Do I have to give forwarding details to school?

[Emily7708]

My DD started reception in September at a local state primary. The school was truly awful in so many ways so we decided not to send DD back after the Christmas break and, due to the lack of alternative state places, have moved her to a local independent school. I emailed the school on the first day of term to let them know she would not be returning, and also contacted the local authority to relinquish her state place.

However, the school keep hassling me to give them the details of the new school my DD is attending. They say they have paperwork that needs to be forwarded and also need the details for their records. They keep saying that they will report us to the local authority and DD is now a "missing from education" child. This is rubbish though as DD is only 4 so not even of compulsory school age yet. They are refusing to send the paperwork directly to me so as far as I am concerned they can shred it all.

Am I obliged to give them the details of the new school, and do they really have any worthwhile paperwork to forward on? I really would prefer a clean break without them knowing where DD has gone, if possible.

Why will them knowing where she is now schooled make any difference?
Just tell them and save yourself all this unneccessary grief.

I am not sure if you have to tell them, but it might be courteous to do so. I don't know why it is such a secret if it is a perfectly respectable independent school she has gone to.

Sorry but they do have to report to the local authority as your child has been registered in the school and is no longer attending.

I think they cant take you off their books until they have it confirmed from your new school that you are registered or a letter saying you are home educating. I think but I'm not too sure!

You don't legally have to tell them. But if the local authority get in touch, you will have to tell them how you are now making sure she gets a suitable education, and since that is at an independent school it would be normal for you to tell them which one. They may well then pass that on to the previous school anyway.

I don't think they will do anything that will stop it from being a "clean break" for your daughter by passing on whatever paperwork they hapen to have. It is probably very basic stuff like attendance figures and any starting-level results they have for her.

Many thanks for your replies. I have already sorted things out with the local authority so that is no problem. I just wondered if a term's worth of opinions and assessments (and probably all the complaints letters from me) from a useless school really had to be on my DD's records at her new school.

That's great happynewmind, thanks very much.

By law the school must pass on EYFS data to a new setting

The new school should request the paperwork once your daughter has started with them. It's good practice as that's how children can go missing. The onus is not on you to do it though I wouldn't have thought.

"The thing about not being compulsory school age doesn't apply if your child has started in a full time school place. Once they've started they have to be in school."

Not true. Compulsory school age is compulsory school age. Parents are not required to ensure that children below that age are educated. It is true that parents may be hassled over a child of any age ceasing to attend school. The LA will want details so they can comply with Children Missing Education legislation, though parents are under no obligation to assist them with this. The school will want to get rid of its records so as not to have to store them. (That is not the parents' problem, of course.)

But a four year old who lives in England or Wales is never required to attend school, regardless of where she is registered!

Imagine reading a new report of a child who was taken out of school by parents and then tortured to death.

You would probably think, 'why didn't anyone say anything?'

For you this is a form, an inconvenience, but it might save the life of another child. Just fill it in.

Actually when children "go missing" it becomes a safeguarding issue