help - I'm being prosecuted for non attendance at school

[needsomehelppls32019]

The police have just been and arrested me for not appearing in court for my child not attending school. He was being bullied and the school would not help, so I told them I was gonna home educate and apply for a different school. I did this but the council lost all his paperwork for his fair access panel meeting and he didn't get a place, and still doesn't.

I moved house in April (I'm in the north east if that is relevant). The council knew of the new address and I have had letters from them here. However, it seems they sent a summons to magistrates court to my old address and I knew nothing of it. The police have now bailed me to appear on Wednesday. I've tried to apply for lehgal aid but been told it's unlikely I'll get it. He is 12 and has SN's, and kept threatening to kill himself if I forced him to go. He was also violent to me and his older sister.

Any advice? I feel sick with worry.

Perhaps you could ask to have this thread moved to legal matters?

I suggest getting legal advice as there are only a few statutory defences to non-attendance at school, but your situation is more complicated than is often the case. I do hope you get a positive outcome for your DC with regards to education.

Come to home education Officialdom as above and ask for admin help immediately. A lot of the admins can advise you on there and they are incredible. If you deregistered the school legally had to remove him from their register, but if there was a gap between they might be going after you for that. Very over the top to arrest but not uncommon in the HE community unfortunately. The local authority and schools often overstep the law hoping you don't know your or your children's rights.

How long between saying you were going to home educate and sending the deregistration letter?

Do you have any proof that you deregistered?
Did you get a receipt when you handed in the letter, or did the school/LA contact you in writing or by text/email at any time mentioning your deregistration?

Either would be proof that your child was EHE rather than CME (Child Missing Education)

As he has SN you could try SOSSEN they may be able to help and will be able to help you who to contact.

Might help to write down a timeline showing when you did what, when you informed whom of what, when the school or council or whatever did what.

(Might be helpful to make a second column for actions that you think the school/other bodies may have taken but you can't be sure of because you haven't received the paperwork.)

Hi, this is awful.. how heavy-handed of the school and the police. Try to keep in mind that these procedures are in place for child protection reasons - to stop children disappearing.

I'm writing this quickly, so haven't read all the responses, so apologies if I'm repeating what others have written.

When you home ed you have to de-register your child from their school - did you do this? There is a form you fill in, and send to the school. They should then send a confirmation back that your child has been removed from the register.

Then the council write to you, acknowledging that you are home-educating, and asking if you would like a visit from some council education officer.

We home education our DS2 when he started school refusing in yr6. He was v v unhappy, and we weren't sure why. Still aren't. It was one of the toughest things I've ever been through - not the home ed - but the fact that our son was so unhappy at school.

If I'm honest, the school were horrible and not supportive at all. Another child at the school, whose mum I knew well, was going through the same thing, and she was threatened with prosecution for non-attendance. The school didn't care about our sons' welfare - but were more concerned with their attendance figures. I'm sorry to say I don't think this in unusual.

I would advise a visit to the citizen's advice bureau, and getting all our paperwork together. If you have not de-registered him - do so now.. If you have - get proof of that printed off/contact the school by email and ask if he is still on their register.

And remember - you have the right, by law, not to send your child to school. My son's story has a happy ending - he is now happily settled at secondary school, with nice friends.

Good luck.

Just to say OP that I think you did absolutely the right thing. I'd walk on hot coals to protect my child from being bullied. Well done you. Stay strong and I hope you get the help and advice you deserve.

I don't blame you for doing what you did. It sounds absolutely awful.

Just to check have you actually deregistered properly? Asking them to remove him from their register as you are homeschooling now? Have they acknowledged this letter in any way? Did you have any follow up from the LA?

If you haven’t already, set up an appointment with your child’s doctor and an appointment with some kind of counselor for him, because of the stress/trauma.
Also, keep detailed records of any school-related people you speak with, in person or on the phone:
Name & title & contact information, date & time, any of their exact words in quotation marks, etc.
The school neglected your son’s health & safety.

Good God this thread is horrifying. OP

I'd like to endorse what a pp says about a GP appointment - it;s good and helpful to have a paper trail that you have sought help.

However, we sought GP help, and were added to a waiting list that was 2 yrs long.

So we paid for a recommended child psychiatrist. I felt good because we were "doing something' - but in actual fact, it wasn't that great for our son. He told me he didn't really like going, so we had a few sessions and stopped.

What really helped him was a period of TLC at home with his family.

*And then a new school! Hope this works out for you too.

need - of course all this will have an effect on your own health, it absolutely goes with the 'territory' you are now treading.

Throughout the 'journey' of many years that I negotiated ds through - close to breaking myself, I always thought of all the people that weren't 'fighters', who didn't have the flexibility to move several hundred miles, who had other committments (other children, a partner with a an inflexible job) and I always thought - if this can nearly break me - what's happening to all the other people?

It's really true - what you are describing really does happen.

Praying for your strength and success @OP
Stay strong xx

Hateisnotgood - god, that is so true. It was so hard - I have 3 dc, and my friend (going through this same thing at the time) said, "you're only ever as happy as your least happy child" and I thought that is so true.

I have a very stable family, and we are very comfortable - so we had some money throw at private psychiatrists etc - and I'm a stay at home mum, so I could be home with him. I don't know what single working mums/parents where they both work/or whatever, would do in this circumstance!

It's very difficult.

Oh OP, how scary and frightening for you.

Has he an EHCP at all? I'm assuming that he hasn't, or it would have named a school? If not, starting the application process yourself - IPSEA will help you - is always worth it. Nothing to lose, and everything to gain. If he has identified needs, so may require an EHCP, then they have to assess, and that means their own experts will conduct proper assessments for him. If you're home educating, it can be the best means of securing proper assessment, never mind provision, because it means the ed psych, SALT etc will see him. Schools tend to gatekeep (for, sadly, wholly understandable costs reasons) and many kids in dire need are just never seen by these professional services at all.

Please don't panic. I'd contact your local Home Education team - all LAs have them - and talk through what the hell is going on. It's a postcode lottery, but ours is brilliant and they really support home edders, especially if SEN is in play as they are painfully aware, from their role in schools, of the mess provision is currently in.

Look on Facebook for your town's home ed group, and then look for the county one. You'll find a wealth of expertise, including legal, from fellow home edders, and massive support. I think well over half the kids now home educated are disabled, mostly on the autistic spectrum, because schools are catastrophic for them in so many cases. You won't be alone, I promise.

You can also get help from the main home ed charity, Education Otherwise.

Finally, I would go and see your MP. It's amazing how fast Local Authorities can become efficient, when they have questions asked of them by someone more powerful. Home education is your legal right, and losing the paperwork and then having you arrested isn't a good look.

Don't be afraid. Judges don't work for the local authority, should worst come to worst, and your child is in home education after a school placement broke down, while you await a better one. That's not failing to ensure an education. You've broken no laws. You just want your son to get an education that meets his needs, which makes you a decent parent.

I just wanted to help him but whenever I asked for help I wasn't given any. He was being called the most awful names and I had to keep washing his blazer as other children had been spitting at his back. All I ever got was constant threats of prosecution.

Please make sure you tell the MP caseworker this.

Were the threats from the school, or the LA? Because my son's school made noises along those lines, but as I'd already talked a lot to the local Education Welfare Officer it was all hot air. The EWO knew the situation and was really supportive. They see schools failing disabled kids all the time, and here at least aren't impressed.

Your son was facing criminal abuse at school. No adult would be expected to tolerate it. It's horrific that the school had that attitude. I'm so very sorry. But I'm also so very, very, very glad and relieved that your boy has a mum like you in his corner. Not all do.

I have no advice just want to wish you luck OP.
You done the right thing removing your DC from the scbool environment, maybe this will open the doors for extra help as he is violent at home.
I know it is daunting I hate working and engaging with officials unfortunately I have to as DS is a concern in school with emotional attachment issues and the rest.
We have to abide by the nanny states rules, I hope it brings you help. Stay strong gather all the support necessary, the judge should understand.

Unfortunately op, this happens more than you think. It's partly one of the many reasons that the home ed community don't trust officials and the Lea. So much conveniently lost paperwork.

Write down a complete time line and get together all the paperwork you have. Talk to someone in the Lea and record the calls, there are apps for this and confirm that they have your current address and ask why paperwork has been sent to your old address. Do the same with the school concerning when you let them know to remove your son from roll.

Talk to the home ed officer. In effect document and fact check. As you have been summoned to court you will probably have to attend but you can present all your paperwork in your plea.

I'm sorry op, but this can work out well.

Similar happened to me, they put out a warrant for my arrest. I rang and emailed the headteacher, Lea and higher ups, until they rescinded the arrest warrant. They never apologised or admitted to just not accepting the deregistration from school roll letter. They also told me that I could not legally deregister my dd as she had sen.

The letter was emailed and I had proof, it was then hand delivered by my sister when they said they had not received it, twice (hand delivered) . I was lucky I had kept a paper trail as they lied to cover their own back whilst lying and misleading me. I had told them in the june that she would not be starting at the new school in the September as. I did not think it was suitable for her needs. They contacted me in the September and that when my sister took along the letters, a week apart. The second one as they said they had not received the first one. Then in the October a policeman came to my door but I was out. They had been sent by the Lea to arrest me. I had a year old baby. It was ridiculous.

It worked out okay for me and others but this is not rare, unfortunately.
Try the Facebook groups mentioned and there is lots of information online. Good luck.

If you have the school written notice that you were taking him out to home educate then they had a set time frame, by law, to remove him from the roll. If they didn't do this, they are at fault, not you. Your only legal obligation was to notify the school he was attending, in writing, that he would be homeschooled from that date onwards.
Go to the Education Otherwise website, and ask for advice on their forum. They will give you chapter and verse of the law, and help you with what you need to do for the court.
I had problems with an LEA in the north east when I withdrew my son from school, and EO were invaluable.

This is horrifying!
There’s travelers beside me who have never sent their children for a days schooling and they’ve never had so much as a tap on the wrist

Really sorry for all the stress :(

I gave a letter to the school reception saying I felt I had no choice but to home educate due to being prosecuted otherwise. I asked if they could send work home but they refused. But they are saying he was not taken off roll.

That sounds like their cock-up then: they should have taken him off-roll when you told them you were home ed, but they didn't. And you have proof that the summons went to the wrong address.

If you explain that to the magistrate, I think you'll stand a good chance.

Well, if I was that magistrate, I'd let you off.

You also need to take him to a doctor if he's threatening suicide. He might need some additional support or medication etc