Preparing evidence/plan

[ImDreamiesMum]

Hi there. I'm new. Hoping to get some advice from mums in similar situations

I'm homeschooling a month now. I've had a letter from the council saying they may want to see evidence. Which is fine but can I ask how did you show your evidence ? I can't imagine they want me to scan and send all the work we are doing?

There is a fb group for Home Edders who need help with their local authority. They are excellent on there, definitely go there for advice.

I am fortunate, we are in one of the better council areas. I never got asked for evidence - yet, anyway!

I believe you're not required to show evidence, something to do with the work belonging to the child, who has the right to keep it private. Honestly, the fb group is the place to go.

Good luck!

I agree! The excellent Facebook group is called "Home Education and your Local Authority: Help with dealing with officialdom". The fact it has 16.5k members is a sad indictment of Local Authorities' behaviour. Many LAs make stuff up as they go along, formulating unlawful policies, and there is really no one to pull them up on it.

The good news is, if you know the law or take advice from people who do - via that group for instance - there is nothing they can do to you. Most LAs will back down if you make it clear that you aren't going to supply copies of your children's work since there is no legal requirement to do so. A few of the worst LAs take parents to court over it, where they invariably lose. To reduce the chances of being taken to court, and help ensure it's watertight if you did get taken to court, it is advised that you supply a report describing the education you are providing, followed by a brief annual update. The admins on that FB group will offer help with writing the report if you like. They are very experienced.

You don't have to prove that what you've told the LA in your report is true, nor is it wise to tell them any future plans: you should respond flexibly to the needs of your child rather than sticking rigidly to plans just to please the LA.