I agree with you in principle Abbey: the most important person in deciding where a person should be educated is that person themself. I don't even see 10 as the age of being able to make that decision. If a 4 year old of mine was keen to try school, I'd support them in that decision. I'd make sure I gave them the information they'd need to make that decision wisely, and I'd make sure they had a trial day or two before committing.
I would add that HE from the start as the default option is just as valid socially, intellectually and LEGALLY as school from the start as the default. To say "we intend to HE" should not invoke a chorus in others (including you Abbey, several times here on Mumsnet) of "oh, but maybe your child would really love school, mine do, and I did too myself, you really should be giving them the choice" unless you also feel comfortable with HE advocates jumping in on every thread in the primary/education/secondary sections saying "oh but maybe your child would really love to be HEed, mine love it and so do all the other HEed children we know, you really should be giving them that choice and that opportunity you know". Worth thinking about whether you are holding us HEers to a leetle teeny bit of a double standard?
It's not as if those of us who home educate have never heard of the benefits and convenience of sending our children to school... we have it drummed into us on a daily basis by the media, our in laws, our friends, random old ladies in bus shelters... in fact, by practically everyone we encounter except other HEers. And our children have exactly the same drip feed about the joys of school coming in, from TV shows and the adults they encounter in daily life.
And no, I agree, parents should not impose their own negative school experiences on their children. But equally, parents should share with their children their best theories about the society in which they live, and if they are opposed to, say, the Christian ethos of the Boys Brigade, they'll be wanting to share that with their children before they run out and buy uniforms. Same with school, no?
And, while we are at it, I don't think parents should be sharing with children their own POSITIVE views of school. As I've said before in a thread here, that's a real kick in the teeth for the children who find school doesn't suit them for whatever reason - not only are they miserable in their environment, but their misery is in direct contravention of what their parents have told them the school experience will be like. It does not take long for such a child to be convinced that there isn't anything wrong with that school, or with school in general for them, but that there is something dreadfully wrong with them themselves.