Advice for year 11 student

[Heysham1]

Can anyone kindly help with this query?

My daughter turned 16 in September, she has never attended high school due to anxiety and panic attacks.

For the first 3 years that she would have been at school, I paid for a maths and English tutor. Last year she completed a year at the local college (14-16 course) and from September this year, she has started an art class at the same college plus the standard maths and English classes. She attends 4 full days per week.

I have updated the local authority, but I felt that she’s not being homeschooled now in the traditional sense.

The local authority has now emailed a long list of questions. Including how she makes friends, future plans, requests for names of examination boards, how and when she exercises etc.

Am I obliged to provide this information?
I really thought the home education situation had been completed and we were moving forward.

Thanks for any advice.

She's still of Compulsory School Age until June 2027, so the LA potentially has a role until then. The question of whether she's still classed as electively home educated hinges on whether she's a full time student at the college.

I am guessing that she is not, because if she were, the college would be obliged to make her participate in a broad curriculum including compulsory subjects such as RE. There's some further information here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-time-enrolment-of-14-to-16-year-olds-in-further-education-and-sixth-form-colleges/full-time-enrolment-of-14-to-16-year-olds-in-further-education-and-sixth-form-colleges-2023-to-2024-academic-year

but the simplest thing is to ask the college. They will know whether she is a full-time pupil there or whether they are providing part-time courses to her as an electively home educated child.

At any rate, if she is still classed as home educated, then some of the questions the LA is asking are ones you don't have to answer. For example, future plans are not relevant to the question of whether you ARE now providing a suitable home education. You might choose to share plans if they inform the approach you are taking, but you don't have to.

On its website, the home ed charity Education Otherwise has a guide to writing a report for the Local Authority. In the first instance, you can send them a report which covers everything they need to know (which isn't necessarily the same as everything they WANT to know!) instead of answering their questions.

Thank you, that’s really useful

If she's doing pre-16 at college as a home educated student then it is just part of her home ed provision.
You still have overall responsibility for her home education.

If she's doing 3 GCSEs then that isn't a full time education, you are still responsible for providing that.