next door becoming a playground for non school goers

[TryingToBeMorePositive]

I know I will be told to get my nose out of other people's business and what not but thought I will ask anyway and take the abuse.
I have some neighbours who are eastern european ( I am only pointing this out as non of them speak very good English so I have struggled to talk to them already). They originally moved in as one man, two women and young teenager boy before summer. He did not attend school. Now the new term has started he is still not attending school. Now 2 or 3 women have moved in or spend a long time round at the house and there are more younger boys in the house, I have seen a total of 3 together. There could be more. Now none of these children are going to school. They do not seem to be home educated as the majority of these people spend their time outside so we can see what they are up to, 4ft fences.
I have googled and not come up with an answer on whether I can report the children for not being in education. But I am also unsure whether I should just ignore the situation as it's non of my business. Feel free to tell me and then I can reassure myself to do so. But then do we have an obligation to report this? WWYD

It was because she struggled with organising her kids to get ready and to school on time. And there were quite a few HE recommending HE and assuring her it would make her life easier and more relaxed. And anyone who objected was told they were anti HE. It is those kind of parents who when they HE will suffer.

And when you say regulatory system, what would that entail? Access to people's homes? Where does the line get drawn? If the local authority had the right to demand access into my home (for example) with no good reason other than I had chosen to home educate my child, then do they also have the right to demand access to anyone's home? For any reason?

Do I suddenly become an inept parent as soon as my child reaches 5 years old? Do I suddenly become a potential threat to my child as soon as they reach compulsory school age?

With your thinking, should all families be monitored the moment they have a child? Maybe cut out the middle man and hand all children over to the state, so they can raise them the 'right' way.

The school system is far from perfect, and getting worse what what I have read. Primary school children getting raped FFS. No wonder people are beginning to think that their child could be better off being educated at home.

Yes home visits.

LA's can already request home visits. No legal right to though. If there is thought to be a child at risk then they can get SS involved, who can legally do a home visit. Or ask police to do a welfare check. The system is already in place.

What you want is more authoritarian, and that is why people are against it. If you want the right to check on people on a whim, then that has to be throughout society, not just home ed or it is discrimination. Discrimination bourne of prejudice, assuming that people the home ed are more likely to abuse their children. There has been research in this area and it was found that people who home ed are less likely to abuse their children. Fancy that.

No ma'am MY children, their diet, their health care and their education is MY business and not everyone's. I don't know what kind of socialist/communist Manifesto that my children's education is your business is written in but that isn't true. Mind your business and go about your day.

Currently schools are inspected every three to four years, home educators are inspected every year depending on L.A resources. Some schools may have serious failings in safeguarding and education standards and these go unchecked and unreported. Abuse can happen in school not just at home.

Wasn't there something in the news recently saying that some schools hadn't been inspected for 10 years!

So many busy bodies on here, may be being neglected!!! Just because they're not at school they may be being neglected??? What a load of Tommy rot!!! Then you should report ant child who is home as they may be being neglected. How about keeping your nose out and letting people live in peace

No ma'am MY children, their diet, their health care and their education is MY business and not everyone's.

No it isn't it's everyone's business. The idea that as a parent you own your children and have the right for 100% control is wrong for good reason. Your children have a right to a minimum level of nutrition, health care and education. You as a parent don't have a right to refuse them this and we as a society have a responsibility to ensure they receive it.

I'm not at all opposed to HE in situations where parents are willing and able to provide education, and varied socialisation to their children (not just among children in similar households). However I am against people being so defensive that they refuse any kind of government checks into Home Education. In refusing this you refuse children who are being neglected the help they need.

I think it's incredibly selfish to object to people checking on children if they're concerned. You're putting your own ego above children's welfare.

Surely the point is that there are some children who aren't at school, and aren't being home educated either. If there was a register of h ed children, in the circumstances op describes, authorities could carry out a quick check to see if a child was on it. If the child wasn't on the register, and not attending school or waiting for a school place, that would be a cause for concern.

Where is the concern here though? The children were playing in the garden going by the OP. Seemingly happy and playful. It was the simple fact they were not in school that has everyone all het up about abuse. Its quite a jump don't you think? Or maybe it is because they are foreign and therefore automatically guilty of something, they just haven't been caught yet. Sarcasm, in case it wasn't obvious.

....the simple fact they were not in school...

At a time when they should have been in school.

Its quite a jump don't you think?

It's not a jump; the number of children missing from education - any form of education - who can't be traced, is a serious concern. These are children who may be trafficked, exploited, subjected to forced marriage, or simply not getting the education they're entitled to.

And how do you propose to get these people to register? If someone is so bad as to abuse their child, or hide their child, do you think they will be in a rush to get on a register? Will a register stop human trafficking? Will a register stop incest or whatever evils we are all worried about? A register achieves nothing. Children are registered at birth. Does that stop child abuse? How would it be enforced, where is the money to enforce it. Supposedly the public sector is on its knees it so short of cash. Not to mention, its authoritarian and unnecessary. The spectre of safeguarding is hung over the topic insinuating that all parents that exercise their legal right to home educate are automatically criminals and should be subject to mandatory home inspections regardless if there is any reason to believe a child is in danger. Can you not see what a dangerous road that is to go down?

Yes conservativeuterus some schools have not been inspected for over ten years.

List of failings:
schoolsweek.co.uk/8-per-cent-of-free-schools-not-inspected-on-time-and-5-other-interesting-findings-from-the-nao-report-on-ofsted/

schoolsweek.co.uk/8-per-cent-of-free-schools-not-inspected-on-time-and-5-other-interesting-findings-from-the-nao-report-on-ofsted/

A child being in school doesn't make them safe. Schools are not put under the same scrutiny as parents, even though there have been many serious failings. This is largely due to the false sense of security parents are made to feel by putting their children into school.

This is just one school but there are many others and many yet to be reported.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45127284

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213411001803

There is no law stating a child must be in school only that they must receive an education. They may be home educated. This is something I am still considering at least for one my own sons as he will then get the one to one support he needs so I have researched this option ;)

shock
horror
people who live in the house next door are at home in thier own house ..!!!!!
i expect during the times you observe them being at home you are also at home yourself
in your own home
although sadly not minding your own business

Report the situation to Social Services and, for good measure, try Childline as well. Keep at it until someone does something.

To the person who rolled their eyes at the idea of trafficked children - I have taught children rescued from that and it isn’t a snarky eye rolling matter.

For those who would be so deeply offended if they were reported for their dc being out playing every school day because they educate them at home and care for them properly - your feels are not ultimately more important than any other person’s child’s well-being. How selfish.

Lots of new arrivals to the country slip through the system for any number of reasons - we have had new students who waited for a year for their school place because they didn’t understand a letter sent for more info and no one from the LA followed it up.

Reporting someone isn’t damning them. It may flag up a mistake on the part of child or LA. It may flag up a case of neglect, abuse or even trafficking. Or it may just highlight a well-cared for, home educated child. Better it is done than risk the first groups slipping through the net.

And if you are a good home edder, what have you got to worry about? Can’t you put up with the tiny risk you may be investigated (and found to be fine if you are) so someone else’s dc who is being abused doesn’t slip through the net?

Like urban I seriously can't understand the mentality of someone who would object so much to a simple visit asking about their children's education. If they're being hon edded they can just say so show some evidence and that'll be the end of it. It's a minor inconvenience that in some cases saves children from abuse or neglect.

The poster who raised the issue of modern slavery has a really valid point. Why are the pro-home ed brigade being nasty to her?

The foreigner who said go round with a cake also has a point. Being new to this country is hard (lots of recent immigrants in my neighbourhood, some face huge practical and cultural challenges and do struggle with everyday racism).

I home educated for a year because my children had been traumatised by DV and were too anxious to go to school. I was investigated by social services when my exh accused me of being an alcoholic and isolating the children. When social services came, the house was full of other people's ("institution educated") children, home baked cake, half completed play activities and children's work all over the walls - it was a kids paradise. They stayed about 20 minutes then left with no concerns.

I didn't resent being investigated. If the concerns had been founded, then my children would have been massively at risk.

The sanctimonious and ill-informed weirdness on this thread was rife in the home education community, which is why I never got involved in it.