Hi newbie looking to get some advice and to say hello

[nomoreamover]

I've been considering HE for the past 2 years since DS was 3. He is soon to be six and has already had 3 primary schools (!!) DH has been reticent as he worries about the socialisation but now that we are on primary school no 3 and still having the same problems (DS runs away in class, gets terribly bored, doesn't "conform" in their words, is pretty intelligent and hates being held back, asks too many questions etc etc) he has finally agreed to let me HE.

I guess I simply write to the school and LA informing them of my decision and then simply take DS out of school? I don;t have to ask "permission" as such do I, I just simply take him out, writing to explain why?

Looking forward to reading everyone experiences on the thread - some have been really enlightening already!

this is the link you need for advice on deregistering

thank you!

about socialising my dh was the same but now has seen how much she gets out he totally understands. we have been HEing nearly a year now, and dd1s social life is hectic, she does trampolining, cheerleading, gymnastics, sports home group, art home group and the faith group plus she sees friends.

the best thing to do is get out to lots of home education groups and go to your local leisure centre and see what activities they have going on and just try lots of different groups

hth mt3 x

brilliant thank you. Am having a search online to see whats in my area. Sadly alot of groups are for the under 5s but I'm sure we'll find something!

brilliant thank you. Am having a search online to see whats in my area. Sadly alot of groups are for the under 5s but I'm sure we'll find something!

nomoreamover
You don't have to contact the LA at all, that is the school's responsibility, and you don't have to explain why either-simply send a copy of the deregistration letter, outlined on the other thread.

Ask for a receipt if you had deliver it, or send it by recorded delivery.

Where abouts are you in the country?
Have you found the Early Years HE support list? It is specifically for families who home educate children under eight or so and is affiliated to Muddle Puddle

will check it out - thank you!

Couldn't get a receipt at the time of handing in as they were "too busy". Have subsequently rung to chase it up and they are avoiding my calls (well I think they are in my paranoia!) but they are never avaialable when i call! I hjave yet to get past the school secretary!

Am considering re sending it to get the recorded delivery slip as a receipt....

Should I be worried that they don't seem to be supportive?......

Of course the school isn't supportive! You're doing them out of £X of government money by removing your child from their (obviously completely splendid) care.

Doesn't matter what they think of it.

But yes, I would consider taking another copy in and standing there until they give you a receipt, or sending another copy recorded delivery. They may well be trying to put off acknowledging it because

1. they hope you will change your mind
2. if they can delay a little, the money won't get taken away so fast
3. they are just inefficient!

Once they have the letter, they are on a 2 week timescale, I think, for informing the LA, and then the funding gets withdrawn.

good point well made - thank you

Apologies BTW for the appalling typos - I get carried away!

Am going to resend via recorded delivery if not heard from them by next wed.

I have a "questionnaire" to fill in from the LA and I will make sure I send them a copy of the schools letter to be absolutely sure I'm covered.

I'm so excited about all this and DS1 looks like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders - but I am terrifed the LA or EWO will be on my case spoiling it!

If you have a questionnaire already from the LA, sounds like the school have contacted them.

Be aware that although yiy should be sure and make some response to the LA, you don't technically have to fill in the questionnaire.

What you could do is fill in name, age and last schools attended-and write N/A all over the rest of it.

If you do that though, you should add something like a letter and enclose it with the questionnaire, quote the the Perry Case in which Lord Slade said:

"Prima facie this opportunity will appropriately be given (as was done in the present case) if the Authority, having first allowed the parents a sufficient time to set in motion their arrangements for home education,"

(R v Gwent County Council Court of Appeal (Civil Division) 10 July 1985 JUDGEMENT BY-1: SLADE LJ)

and say that you will be taking some time to settle into your home based education and will get back to them by ......(you insert date, you could reasonably say Easter) and tell them more about the home based education you are providing.

That's pretty much what we did.
It's ridiculous, it really is, to expect you to give any details about the education you will be providing-as you have only just started and don't know how it will go yet.

Giving yourself that time, will allow you all to settle and to also decide how you will be providing the information (the choice is always the parents). Some people will choose to have a home visit, some people will meet with the LA somewhere neutral such as the library, some will get their home based education endorsed by a third person-and some like us, never have a home visit.
In eight years the LA have never met our children and have never seen any of their work (The children didn't want them to)
Instead the local LA declare themselves satisfied with the 'Educational Philosophy' and written report that we send in instead.

Have a look at the Elective Home Education :Guidelines for LA's (assuming you are in England-are you??) These were published by the DCFS-that spells out what the LA should be doing.

Have a look also at the bumpf on the excellent HE-UK site(I think the 'articles page is especially well worth a read-it's where I found the quote about the above case law) and also the new Education Otherwise site

Having read all of that you should have all the info you could possibly need to keep the LAs and EWOs at bay!

opps just realised that schould be the 'DCSF'-trust the Governement to put schools between children and families!

Thank you!

I have had a lovely letter from the head saying although she thinks DC would be better in school she accepts our reasons for HE and she hopes if I need advice about his education I'll go to her for help.....

SO far so good.....

Next step is to complete the ed phil as advised - have some good ideas but as you say Julie it is tricky being so early into it.

I'll keep you posted!

Hi again
What I did was stick a couple of blank A4 pages onto the notice board.
(These days of course I would have a new word document on my pc desktop)

Everytime I came across something that related to our ideas about home ed, or a quote that seems relevant, I made a note of it.

Soon I had a good basis to 'peg out' our Educational Philosophy around.

Telling them you will be replying with your ed phil by Easter (or later) will give the tie you need to do this and to see which way your home ed is going. Many people start off quite structured when they first deregister but sort of drift into a more autonomous, child interest style as they go along.

i like the idea of a couple blank pages - and actually the pin board idea would work for us in our house too!!