Agenda item

The witness session part of this item was included in Part II as it contained information relating to an individual and the public interest in withholding the information outweighed the public interest in disclosing it (exempt information under paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 A to the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 as amended). 

Members were informed that for this meeting, four randomly selected former EHE young people who had now moved into higher education, had been invited to attend the session. One of the parents of the invited younger people had said that they would be in attendance, but they did not turn up for the meeting. Unfortunately there had been no responses to the other three requests. However two other young people who had been home educated and then went onto higher education had asked to speak to the Committee to give their experiences of EHE.

Areas and issues covered during the session included:

• James referred to his eldest sister who had got into trouble at school as being one of the reasons his parents had given him the option of being home educated
• James had been taught at home from the age of 10 through to 16, and then went on to Uxbridge College and then onto University. The transition had been smooth and trouble-free
• The main reason why James’ parents had given him the option of being home educated was because he had been an average performer at school and home education gave him and his parents the freedom to teach him what he was good at, whilst ensuring he was taught the basic educational standards (English and Maths)
• James as a parent, now home educated 4 children. The Council was aware of this and a visit took place annually.
• As a home educator he had taken the decision to work with the Council on elective home education whereas he understood some parents did not
• The major benefit of home education for children was giving them the freedom to explore what they were really interested in and giving them an opportunity to learn more about these subjects
• This freedom had resulted in James acquiring the skills and knowledge to develop his interests into his chosen career
• The freedom and lack of restriction which elective home education brought, made him “think outside the box” and be innovative, which may not have happened if he had been in a classroom, within a school
• In response to a comment regarding elective home education and the lack of interaction / socialising with other children, James reported that personally this had not been an issue with him. When he was home educated there were 4 - 5 families who were jointly home educated. This meant that they shared knowledge, conversed together, socialised and exchanged views and opinions
• The groups of children would have sessions with specialised teachers once a week
• From his own personal experience of being home educated, James felt he had matured quicker and had not been subjected to the peer pressure which sometimes happened with children at school
• Whilst being home educated, children did still come into contact with local children outside of school hours, so relationships and contact was still made with other children. The everyday issues which confronted children (i.e. bullying) did not just happen in schools and James reported that he had been equipped to deal with the issues that children who attended schools dealt with
• Grace relayed her experiences to the Committee and referred to the flexibility of home education. She had been home educated until the age of 16 and was now in full time education at a sixth form. She believed that her experiences of home education had made her more motivated in her studies
• Specialist teachers were brought in to teach a small group of home educated children
• Physical education and sports lessons / activities were undertaken by home educated children with parents hiring sports halls and swimming pools in leisure centres. These were structured and took place sometimes 2 to 3 times a week
• Reference was made to the difficulties which home educated children had in terms of finding examination centres to take their exams. There were cost implications and LEA schools were not always receptive to non-school children taking exams on their facilities
• Discussion took place on the teaching skills and background of parents who home educated their children and Grace referred to her mother self-teaching herself. James was now a qualified teacher and taught his own children at home
• Grace had had violin lessons through Hillingdon Music Service and these extra curricula activities were available to home educated children
• Financial and personal sacrifices were made by parents who home educated their children and this commitment and dedication was appreciated by the children and was a driving force behind them doing well with their education                         
• Reference was made to the possible involvement of the local authority with home educated children and their parents and the possibility of establishing a network group. The witnesses said this could be where parents could tell the local authority what they wanted and parents could work with the local authority. This would be seen as a positive move and remove the suspicion which some parents had of the local authority
• Reference was also made to parents who chose to educate their children at home for negative reasons and the need for the local authority to be mindful of their responsibilities to those children under the Education Act. These parents may not want be part of a network with other families and the local authority 
• One of the witnesses was asked for his views on if there was a legal requirement for home visits. He said that he personally chose to allow arranged visits for his children but he fully supported the rights of other home educating families who chose not to have home visits 
• Members made reference to the health and safety and well-being of children who were home educated and the need for the authorities to safeguard these children. This could include inspections to assess the standard of education, visits from school nurses. Both witnesses did not agree with the general linking of health and safety and the safeguarding of children to just home educated children, as this also applied to children who were educated in schools.    

The Chairman and the Committee thanked the two witnesses for attending the session and for their input into the review.

Discussion took place on the evidence received and Members felt that they had enough evidence and information to bring their review to a conclusion. Officers were asked to draft a final report on the review, outlining possible recommendations and this be submitted to the next meeting of the Committee.            

RESOLVED:

1.      That the information provided as part of the witness session be used to form part of the evidence of the review.

2.   That officers be asked to submit a draft of the final report of the review, with suggested possible recommendations, to the next meeting of the Committee.