Elective Home Education team and numbers of children known and deregistered

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Dear Dorset County Council,

I am submitting this freedom of information request to find out the following information regarding elective home education. When I refer to 'children', I mean they are either de-registered from a school or have never been registered with a school. Please provide copies of all available documents, research and paperwork.

A) I would like to know which department within Dorset County Council local authority deals with elective home education?
1) I would like to know who is currently employed in this team, and who the team leader is.
2) I would like to know who they report to.
3) What form of contact they use with families the first time they contact them.
i) Please supply copies of policies and procedures used for elective home education, for staff use or supplied to Home educators.

B) Has the LA made the team dealing with elective home education aware that there is no requirement to investigate a case or for the LA to seek to satisfy itself that a suitable education is being provided when they know the reason why a child has ceased to attend school? The specified reason being, parents have given legal notification to a school that they are educating otherwise than at school.

C) I would like to know how many children are currently known as being electively home educated in the local authority.

D) How many pupils have been de-registered from school to be electively home educated?
Please provide numbers for: July 2015, July 2016 and July 2017. Please categorise these into:
- Children with no known SEN
- Children with SEN
- Children de-registered from special schools
- Children with care plans
- Children under services such as; CAHMS

Yours faithfully,

Katherine Norman

Freedom of Information, Dorset County Council

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Dear Ms Norman,

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. Apologies for the delay
in responding. Our answers to your questions are as follows:

 

A) I would like to know which department within Dorset County Council
local authority deals with elective home education?

Elective Home Education (EHE) comes under the Schools & Learning Service
which is part of Prevention & Partnerships within Children's Services.

 

1) I would like to know who is currently employed in this team, and who
the team leader is.

There isn't a specific Elective Home Education team. It is dealt with as a
part of a wider team who also deal with Alternative Provision, Exclusions
and School Attendance. There is a full time Adviser within the team who
has strategic responsibility for EHE as part of their role, plus a full
time Administrative Officer and a part time Administrative Assistant who
deal with the day-to-day EHE enquiries/admin as part of their roles. There
are also four Elective Home Education Visiting Officers who visit the
families who have opted to have a visit. They are employed on a freelance
basis and do not work set hours.

 

2) I would like to know who they report to.

The Adviser reports to the Senior Adviser for Alternative Provision, EHE,
Exclusions and School Attendance. The Administrative Officer reports to
the Business Support Manager, Schools & Learning Service. The
Administrative Assistant reports to the Administrative Officer. The EHE
Visiting Officers report to the Adviser.

 

3) What form of contact they use with families the first time they contact
them.

Generally by letter or email but sometimes by phone.

 

i) Please supply copies of policies and procedures used for elective home
education, for staff use or supplied to Home educators.

These have been attached (four documents). Please note the EHE Policy is
currently being reviewed.

 

B) Has the LA made the team dealing with elective home education aware
that there is no requirement to investigate a case or for the LA to seek
to satisfy itself that a suitable education is being provided when they
know the reason why a child has ceased to attend school? The specified
reason being, parents have given legal notification to a school that they
are educating otherwise than at school.

Yes; the team dealing with EHE are fully aware of their responsibilities
and what they can and can't do.

 

C) I would like to know how many children are currently known as being
electively home educated in the local authority.

399

 

D) How many pupils have been de-registered from school to be electively
home educated?

Please provide numbers for: July 2015, July 2016 and July 2017. Please
categorise these into:

- Children with no known SEN – On the attached spreadsheet

- Children with SEN – On the attached spreadsheet

- Children de-registered from special schools – There have been no
children deregistered from a special school during those academic years

- Children with care plans – This information is not recorded

- Children under services such as; CAHMS – This information is not
recorded

 

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again stating that you wish to submit an Internal Review (the first step
of the FOI appeals process). This will be dealt with by our Manager, who
does not get involved with the processing of FOI requests in order to
remain neutral. If your appeal is not resolved to your satisfaction, you
have the right to apply to the [1]Information Commissioner for a decision.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information Team

Dorset County Council

 

Legal & Democratic   Freedom of Information Team
Services
Records Management Unit
              County
Hall County Hall

Colliton Park * [2][Dorset County Council request email]

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Dorset [3]Description:
cid:image001.jpg@01D15DA7.3D9E6F50
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