Elective Home Education team and numbers of children known and deregistered

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Walsall Metropolitan Borough 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 the 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 (with and without EHCPs).
- Children de-registered from special schools
- Children with care plans (break down into CIN, CPP and EHCP).
- Children under services such as; CAHMS

Yours faithfully,

Katherine Norman

InformationRights, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Ms Norman,

 

 

Thank you for your request for information about Elective Home Education,
which was received on 22 February 2018.

 

In accordance with provisions within Freedom of Information Act 2000, the
council will respond to your request within 20 working days, saying
whether we have the information that you want, and if there will be any
charges. 

 

If, for any reason, we cannot provide you with the information, we will
tell you why. If we need to clarify your request, we will contact you
again.

 

In the meantime, if you need to contact me about your request, please do
so quoting the above reference number.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Fakhara Qanwal

 

Rhonda Gough, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Ms. Norman,

 

Freedom of Information Request RFI0273/18

 

Further to your request for information about Elective Home Education, I
can tell  you the following:

 

 

 A. I would like to know which department within the 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.

 

Zelpher Ferguson, Manni Uppal

 

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

 

Caroline Guest

 

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.

 

(EHE Policy, Information Booklet)

 

 

 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? Yes

 

The specified reason being, parents have given legal notification to a
school that they are educating otherwise than at school. This is not
always the reason.

 

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

 

255 as at 1^st March 2018

 

 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 (with and without EHCPs).

·         Children de-registered from special schools

·         Children with care plans (break down into CIN, CPP and EHCP).

·         Children under services such as; CAHMS

 

New New New
Cases Cases Cases
to to to
EHE EHE EHE
2015 2016 2017
No SEN 43 57 63
SEN Support 13 23 15
Less Less
EHCP than 0 than
5 5
Deregistered Less
from a than 0 0
Special 5
School
Children
with Care 0 0 10
Plan - CIN
Children Less Less
with Care 0 than than
Plan - CP 10 5
Children 0 0 0
under CAMHS

 

 

 

 

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004
requests will be subject to copyright protection.  In most cases the
copyright will be owned by Walsall Council. The copyright in respect of
other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as
indicated.

You are free to use any information supplied to you in response to this
request for your own non-commercial research or private study purposes.
 The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed by a
limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting.
 However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing the
information in analogue or digital form, including on the

I hope that the information provided is useful to you. However, if you are
dissatisfied, you should set out in writing your grounds for complaint and
send to: Information Risk & Governance Manager, Business Change, Civic
Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall  WS1 1TP.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision.
Please remember that, generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you
have first exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

 

Rhonda Gough,

Business Support Co-ordinator,

Children's Services,

Education Development Centre,

Pelsall Lane,

Rushall,

Walsall,

WS4 1NG.

 

 

Email:      [1][email address]

Tel:          01922 658351

Mobile:     07940474735

Website:  [2]www.walsall.gov.uk

 

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References

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Dear Rhonda Gough,

Freedom of Information Request RFI0273/18

Could you please clarify some of the answers.

A. Doesn't include the department ? And could you include job titles/positions please so that the role can be clearly placed within the LA structure.

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

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

There is no attachment for the the EHE Policy, Information Booklet indicated in the answer.

D. Data has cone through as plain text so it is difficult to see see what fields the data given applies to. Could this please be recent as an attachment.

Yours sincerely,

KNorman

Rhonda Gough, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

I am now on annual leave returning to the office on Monday, 19th March
2018.  For anything urgent please phone 01922 652860.

 

 

 

Dear Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council,

Freedom of Information Request RFI0273/18

Could you please clarify some of the answers.

A. Doesn't include the department ? And could you include job titles/positions please so that the role can be clearly placed within the LA structure.

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

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

There is no attachment for the the EHE Policy, Information Booklet indicated in the answer.

D. Data has cone through as plain text so it is difficult to see see what fields the data given applies to. Could this please be recent as an attachment.

Yours faithfully,

KNorman