Can I home educate?

[BiscoffSundae]

Can I home educate my daughter if she has a ehcp? I keep hearing different things. She is 11 in year 6 I want to home Ed as she did not get a place in a suitable secondary school and the one she was given I will not be sending her to, they have named it in the ehcp. Can I home educate her? Surely I can’t be forced to send her? (It’s mainstream)

What is it about the mainstream school you’re not happy with? Is it worth giving the school a try but having a back up plan (appeal? home Ed? Flexischool?)

It's more complicated with an EHCP, even more because it's during a transfer between schools. I'd recommend googling for a SEND home educating group in your area that can give experience on how your LA handles it and their expectations and help you navigate the options there as sometimes it can better to remain on roll to get certain LA support, but withdraw to home educate is a process that's a lot more involved than for a child with an EHCP than one without where you can just tell the LA and school that you're not taking the secondary place.

Also as part of your research, I'd look into what are the options for qualifications in your area so your DD and you have an idea of where you can head from here. Some colleges have KS4 (a few I know even have Y9 options) sections, typically with fewer GCSEs and smaller class, and can have solid SEND support. My oldest went this route at Year 10, it was a great option for him and some other home educators I know.

Most people who home educate join a network so they can share expertise and support each other.
I know home educating families who do things with a few other home educating families, but I wouldn't call it a network and many do it on their own using the same resources school-educated kids use outside of school.

You will be subjected to Ofsted type inspections. This is just unhelpful bullshit. I've been part of both and home visits are absolutely nothing like Ofsted inspections. There is enough fear around home educators working with LAs, this type of nonsense doesn't help anyone.

Yes you can in England. And no you don't have to have a big group of other home edders. Join up with the online home ed groups, Facebook has some very useful ones, and ask your questions there. Don't pay anyone for advice as there is no need. You'll find your path and you'll find your answers.

Will your child refuse to attend the new school? If so I would let them stay home and call an emergency review of the EHCP early next term. Request a change of placement and take the LA to appeal. You can home educate in the meantime but it might allow you to ultimately get a specialist school if that's what you'd prefer. If you want to home educate that's fine too but if it's just because you've missed the appeal window it doesn't sound like you are sure you want this?

I’m not going to send her, it’s out of the question, and it’s not something I will consider, she currently has full time 1:1 all day, she is never left alone at any point including lunch time as she can’t be left alone, she can be aggressive and has hit teachers and children, she has to be picked up early now as she hit a teacher and child in reception, (she is not aggressive at home) she escaped the school a few months back and it took 4 members of staff to get her back inside in the process she bit one of them, school trips she requires 2:1 as she is a flight risk/no danger awareness, mentally she is the age of a 5/6 year old, she is significantly behind socially and mentally, she cannot hold a conversation although she can speak it’s mostly repetitive speech but she can answer questions, she has zero friends in school, not one. She doesn’t cope in the class room and spends 90% of the day outside of the class at her work station with her 1:1. She cannot cope with the noise in the class room. So no, mainstream is not an option as far as I’m concerned. I do not care what her senco or the professionals say as I don’t believe they are thinking of what is in her best interest. I can not appeal as deadline has passed.

Having an EHCP makes no difference to deregistering a child and if you haven't started the new school you don't need to deregister anyway, just say you don't need the place.

The difference, if in England, is if your child is in a special school placement.

I removed my ds(13) from school 4 years ago who has an EHCP and it's the best thing we ever did. He's so much calmer not having to deal with school.

As pp have said education otherwise is a good place for support and there are lots of groups on Facebook you can join both local and national ones.

People home educate for a myriad of reasons and with many different set ups. Whatever your situation there'll be someone in a similar boat who can give you advice and you can decide if it's right for you.

Wow, you've been given a lot of misinformation here already! To confirm the correct procedure, I suggest you contact Ipsea or Education Otherwise, who know what they are talking about.

It is not complicated to begin home educating a child who has an EHCP, unless you need to remove her from a special school. You simply don't register her at a secondary. Only someone with Parental Responsibility can register a child at a school. Tell the school you don't want the place which has been offered. The EHCP will need to be amended accordingly, and the council should call an Emergency Review. But from your point of view there is no urgency about that. You cannot be forced to register your daughter at a school just because it is named on her EHCP.

A relative has a child with an ERCP. She HE. It's a disaster. Her DC has learnt nothing and despite any efforts she has made, retains nothing. It's grossly unfair of her to deny her DC expert help. Your DC has a school place for September. Why don't you give it a try?

No.

Thank you, it’s clear to see a lot of people are against HE so are basing their “opinions” on that. There is so much misinformation online I’ve been told that if the place is named in her ehcp then I can’t refuse it. No she has not been registered at the new school thankfully.

@mdh2020. The op won't be subjected to any such inspection.

I suggest you educate yourself on the requirements and legislation around home ed before posting information that is not at all true.

We home educated our neurotypical children for a few years in primary and greatly enjoyed it. There was no pressure to join groups etc unless it is your bag.

I agree with an earlier poster, that if you actually want her to be in school, but the right school, I would not dereg at this stage but refuse to send her to the wrong school, keep her at home and appeal to get her ehcp altered. Once she is out of the system there is very little impetus on the LA to find her a suitable place.

Thank you! Nice to hear some positivity I don’t know why I’m getting such nasty comments I have zero choice but to home educate her they have given her a mainstream school which she can not cope with, I am not sending her it’s not an option as far as I am concerned.

If not being able to cope in a main stream secondary school is the main concern, is there an appeals process? Can you hold her at home for a year and reapply for a more appropriate school for next year?

This is just an example of why she cannot cope with mainstream, picked her up today at 3 We wait for the bus (she refuses to walk home) at the bus stop the secondary place she was given is next to her primary they finish at 3 they will walk to the bus stop, one young boy came over to the bus stop and starting writing graffiti on the bus stop glass, dd absolutely kicked off screaming her head off and shouting at him she then tried to run round the other side towards him (guessing to attack him) I had to physically pull her back, if I wasn’t there he probably would have punched her! I am her mum I know mainstream is not going to be good for her, despite what the “professionals” think.

Hello OP, I haven't read the whole thread so apologies if I'm repeating things others have said.

I can completely see from your description of your daughter's needs that a mainstream secondary is not appropriate, and as a parent of children with additional needs I can completely understand your very serious concerns about sending her there.

It's unfortunate the appeal date has passed, but I do think you can't be the first parent in this position and others with more experience may be able to advise you.

I think you're right to listen to your gut and not send her to a school you are clear cannot meet her needs. However, I also think the strain of electively home educating a child with high support needs is something to be very very careful before you do it, because once you electively home educate, the EHCP ends and it would be very difficult and time consuming to get one again in future if it turned out you couldn't meet her needs at home, and then also run the home and look after your other children (none of us is super woman!)

So, I think you need some proper advice.

Can I suggest two things?

Firstly, could you get this post moved to the SN Chat board here on MN? There are some amazing and experienced posters on that board with a tonne of legal knowledge and they could advise you.

Secondly, there is a FB group called EOTAS. Another place for lots of good advice. EOTAS stands for education other than at school, and it means your child being taught at home (if there is no school that can meet their needs) but funded and resourced through an EHCP by the LA, eg the LA pays for a specialist tutor / speech therapist to come to your home and deliver the education.

On the basis of this, it would seem a good idea for the other children as well that she is not in mainstream education

An ehcp doesn't end if you home educate, the placement just changes to Electively Home Educating. Some people do get personal budget also but I've never managed this 🤣

You can end it if you wish though.

I've kept my son's and it is assessed every year.

Yes the LA can pay for home tutors etc but that's often only if they have accepted that they cannot meet a child's needs in any of their schools. It also often means placements need to fail as evidence of this. We could have gone down this route but it would mean a lot of anguish for our ds and us as he would have been put in distressing situations until everyone agreed it wasn't working. Which could be a long time.

She sounds very similar to my ds, and yes you can and we did.
Have you spoken to the ms school to see what they are actually offering? Go now before the end of term and discuss HOW they are planning to educate her in their environment. To those suggesting ss teachers are highly trained and will give her the best outcome, I’d say some are, but they are like hens teeth.
@OP my advice would be to keep your ehcp active and be very aware that HE is quite £££s and there’s a difficult balance when you have some in school and some out.

The deadline for appealing against an EHCP is 2 months from the LA's decision letter. However, it is possible to appeal out of time. If it is more than 2 months since the decision letter and the OP wants to try that, she simply needs to state on the SEND35 form the reasons for the delay and why she thinks the appeal would succeed. If the court accepts the reason for delay and allows the OP to appeal, the appeal would succeed unless the LA can show that:

• the school the OP wants is unsuitable for her daughter's age, ability, aptitude or needs, or


• her attendance would be incompatible with the efficient provision of education for others, or


• her attendance would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources

The bar for the second and third points is high. To take the second point, it is not enough to show that there would be some impact on other children at the school. The council must show that the other children would no longer be able to receive efficient education.

As the link posted by @DysmalRadius says, the OP can choose to home educate, but doing so releases the council from their obligation to secure whatever provision is set out in the EHCP.

@BiscoffSundae As I say above, if you want to you can appeal to have a different school named in the EHCP even if it is more than 2 months since the decision letter.