Home Learning & Virtual Classrooms
Educating Your Child at Home
The majority of parents send their children to school to gain an education. As a parent you also have a right to educate your child at home.
Some parents feel their children simply can't cope with the rough and tumble of school life; others teach children at home because they regard orthodox schooling as a joyless, uninspiring and inefficient way of educating youngsters.
There's no official register of children educated at home, so it's impossible to say exactly how many there are in the UK. Estimates range from the Government's conservative figure of 25,000 to a staggering 150,000 - that's one per cent of the school age population. According to one BBC report, home based education is proving increasingly popular in Wales.
Now that the internet is offering a growing range of educational resources which are every bit as good as those available in schools, many more parents will be tempted to teach their children at home. Before making that decision, they'll need to think hard about, not only the obvious advantages, but also the serious disadvantages.
Source: BBC|
We will try to provide all the information you need if you are considering educating your children at home and what might be the advantages and disadvantages of this type of education.
Responsibilities
If you are a parent considering educating your children at home then there are some important responsibilities to consider. You must ensure that you child receives a full-time education from the age of five. Under UK law it is education that is compulsory, not schooling.
Recommended Guidelines
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It is for parents to decide how they deliver home education. They are not required to follow the National Curriculum nor to keep to school hours. Parents are required by law, however, to ensure their child receives an efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs the child may have.
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Although parents are not legally required to inform their local authority when they decide to educate their children at home, it is helpful if they do this. If their child is already enrolled in a school when they decide to home educate, parents must notify the school concerned in writing that they intend to educate their child at home.
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It is also advisable, but not compulsory, for parents to inform their LA of any significant changes in their circumstance relevant to the effective education of their child, such as a change of address. The LA will need to be satisfied that a child is receiving suitable education at home, and may ask to visit the family home to talk to the parent and child, and to look at examples of work. The LA will need to be satisfied that the parent is willing and able to provide a suitable education. At the initial meeting the nature and frequency of future contact should be agreed.
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LAs have no automatic right of access to parents' homes. Parents may wish to offer an alternative way of demonstrating that they are providing suitable education, for example through showing examples of work and agreeing to a meeting at another venue.
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Where it appears to an LA that a child of compulsory school age is not receiving efficient or suitable full-time education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise, the LA is obliged to serve notice on the parent requiring them to satisfy the authority that their child is receiving suitable education "otherwise than at school". If the parents' reply is unsatisfactory, or if they fail to reply, the LA may issue a school attendance order (SAO).
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There are no funds directly available from Central Government for parents who decide to home-educate their children. LAs have no legal duty to provide financial support to parents who elect to home educate their children. However, some LAs do provide guidance and other support to parents, including in some cases free National Curriculum materials, but the level and extent of such support is decided locally, based on the authority's own policies and the needs of the child.
Source: Parents Centre Website|