The local authority has an obligation to keep track of those children who are home educated. They may contact you at some point to enquire about your home education. This enquiry should be very broad, not asking you to provide schemes of work or a curriculum, or even ask to meet with you or your child. They don’t have a responsibility in law to do this unless they think that you are not providing a “suitable and sufficient” education.
Government Guidelines on Home Education in England state: ‘The responsibility for a child’s education rests with his or her parents. An “efficient” and “suitable” education is not defined in the Education Act 1996 but “efficient” has been broadly described in case law as an education that ‘achieves that which it sets out to achieve’.
The Welsh Guidelines ask for ‘an indication that parents have thought through their reasons for home educating and what they hope to achieve’. So it’s worth describing what you are setting out to achieve; if you achieve your aims you will be judged to be efficient. This is what is meant by an ‘educational philosophy’, which sets out your beliefs and values and states what you want for your child as they grow up.
So, who monitors you over time? The answer is nobody; Ofsted won’t inspect you. You could buy a curriculum or design your own. You can explore different ways of your child continuing to socialise with others. In fact, there’s a huge amount of freedom in what you decide to do which is both liberating and challenging.For more advice on how to create an education philosophy, specific lesson plans and more, check out our homeschooling hub!
