I apologise for not reading the full thread before posting.
I have two children one home educated (always has been) and one in school (was home educated until yr 6 - he chose to go for the social side - now yr 7). Neither option is perfect. Socially school works well for DS1 (he loves group sports and being with others which while you can replicate home ed wise, I found hard as I am not particularly social), academically it is not good (not challenging him at all and he is in a ' good' school). Younger one is much less keen on other people, I struggle to get him to Cubs sometimes, he gets frustrated at 'naughty' children and school would be a disaster for him and his happiness.
One of my prime motivations for home educating is that I spent some time training as a primary school teacher and was shocked at the constraints placed on teachers by the National Curriculum (which in my perspective is one of the most appalling ideas of our time). The majority of teachers could do an excellent job if the government were to trust them and leave them to it. The NC is so influenced by government whims it has no place near our children.
I believe that the NC has too high expectations of children too young in terms of academia, ignoring the majority of research on early reading and writing (mine were reading fluently and independently at 4 and 6 but they did it when they were ready - many aren't ready until much later). Yet after the age of 8, I believe the standards of the NC don't challenge the most able enough. I think geography and history are appallingly taught. I am a Guide guider and the girls shock me with their ignorance.
I am not necessarily opposed to monitoring of home education (we have never had contact with the LEA) but I would not want the education I provide to be judged against the standards I oppose. And I think judging welfare is impossible in odd meetings with strangers, particularly when children have been withdrawn from school and are frightened of those in authority. We live in a society, I'd like to think that if anyone had genuine concerns about the welfare of my children they would report them.
How we have chosen educate each child is about the happiness and confidence of each child. DS1 is happier and more confident in school, he likes being around people, he will not do as well academically as I'd hoped but provided we can help him avoid slipping into laziness and complacency he'll do okay and we do take an active interest and involvement still. DS2 would find school overwhelming, he has a good group of friends who he doesn't see every day but sees roughly 3/4 times a week, we do group classes so he experiences that cooperation/group work, plus cubs and other friends. He likes seeing other people but he needs time alone, we have a balance that suits him. He is not as academic as DS1 but is very bright and questioning and while I do shape his education (there are things I think he needs to know) we also spend a lot of time following paths that his questions lead us down.