Agenda item

The Committee received a report on Elective Home Education (EHE), which provided an update on the responsibilities and powers the Local Authority (LA) has for EHE, developments since a previous review in 2012 by the Committee, and further action being taken.

It was reported that:

·           Nationally, it was notoriously difficult to engage with families who opted for EHE.  Hillingdon had a website with information about EHE and a strategy of making it very visible.  This had been found to encourage EHE providers to engage with officers.

·           Hillingdon had the second highest number of known EHE pupils across the London Boroughs, at 228 children.  This was attributed to higher numbers of EHE providers in Hillingdon informing the Council that they were home educating.

·           The actual figures of EHE pupils was unknown as there was no legal requirement for councils to be informed that a child was being home educated, or of the curriculum the child was following.  When a child withdrew from a school, parents were required to provide a reason and one of these could be EHE.  The parents of children moving from primary to secondary school would not need to provide a reason if the child did not start secondary school.

·           The Council was forming links with groups known to have higher than average levels of EHE, such as the Gypsy Roma and Traveller (GTR) community, of which 14 children were reported to be receiving EHE (all secondary).  It was noted that around 80 of the 228 known EHE children were of unknown demographic.

·           A questionnaire for parents of EHE children was being developed to help the Council to understand the area better and inform service development.

·           Work was being under taken with the NHS to determine whether data about where a child was educated could be collected when children engaged with health services.

·           Information obtained by the School Placement and Admissions Team regarding EHE children was cross-referenced with data held by Social Services for safeguarding reasons.

·           The Council had not used any school attendance orders in the past three years.

·           It was noted that central government was considering changes to EHE legislation in response to concerns about radicalisation and illegal schools.

The following points were made by Members during discussion:

·           The Committee commended officers' success in encouraging engagement from parents of EHE children.  A previous review carried out by the Committee suggested hostility from parents, and it was very positive that this had been improved.

·           Consideration should be given to finding non-written methods of communicating with GTR groups.  Members invited officers to attend surgeries in areas where there were higher numbers of GTR residents.

·           In the sample letter text (Appendix 2), it would be preferable for the first two paragraphs to be swapped so that "we can provide..." came before "we will not provide...".

RESOLVED:  That (1) the report be noted;

(2)  a breakdown of Gypsy Roma and Traveller (GTR) children who were EHE be provided to Members, to include primary/secondary and male/female numbers;

(3)  officers from the School Admissions and Placement Team be invited to attend Member surgeries to provide information about EHE.