Do I tell the LA I am HE'ing or not??

[TOMOLBEN]

As some may remember from previous threads I will begin HE'ing DS2 in January. I have managed to find a group locally and have read and read and read Internet pieces about HE and also forums like MN.
As I am a newbie ( or will be in January!) all advise is warmly welcomed. So to the point of this thread!! I seem to get the impression it is best not to contact the LA and wait and see if they find you. Is this the best approach or am I getting the wrong idea and is it better for me to contact them and tell them I will be HE'ing?
I have not read anybodys personal experience with the LA just they are beat to be avoided, would anyone be able to fill me in?
DS is coming out of an independent school. I very much doubt they will notify the LA. Also I have not actually told them he will be educated at home. I have just handed in a terms notice with no explanation and as I am leaving Dd1 and DS 1 there they haven't even asked Tbf.
My concern is the LA will find out as the DC often pantomimes and performances which require licences that are obtained through the LEA and you have to put school details in along with other details. So am I better contacting them 1st and being up front or does it make no difference?
Sorry if this is a bit garbled I am very confused lol and just trying to start out on the right foot!!
Thank you in advance x

I wouldn't be telling them at all. You have no obligation to do so.

Can't imagine it would make any difference.
10 years of home educating and I can't imagine one single solitary thing that the LA could give me that I couldn't get quicker/better/bigger from the home ed community!

Join your local HE group in real life and the HE community online via FB (in some cases) and yahoo email support lists, and you'll find everything you need somewhere out there.

and when you need the performing licence will be soon enough to tell them.......enjoy the hassle free home ed till then.

From what I hear, some families enjoy having the LA staff visit and a few get some practical benefit. Some families have awful experiences. The majority seem to regard contact with the LA as a bit of a hassle, which they would rather not have to bother with, but which is no big deal.

We fall into the last group. My older dd is known to the LA. I am not telling them about my younger dd. Chances are that it would only take a few hours per year to correspond with them about her, but I have better ways to use my time than engaging in pointless bureaucratic exercises. I consider it highly unlikely that I will get any practical help from them.

To me the most important point is that once you are known to the LA then unless you move house, you cannot change your mind and become unknown. For that reason, if I were you I would keep quiet for the time being. Maybe ask round in your area to find out whether anyone is getting any sort of help from the LA which might tempt you to risk the small possibility of having a bad experience or the (IMO) fairly high probability of having a bit of your time wasted on an annual basis.

I'd tell them. whats the secret?

To answer your question: "I have not read anybodys personal experience with the LA just they are beat to be avoided, would anyone be able to fill me in?"

Some LAs would like to see as many children in school as possible and this is reflected in their interactions with all home educating families. Some LAs think home education is acceptable for families who meet a certain profile but not for other families. This means that you may hear from other parents that your LA is fine and supportive and all, but you may find you are a target for them because (for example) you allow your children to learn through play, or you are a lone parent, or you have too many or too few children, or you have a history of depression, or they think your child's special needs require an expertise which they believe you don't have. If you are singled out as a result of this, you may feel undermined and your children may feel under pressure to perform for a self-styled "inspector".

It can be hard to predict what your own experience with the LA will be like. In my area, it seems that families who have really bad experiences are a small minority, but that is little consolation to them. I wouldn't take the risk.

tentative123: "I'd tell them. whats the secret?"

Even if you aren't worried about being targeted and undermined by the prejudices of the LA, there is still the question of why anyone would want to volunteer to participate in a bureaucratic exercise which they don't find useful.

I am pretty sure my LA could not succeed in targeting our family: I'm well supported and would like to think I know how to respond to any attempts to do so. But as I say, I have better ways to spend my time than filling in forms, having visits, or writing up documents justifying how I educate my children. Why would I want to jump through these hoops if I don't have to?

Thank you for you replies. I shall just start in January and wait and see what happens. I guess as soon as I put the words ' home educated' on his next performing licence they will be in touch!!
X

Hiya! If you want to know about the LA I can put you on to the people with experience, if you're not already chatting with them :)

No, I am not chatting with anyone. I would be very interested in hearing different people's experiences.
I will just plod on and see what happens if they contact me. X

Why do you feel you want to tell them? Do you think you'll get more help from them than from other local HEors?

Our LA is fab wrt HEors, really fab, and they know about us, but they didn't for years. The only reason they did is because we thought one of our girls wanted to be flexi-schooled for a bit so we wanted the LA's advice wrt which schools would be open to it.

I can't remember how long ago that was n ow, but I haven't heard from them for ages and ages, and I wouldn't have got in touch at all if it hadn't been for the flexi-schooling thing.