Question C)

When the EHE consultant considers the provision in place does not provide
an education suitable to the student's age ability and aptitude they
report the provision as unsatisfactory. The report is shared with the
parent and will include recommendations for areas of further development.
Families with arrangements which are considered unsatisfactory are
routinely offered a further appointment,

During 2008/9 follow up visits were carried out to 4 of the 6 families who
received a unsatisfactory report; Two families are currently awaiting
follow up visits and one family has been requested to consider enrolling
their children into a local school

FOI Question D)

There were no education supervision orders issued during 2008/9 for
Electively Home Educated Families.

FOI Question E)

The Local Authorities Policy and Procedure - Safeguarding and Promoting
the Welfare of Children who are Electively Home Educated states that "If
provision is deemed unsuitable after the second visit in some cases it may
be appropriate to refer the pupil for Local Authority provision if parents
agree. This will be judged on an individual basis and only when the
provision has been deemed unsatisfactory twice. In those cases where
parents do not agree to LA provision or a suitable placement is not
identified a referral will be made to Social Care through the customer
Service Centre who will undertake an initial assessment. Following the
initial assessment a meeting will be arrange to agree a plan of action."

This Policy and Procedure was ratified by the Lincolnshire Safeguarding
Children's Board in March 2009 and there have been no cases since then to
date which have been referred to Social Care resulting from provision
being deemed unsatisfactory.

FOI Question F

Whenever the Local Authority is made aware of a parents intention to
educate their child or children Otherwise than at School the agreed
procedure is followed which states that "The Education Out of School Team
shall undertake a number of checks to ensure that there are no
safeguarding concerns and that the child's welfare will be promoted
through home education. The Education Out of School team will contact
Social Care (via the Customer Services Centre by telephone initially.)
Where information is highlighted through the check of Social Care's IT
system, further information will be sought via the named worker if an open
case, or via the Team Manager in CSC if a closed case) and ask for the
following information:

a) Whether the child or any child living in the household has
previously been subject to a protection plan

b) Whether the child or any child living in the household is an open
active case

c) Whether the child and any child living in the household has been
open to social care for specialist services in the past 5 years.

Social Care will provide details and will offer a view as to whether they
consider there are any safeguarding concerns if the child is home
educated.

These procedures have been established to promote the welfare of the
students and to minimise the potential for professionals being unaware of
other colleagues and agencies involvement with a Home Educating Family.

We believe that this answers your request in full, if however you believe
that we have not fully answered or addressed all the questions you have
asked please re-contact us at the address above.

Once again thank-you for your request.

Yours Sincerely

Lincolnshire County Council
Children's Services

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

This e-mail may include legally privileged information and contains
confidential material intended only for the use of the addressee. If the
reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby
notified that any dissemination of information contained herein, together
with distribution or copying of this e-mail, is strictly prohibited.

If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by
return e-mail.

show quoted sections

Dear Mrs Stafford

Freedom of Information Reference: 08108FOI

Subject: Request for information regarding parents who provide a
philosophy but do not allow a visit

Thank you for your recent request for information received by this office
on 30th August 2009. Your request is being dealt with under the terms of
the Freedom of formation Act 2000.

Your request will be handled by the Childrens Services Directorate. We
will aim to respond to your request, notifying you whether or not the
information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council and
communicating that information to you (provided that the information is
not exempt under the terms of the Act), within 20 working days from the
day after your request was received.

We may reasonably require further information from you in order to
identify and locate the information requested. If this is the case we will
contact you in due course.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Rachel Starmer
Resources Directorate
Lincolnshire County Council

[1][Lincolnshire County Council request email]

The information we have supplied to you may contain intellectual property
rights of Lincolnshire County Council. Your use of the information must be
strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as
amended), or other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not
re-use this information for any commercial purpose.
If you would like to re-use this information for any commercial purpose
you must make a formal request to us under the Re-Use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005. Please email us at
[2][email address]

show quoted sections

Dear Mrs Stafford

FOI 8108
Philosophy of Education

Thank you for your request for information from Lincolnshire County
Council. We are pleased to provide the following answer to your question.

Q1. Please could you let me know what you do if a parent provided a
written Philosophy of Education but does not allow a visit?

A. In the event that a parent Electively Home Educating their child or
children provides an initial proposal but refuse subsequent visits the
Local Authority agreed policy and procedure `Safeguarding and Promoting
the Welfare of Children who are Electively Home Educated' will be
implemented. Paragraph 25 and 26 of this document states that:-

25 If parents have refused all visits, from both Education Welfare
and CfBT, letter (EOOST 9a) will be sent requesting that they submit
evidence of the education they are providing. They will be given a 3 month
timescale to do this. If they provide satisfactory information, letter
EOOST 9b will then be sent every 2 years, requesting details of progress
and inviting parents to contact the LA if they have any queries.

26 If parents refuse an initial visit from EWS and refuse a
visit from CfBT and do not provide any written evidence at all of the
education provided then this is viewed as a safeguarding concern and a
referral will be made to Social Care through the Customer Services Centre.
(See point 24 regarding who should be invited to a strategy meeting
following outcome of initial assessment.)

The policy also notes that `The Children Act requires parents to act
reasonably and lack of co-operation in enabling the authority to fulfil
its duties is of concern. At this stage of the process the Education Out
of School Team will consider all available information and make a decision
as to whether there are concerns about the parents ability to safeguard
and promote the child's welfare. If concerns exist a referral will be made
to Social Care through the Customer Services Centre.'

We believe that this answers your request in full. If however, you
believe that we have not fully answered or addressed all the questions you
have asked, please re-contact us.

Once again thank you for your request.

Lincolnshire County Council

Children's Services

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

This e-mail may include legally privileged information and contains
confidential material intended only for the use of the addressee. If the
reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby
notified that any dissemination of information contained herein, together
with distribution or copying of this e-mail, is strictly prohibited.

If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by
return e-mail.

show quoted sections