Educational Concerns
Dear Stoke on Trent City Council,
A) Can you please categorise how those known to the team dealing with elective home education became known? E.g. School, Doctor, self-referral, concerns about the educational provision reported etc.
i) Does the local authority seek to satisfy itself that the educational provision the parent(s) are providing is suitable to the child's age, aptitude, ability and any SEN as soon as they become aware that parents are electively home educating, regardless of how they become known to the local authority?
ii) How many instances have there been in the years (from January 1st to December 31st) 2015, 2016, 2017 and to the date of this FOI where the person dealing with elective home education has or has had concerns that a 'suitable' education is not 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 the particular child is not appearing to be learning 'enough'?
3) whether there are concerns because the family have not implemented a structured approach?
4) or whether the fact that the national Curriculum is not being followed is causing concern?
5) a qualified third party is not involved in the child’s education?
6) An educational report has not been provided by a third party such as; a teacher etc.
C) I would like to know of these children, how many of these concerns were proven?
i) Of the children in the above 4 categories, please indicate if further steps have or are being taken - for example, referred to CME or issued with a School Attendance Order. Please break it down into each year asked for.
ii) Please indicate how many of these went to court in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
iii) Please also indicate if any Education Supervision Orders are currently in court for this population?
Finally, please provide all recorded documentation relating to elective home education including policies, procedures (2015 - present) and recorded communications relating to elective home education (2017 - present), including any e-mail attachments. This does not include communications between the Elective Home Education team and electively home educating parents or information that falls under S40.
Yours faithfully,
J Carter
Dear J Carter
Your request for information ref. SOT66322
Thank you for your request for information about elective home education.
Your request was received by the Information Rights Team on 05 March
2018. This is being dealt with under the terms of the appropriate
Information Rights legislation.
In some circumstances we may charge for information. If there is a charge
we will let you know, as you will have to pay it before we deal with your
request.
Some information does not have to be released under this legislation. We
will check the information you have asked for and send you as much as
possible. If another person or organisation is named in the information,
we may have to ask their opinion before we decide what we can give you.
You should expect to receive a response to your request on or before 04
April 2018 in line with the legislation's 20 working day statutory
deadline.
For your information we may publish the response to your request on our
City Council's website, which can be found at the following address:
[1]www.stoke.gov.uk.
If you have any queries about this email please do not hesitate to contact
us.
Yours sincerely
Information Rights Team
Information Rights
Floor 2 Civic Centre Glebe Street
Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH
City of Stoke-on-Trent
t 01782 232853, 01782 233020, 01782 233732, 01782 235965
e [2][Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
Save time, go online; pay your council tax, manage your benefits, book a
housing repair and report a pothole at a time and place that’s convenient
for you at www.stoke.gov.uk
References
Visible links
1. http://www.stoke.gov.uk/
2. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
Dear J Carter
Your request for information ref. SOT66322 about elective home education -
the referral process and details of instances of unsuitability
Although we do hold the information that you have requested, we estimate
that the aggregated cost of complying with your request would be more than
£450. This amount is called the ‘appropriate limit’ and is specified in
regulations.
When it would cost more than £450 to locate, retrieve and extract the
information that is requested, Section 12 of the Freedom of Information
Act allows us to refuse the request.
If you make a new request for a smaller amount of information it may then
be within the appropriate limit, although we cannot guarantee that it
would be and we would have to assess your new request.
For your questions A(ii), B1-6 and C1, the information is not collated or
recorded separately. To provide an answer for these questions would
involve a physical review of each case during the years in question,
approximately 75 in total. This would engage the section 12 cost limit
exemption.
We would be able to provide information for your questions A, A(i), and
C(ii) and C(iii) within the cost limit. Please let us know if you would
like to receive this information.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to: The Information Rights Manager, Information Rights
Team, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Floor 2, Civic Centre, Glebe Street,
ST4 1HH, or email [1][Stoke on Trent City Council request email].
If, after contacting us, you are not content with the outcome, you may ask
the Information Commissioner for a decision. Before doing this, please
see the following link for guidance from the Information Commissioner
relating to how to use your information rights responsibly and
effectively, to enable you to gain the best outcome from the process -
[2]http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public.
Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you
have already used our internal review procedure. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, tel: 0303 123
1113 or you can visit their website at [3]www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx.
Yours sincerely
Information Rights Team
Information Rights
City of Stoke-on-Trent
Floor 2 Civic Centre Glebe Street Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH
T: 01782 232853, 01782 233020, 01782 233732, 01782 235965
E: [4][Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| |
|Dear Stoke on Trent City Council, |
| |
|A) Can you please categorise how those known to the team dealing with |
|elective home education became known? E.g. School, Doctor, |
|self-referral, concerns about the educational provision reported etc. |
| |
|i) Does the local authority seek to satisfy itself that the educational |
|provision the parent(s) are providing is suitable to the child's age, |
|aptitude, ability and any SEN as soon as they become aware that parents |
|are electively home educating, regardless of how they become known to |
|the local authority? |
| |
|ii) How many instances have there been in the years (from January 1st to|
|December 31st) 2015, 2016, 2017 and to the date of this FOI where the |
|person dealing with elective home education has or has had concerns that|
|a 'suitable' education is not 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 the |
|particular child is not appearing to be learning 'enough'? |
|3) whether there are concerns because the family have not implemented a |
|structured approach? |
|4) or whether the fact that the national Curriculum is not being |
|followed is causing concern? |
|5) a qualified third party is not involved in the child's education? |
|6) An educational report has not been provided by a third party such as;|
|a teacher etc. |
| |
|C) I would like to know of these children, how many of these concerns |
|were proven? |
| |
|i) Of the children in the above 4 categories, please indicate if further|
|steps have or are being taken - for example, referred to CME or issued |
|with a School Attendance Order. Please break it down into each year |
|asked for. |
| |
|ii) Please indicate how many of these went to court in 2015, 2016 and |
|2017. |
| |
|iii) Please also indicate if any Education Supervision Orders are |
|currently in court for this population? |
| |
|Finally, please provide all recorded documentation relating to elective |
|home education including policies, procedures (2015 - present) and |
|recorded communications relating to elective home education (2017 - |
|present), including any e-mail attachments. This does not include |
|communications between the Elective Home Education team and electively |
|home educating parents or information that falls under S40. |
| |
|Yours faithfully, |
| |
|J Carter |
| |
| |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Save time, go online; pay your council tax, manage your benefits, book a
housing repair and report a pothole at a time and place that’s convenient
for you at www.stoke.gov.uk
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
2. http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
4. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
Dear FOI,
Revised FOI.
A) Can you please categorise how those known to the team dealing with elective home education became known? E.g. School, Doctor, self-referral, concerns about the educational provision reported etc.
i) Does the local authority seek to satisfy itself that the educational provision the parent(s) are providing is suitable to the child's age, aptitude, ability and any SEN as soon as they become aware that parents are electively home educating, regardless of how they become known to the local authority?
ii) How many instances have there been from June 2016 to the date of this FOI where the person dealing with elective home education has or has had concerns that a 'suitable' education is not being provided?
B) I would like to know of these children, how many of these concerns were proven?
i) Of the children where there were concerns about the educational provision, please indicate if further steps have or are being taken - for example, referred to CME or issued with a School Attendance Order. Please break it down into each year asked for.
ii) Please indicate how many of these went to court in 2016 and 2017.
iii) Please also indicate if any Education Supervision Orders are currently in court for this population?
Finally, please provide all recorded documentation relating to elective home education including policies, procedures (2016 - present) and recorded communications relating to elective home education (2017 - present), including any e-mail attachments. This does not include communications between the Elective Home Education team and electively home educating parents or information that falls under S40.
Yours sincerely,
J Carter
Dear J Carter
Your request for information ref. SOT66986
Thank you for your request for information about elective home education.
Your request was received by the Information Rights Team on 28 March
2018. This is being dealt with under the terms of the appropriate
Information Rights legislation.
In some circumstances we may charge for information. If there is a charge
we will let you know, as you will have to pay it before we deal with your
request.
Some information does not have to be released under this legislation. We
will check the information you have asked for and send you as much as
possible. If another person or organisation is named in the information,
we may have to ask their opinion before we decide what we can give you.
You should expect to receive a response to your request on or before 27
April 2018 in line with the legislation's 20 working day statutory
deadline.
For your information we may publish the response to your request on our
City Council's website, which can be found at the following address:
[1]www.stoke.gov.uk.
If you have any queries about this email please do not hesitate to contact
us.
Yours sincerely
Information Rights Team
Information Rights
Floor 2 Civic Centre Glebe Street
Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH
City of Stoke-on-Trent
t 01782 232853, 01782 233020, 01782 233732, 01782 235965
e [2][Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
Save time, go online; pay your council tax, manage your benefits, book a
housing repair and report a pothole at a time and place that’s convenient
for you at www.stoke.gov.uk
References
Visible links
1. http://www.stoke.gov.uk/
2. mailto:[Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
Dear J Carter
Your request for information ref. SOT66986 about elective home education.
We have now considered your request and a copy of the information is
enclosed below.
The information supplied may be used for domestic or journalistic
purposes. Its use for commercial gain including issuing to the public,
social media or computer blogs may be subject to the issue of a licence
under the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.
A) Can you please categorise how those known to the team dealing with
elective home education became known? E.g. School, Doctor, self-referral,
concerns about the educational provision reported etc.
Response:
Education Welfare Service referrals from schools
Parents self-referring
Health professionals
Estranged parents raising concerns
Third parties raising concerns
i) Does the local authority seek to satisfy itself that the educational
provision the parent(s) are providing is suitable to the child's age,
aptitude, ability and any SEN as soon as they become aware that parents
are electively home educating, regardless of how they become known to the
local authority?
Response: No
ii) How many instances have there been from June 2016 to the date of this
FOI where the person dealing with elective home education has or has had
concerns that a 'suitable' education is not being provided?
Response: The information is not held as a data set and this would involve
going through 200+ files for each year as well as cases that were no
longer live. This would exceed the appropriate limit as defined by the
act. This is when the aggregated cost of complying with your request
would be more than £450.
When it would cost more than £450 to locate, retrieve and extract the
information that is requested, Section 12 of the Freedom of Information
Act allows us to refuse the request.
B) I would like to know of these children, how many of these concerns were
proven?
Response: There have been no court proceedings.
i) Of the children where there were concerns about the educational
provision, please indicate if further steps have or are being taken - for
example, referred to CME or issued with a School Attendance Order. Please
break it down into each year asked for.
Response: Where we have concerns we would seek to work with the parents to
reach a resolution. If circumstances arise that would suggest a child is
not receiving a suitable education the matter would be referred to the
education welfare service
ii) Please indicate how many of these went to court in 2016 and 2017.
Response: None
iii) Please also indicate if any Education Supervision Orders are
currently in court for this population?
Response: None
Finally, please provide all recorded documentation relating to elective
home education including policies, procedures (2016 - present) and
recorded communications relating to elective home education (2017 -
present), including any e-mail attachments. This does not include
communications between the Elective Home Education team and electively
home educating parents or information that falls under S40.
Response: The EHE policy has been provided. The rest of your request for
anything relating to EHE from the last 2 years to be found and collated
would involve a manual search as the information is not held centrally.
This would exceed the appropriate limit. As we do not hold this centrally
it would also be difficult trying to recall all the people/ teams that
have been involved so may not be achievable.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should write to: The Information Rights Manager, Information Rights
Team, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Floor 2, Civic Centre, Glebe Street,
ST4 1HH, or email [1][Stoke on Trent City Council request email].
If, after contacting us, you are not content with the outcome, you may ask
the Information Commissioner for a decision. Before doing this, please see
the following link for guidance from the Information Commissioner relating
to how to use your information rights responsibly and effectively, to
enable you to gain the best outcome from the process -
[2]http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public.
Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you
have already used our internal review procedure.
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF, tel: 0303 123 1113 or you can visit their website at
[3]www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx.
Yours sincerely
Information Rights Team
Information Rights
City of Stoke-on-Trent
Floor 2 Civic Centre Glebe Street Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH
T: 01782 232853, 01782 233020, 01782 233732, 01782 235965
E: [4][Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
Request
Dear FOI,
Revised FOI.
A) Can you please categorise how those known to the team dealing with
elective home education became known? E.g. School, Doctor, self-referral,
concerns about the educational provision reported etc.
i) Does the local authority seek to satisfy itself that the educational
provision the parent(s) are providing is suitable to the child's age,
aptitude, ability and any SEN as soon as they become aware that parents
are electively home educating, regardless of how they become known to the
local authority?
ii) How many instances have there been from June 2016 to the date of this
FOI where the person dealing with elective home education has or has had
concerns that a 'suitable' education is not being provided?
B) I would like to know of these children, how many of these concerns were
proven?
i) Of the children where there were concerns about the educational
provision, please indicate if further steps have or are being taken - for
example, referred to CME or issued with a School Attendance Order. Please
break it down into each year asked for.
ii) Please indicate how many of these went to court in 2016 and 2017.
iii) Please also indicate if any Education Supervision Orders are
currently in court for this population?
Finally, please provide all recorded documentation relating to elective
home education including policies, procedures (2016 - present) and
recorded communications relating to elective home education (2017 -
present), including any e-mail attachments. This does not include
communications between the Elective Home Education team and electively
home educating parents or information that falls under S40.
Yours sincerely,
J Carter
Dear FOI,
"Response: The EHE policy has been provided"
I'm afraid it isn't linked nor attached as a copy. Can you please provide either for the current EHE policy?
Yours sincerely,
J Carter
Dear J Carter
Thank you for your email and please accept our apologies for the omission. Please see EHE policy now attached.
Kind regards
Information Rights Team
City of Stoke-on-Trent
Policy and Performance Service | City Director’s Office
Civic Centre Glebe Street Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH
Phone: 01782 232853, 233020, 233732, 235965
Email: [Stoke on Trent City Council request email]
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now