Where can I find the legal obligations a school has to my child?

[onefunkymama]

Hi, after hours of googling I am more confused than I was when I started so I wondered if anyone here could help.

We are having a few problems with our child's primary school, I would like to know what the legal obligations the school has towards a child in year 4 to provide them with an education. Can anyone point me to the relevant law? We are concerned that our child is not being taught full time in school and need to define what counts as 'full time' and what counts as 'education' while in school.

Thank you in advance for help on this.

Have you had a look at the Education Act 2011? That would be a good starting point (apologies if you've already tried this). Some of the fine details will depend on whether your DC's school is an academy or not.

Thank you, no I haven't looked there yet, Its a regular primary school that I'm concerned about

I don't suppose you know what section I should look at do you? A very, very quick look, on the internet tells me there's a heck of a lot written about the act but not where to look for this info within the act- thank you for your help :)

Basically as a parent your child has to be in full time education, you can either do this yourself or send your child to school for the state to educate them.

If your child is not being educated then there are a few laws to look at.

The Education Act is a good start, if your child has SN then the Equality Act.

I think I would start with the CAB website, lots of information about things like this and it is readable - laws are often difficult.

www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/education_e/education_school_education_ew/access_to_education.htm

Check your house insurance, if you have legal cover use it. I've used mine a couple of times, great advice at no extra cost.

I'm guessing that your child is being sent home or excluded.

If that is the case then the school is not obliged to educate a child whose behaviour makes it impossible or is a danger to himself or other children. They are obliged to try to find a solution but sometimes that will be permanent exclusion.