LEA say i need to have home checks because i home educate my son?

[kathy79]

Hi everyone on monday i started to home educate my 9 year old son due to my son hitting rock bottom and he needing more one to one support. Support he was not getting in school despite me complaining 247.After submitting my de-registaration letter to the school on Monday i got a phone call on Tuesday morning from the LEA saying they were now aware that i was home educating my son and they needed me to have a pack of information.They asked me if i prefered a home visit or send it through the post. I said post it please as my son is still severly upset over what happened at school and i thought an offical coming to the home so soon would freak him out.
The info pack arrived yesterday saying that i had refused a home visit and they had passed our names to an education improvement advisor who will contact me to arrange a date and time to carry out a visit and inspection of elliots work. I also have a questionaire to fill in.

So do they need to visit so early on? as its only been a week, and its going to take me some time to get him settled down after the school fiasco.Its going to take me the next 6 months to get his reading up to scratch as his ability to read is severly limited. So only when his reading is better will he have the vocabulary and confidence in his writing ability as quite frankly this area is a very touchy subject.He is seeing an occupational therapist for his sensory needs and i know his dyspraxia and hypermobility in his hands affects his handwriting greatly.
Any advice will be graetly appreciated!

I would have a look at this helpful website re Home Ed to begin with, there is also a section on there regarding SEN.

www.education-otherwise.org

There is also a helpline number you can call. Do call them asap.

I think you've got to look at it from their point of view. While you are home eding for all the right reasons, some children have disappeared from the education system and have then been severely neglected with no-one outside the family seeing them. They just want a quick nose to be satisfied you are a normal mum with a good reason to home Ed. One look at you and your DS at home will reassure them of that straight away. People sometimes feel a bit insulted, but I'd rather they check 50 times for no reason than miss one child who needs help.

Well done on making such a hard decision. You sound like a really dedicated mum who's prepared to do whatever it takes for your DS. I'm not sure I'd be so good!

Post on the HE board for more advice. I think this is all standard and nothing to worry about.

You don't have to have formal lessons or lesson plans or anything like that. But the HE board people will be able to tell you much more.

But if you HE there is nothing you have to teach your child. All you have to do is look after them.

Hi I home-edded my son for a couple of terms - we knew we were going to be moving so needed to get him ready for school again after a very distressing start to his education.
The specialist teacher/inspector wrote me a letter saying "we are coming to your house on this date" so I phoned them up, explained DS had severe anxiety and I didn't want people he didn't know coming to the house as it was his secure place. They arranged a meeting at the council offices. when we turned up (with DS2 and 3 in tow as well) they found a nursery type room so all the kids could play and then I showed them all the work that DS1 had done. I gave them a plan of my education 'philosophy'. ie we were doing formal worksheets in the morning - following the national curriculum as I needed him to be ready to return to school without being behind, then in the afternoon it was more practical learning. Showed them plans of what we were planning to do in both worksheets and practical stuff - eg DS is learning his two times table. In the morning we will do related worksheets in teh afternoon we will go to the beach and throw pairs of stones into rock pools and count them to work out the two times table and write the numbers in the sand.
The teacher was very pleased with how organised I appeared and changed from Mrs Frosty to Mrs Helpful. she even contacted OT to get hold of a handwriting scheme for DS as that is an area he really struggled with.

Perhaps try posting on the HE-SPECIAL-UK group. I think someone there recently was in a similar situation.

Good luck. Something I have thought of doing myself.