Home Ed short term?

[MrsJonSno]

My daughter has been badly bullied by one pupil at her High School. Threats, verbal abuse, isolating her, the works. She was then physically assaulted (punched in the face) two months ago. The school suspended the bully but has allowed her to return two months later. The bullying has started again. My happy, condfident, bright child is so unhappy and scared and sad. We’ve tried everything with school, workerd with them, escalated it to the Head Teacher, complained, spoken to the Safeguarding Lead, and begged and pleaded. Noting changes. She’s had lots of time off due to the bullying- sleeping issues, headaches and nausea due to the worry etc. She doesn’t feel safe at school and I don’t think she is either.

We’ve been offered a school place at a lovely new school but they won’t take us until September. I spoke to the Education Welfare Officer today and told her we plan to deregister her from her current school and I’d home ed her for the next couple of months until she starts her new school in Sept. She’s told us we cannot do that. We can only Home Ed if we haven’t already applied to another school. I’ve asked for her suggestions and she doesn’t really have one. She said we’d likely have the LA on our case, be fined and have Court threatened. Surely not? For two months? 😔

Any advise appreciated.

I dont know the law but I really highly doubt you would have the LEA on your case

You can so that she is wrong. I took my son out of a private school in September
as he was so unhappy he spent the summer holidays run down and prone to every virus going.
A local
school couldn’t take him until January. I home schooled
for a term no problem at all. My exh took me to court to force me to send him back to the private school but was told, no.
My son was much happier. I had informed SS who also agreed no problem.
Son returned to his usual healthy happy self and thrived at the local
school.
I bought the relevant text books etc and had a timetable all set up.
Good luck!

The EWO is entirely wrong.

Is she claiming that you do not have the legal right to home educate? Ask her to quote the bit of the law which says that. (She won't be able to do so, because it doesn't exist.) All parents in England and Wales have the right to deregister their children upon demand to home educate them, unless there is some order in place to the contrary (e.g. if your child were in care, or if there were an Education Supervision Order or a court had ordered she must attend a particular school) or if they're in a special school: LA consent must be obtained to deregister children enrolled at special school.

Or is she claiming that if you home educate, your daughter will forfeit her place at the new school? Ask her to point to the LA policy which says that the place she has been offered will be withdrawn if you take her out of her current school. If such a policy exists, it is illegal. The School Admissions Code says that if a school has a vacancy, anyone who applies can have the school place, except in some unusual situations such as a child who has been excluded from several schools already. Go over the EWO's head to someone on the LA's admissions team, so they can confirm that changing your daughter's current educational setting does not jeopardise the place she has been offered.

Saracen is entirely right.
It sounds like the right decision for her and is entirely legal.

Thanks everyone.

Saracen. The EWO said/agreed that I have the right to de register my child from her current school and to home Educate.
However, she said that HE was not an option for pupils that have already applied to another school, with an application in progress. That I had to either choose to HE or choose for my child to go to school. I would not have the support of the LA/EWO or the Elective Home Education Officer if I wanted to HE for just a couple of months. Sounds like rubbish to me.

That's okay, because you don't need the support of anyone at the LA to home educate. Most LAs can offer very little to HE families in the way of useful advice, as they tend not to have much if any training in home education. Other home ed parents are a better bet. And it is very rare for LAs to offer any tangible assistance with home education, because they aren't legally obliged to do so.

It's still unclear to me exactly what she is trying to threaten you with. She can't deny you your legal right to deregister. She can't spitefully make the new school withdraw a place already offered, or tell them not to offer a place to your daughter if one is available. She's saying you won't get any help from the LA if you HE while waiting for a school place, but I doubt the LA gives any help to home educators anyhow, so she's saying she will take away a service which doesn't exist...?