Under UK law all child education is the sole responsibility of the legal parent or guardian. This means that no matter how the child is educated, it is the parents job under UK law to make sure the child's learning is suitable and age appropriate. This is why no parent can sue schools for failing to provide a suitable education for their child, as education is not the schools responsibility but the parents.
Regional Differences in Home Education Legalities
Your Local Authority (LA) might have information on their websites, although is not always 100% accurate. Home education is a devolved power and therefore the rules are different around the country. The best places to find correct and most upto date information is:
It is standard practice in the UK system to provide the local authority with a personal education philosophy and a report for reference and mutual understanding. These could be provided instead of any written questionaires sent by local authority, otherwise you may provide this without prompting, if one so wishes.
However if the below philosophy & report is used, you must adhear to all Merit Home Ed ideas and thoughts, otherwise you must create your own. If you would like to create your own philosophy, information and guidence can be found on the following websites:
School Life (Not on topic, but useful as a guide when writing your own)
Merit Home Ed Philosophy
Introduction or Covering Paragraph - (please adapt to fit your family)
Dear X
Please see below for our educational philosophy in regard to my children x, y & z. Although providing a philosophy is not a prerequisite or necessary requirement, we hope this will allow open communication between ourselves. This philosophy is constantly being upgraded, and we reserve the right to change it at anytime. Currently have no need for any current services which you provide, however if at any point this changes we will be proactive in contacting yourselves for support and advice in the required area. We however do ask that all communication is provided only in writing, to allow us to keep accurate records of contact received and sent.
Main Body of the Philosophy
We will fulfill our responsibility and legal duties towards our children in relation to the Education Act 1996, section 7, which requires we ensure each child receives an education that is efficient, full-time and suitable to their age, ability and aptitude, and to suit any special educational needs which they may have. In law, it is the sole responsibility of parents to ensure the suitable education of their own children, and we have freely chosen, with support, to educate our children out of the traditional school environment and to educate "otherwise". The decision to educate in this manner has been taken after exhaustive research over a long period of time and study of available scientific data. We therefore feel it would be in the best interests and well-being of our children to be educated "otherwise".
It is our belief that educating our children "otherwise" will help them in achieving their personal & educational potential & goals, in a more efficient & suitable manner. This method of teaching will more closely follow their ability & aptitude when compared to traditional school. This choice also allows for further individualisation and one to one teaching, in-order to progress at a suitable pace for each child while maintaining fully sustained engagement, far beyond what a traditional schooling environment is able to provide. We feel it is our duty to help, guide and facilitate our children to develop their mental, emotional, physical and educational abilities to their fullest capacity in their own time.
We have decided to follow Merit Home Ed. information on which is laid out on their website, as this most closely aligns to our own ideas on education and provision. Merit Home Ed timetables allow us to spend the most time & provide the most important and relevant subjects which will advantageously help each child in adult life. Secondly it allows child lead study to increase their awareness of subjects in which they hold special interest. The aim is to provide an abundance of opportunities to develop understanding, skills, knowledge & experiences which will be useful and required in our child's future endeavors in society. Therefore each child has the increased opportunity to achieve their full potential, with dedicated time to achieve their desired goals & to be as fully prepared for adult life, with the maximum number of skills to draw upon.
Merit Home Ed aims through daily structured and autonomous learning opportunities, to allow each child to be more intrinsically stress free, while being consistently mentally challenged, allowing for organic growth in academia, social skills and problem solving to become a well rounded human-being. This mixture allows for their natural drive to learn to take over and instill the desire to work diligently, overcome problems and to think independently, while harnessing determination and consistency. The ability to collaborate and work as part of a team will also be actively encouraged across all age ranges, using a number of different local and worldwide opportunities.
Using established curriculums and resources, each child will progress at their own pace, with no reference to, or blatant comparison with peers, until deemed at a suitable stage where this knowledge will not harm the child's confidence; sense of self or change their perception of past achievements. It is an aim for each child to gain qualifications but the type and level will be dependent on the individual child at that time and local provision available. As the central protagonists of their own learning, it is the desires and actions of the child that dictate the direction of their future and therefore Merit Home Ed have reflected this in some of their education philosophy, within reason and within the timetabled structure.
It is paramount to our children's ability to coexist within society that they are able to effectively communicate with any audience no matter their age or background; they should have the skills to make lasting friendships and an awareness of appropriate behavior and societal expectations. We have and will continue to utilize local provisions for example sports clubs, performing arts groups, home education collectives and ample experiences within the community to provide opportunities to learn these appropriate skills. We want our children to be integrated within society; to have respect for its values and to encourage a responsible attitude towards the planet and others with no bias towards any group or section of society.
The majority of Merit Home Ed curriculum resources are extensively pre planned and are automatically marked, either through computers, parents or qualified teachers. Our home school will be equipped with all the necessary learning tools needed to effectively educate our child to a high standard. This includes visits and trips to places where specialist equipment and learning facilities can be effectively utilized. Timetables, curriculums and resources which we will be the basis of our home education can be found on the Merit Home Ed website: www.merit-home-ed.weebly.com
Please find attached our Merit Home Ed report for this academic year. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us in writing at this address: xxx
Yours faithfully x
Merit Home Ed Report
Report Date: Name of Child: Age of Child:
Merit Timetable which has been followed this year: Ie: Primary School Home Education Timetable 2
Summary: Ie: Sally has had a great year, as you can see from the grades below is performing above average for her age. Notably in Music and Maths. She has shown a huge interest in vehicles which can been seen in the two different car themed projects which have been undertaken. We would like to see improvements in handwriting legibility and spelling ability over the next academic year. We have no concerns at this point regarding education, health or social matters.
Subjects:
Language Arts Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
Mathematics Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
Science Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
ICT: Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
Art: Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
Foreign Language: Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
Critical Thinking: Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
Music Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
History Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
Geography: Main curriculum used : PRogress / Grade:
RE: Main curriculum used : Progress/ Grade:
Business Studies: Main curriculum used : Progress / Grade:
This past year we have also done the following project titles: Ie Go karts, hedgehogs, Formula 1 & muppets
The child in question has participated in the following activities / clubs in the past year: Ie Gymnastics, scouts, drama club & swimming lessons
The child in question has also visited in the last year: Ie Library, parks, museums, social cubs, farms etc
The child has also had access to these notable resources among others: Ie other websites, books, music, workshops
De-Registering Letter for Schools in England
Date: Dear (Headteacher)
After careful consideration I have decided to deregister my child/ren, (full name/s), from (name of school) in order to home educate. Please remove my child/ren from school register effective as of (immediately or date), under Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 section 8(1)(d).
This letter is a legal document, and fulfils my legal obligation under 2007 Elective Home Education Guidelines of my obligations to inform you of the decision to home educate.
I would like to take this moment to thank you for everything that you and the school has done for my child/ren, even though we have decided home education would be best going forward. We ask that you are supportive in our decision as the education of my child/ren has always been and will be the parents legal responsibility.
Please also understand that, although removing a child from the school roll might not be common occurrence, it is our right to educate in the best manner which we deem available to us, without judgement, persuasion or scrutinisation from the school. The Statutory Guidance of School Attendance, page 8 states "schools and local authorities should not seek to prevent parents from educating their children outside the school system. There is is no requirement for parents to obtain the school or the local authority's agreement to educate their child at home."
In compliance with data protection legislation we ask that our contact details and any information regarding any family member is deleted immediately once removal from school roll has been completed. We however do request, that our child/rens work completed in school is returned to us, to help with our evaluation of current educational needs.
Once again we would like to thank you for the schools hard work, we look forward to receiving a reply and confirmation that the removal of (child/rens name) name from the school roll has been completed and that official deregistration has taken place.
Regards
(Names & signatures of parent/s - these should be all parent/s named on birth certificate or legal guardian/s)