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Taking the decision to home educate your child can be daunting and off-putting to many families who instinctively feel that school learning is not right for their children.
This guide has been written for parents considering home schooling, to help clarify where they stand and the steps they need to take to get the process started.
Legal Requirements
From the age of five upwards, education is a legal requirement for every child in the country. By law, you are required to provide your children with an education. How and when you teach them – whether you send them to school or teach them at home – is a matter for you to decide.
Section 7 of the 1996 Education Act (A document well worth reading, if you want to home school) lists parental responsibilities as follows:
“To secure education of children of compulsory school age. The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.”
The council is meant to publish information online about the roles and responsibilites of both the parents and local authority.
The Council
As a parent, guidelines state that you do not have to seek permission from the local authority, but that you are responsible for all costs incurred, including the cost of public examinations. The council, in turn, is meant to publish information online about the roles and responsibilities of both the parents and local authority in ensuring a home schooled child is properly educated. For example: see our Helpful Links page for a link to all of the County Council websites in England; providing the relevant information.
If your child is already attending school and you have decided that this is not for you or your child, you must communicate clearly with the school about your intention to home school. If, for some reason, they aren’t sure if your child is still enrolled or not, a school that reports a child as long term absent has a duty of care to refer the issue to the local authority, so clear communication at all times is important.
OFSTED
There are no OFSTED inspections for home schools, so once you have satisfied the local authority that you are homeschooling, you have an immense amount of freedom to educate as you see fit, as we shall see in the next chapter, which is both liberating and challenging.
Expertise
Parents who choose home schooling do not need to have any teaching experience. There is also no obligation to employ private tutors; though, those who do understand how children learn stand a much better chance of successfully educating them. For home schooling to be effective and for children to receive the kind of learning they need to successfully navigate the world, a range of options should be considered.
Understanding the psychology and the strategy of facilitating learning doesn’t mean you have to study for a PGCE.
It is advisable to find other home schooling parents in your area. Being able to count on support from other families who have similar ambitions for their children will be invaluable, especially on the days that home schooling doesn’t go to plan; teachers in the classroom have days where pupils find learning difficult and homeschooling parents are no exception to the rule.
"Being able to count on support from other families who have similar ambitions for their children will be invaluable, especially on the days that home schooling doesn’t go to plan."
Researching about the craft of teaching is also very important, understanding the psychology and the strategy of facilitating learning doesn’t mean you have to study for a PGCE, but there are some accessible books that explain clearly how effective teaching works. Geoff Petty’s excellent book Teaching Today is a great place to start, as is Ken Robinson’s latest book Elements.
