Agenda item

The Head of Education for Vulnerable Children presented the report on Elective Home Education (EHE) Policy and provided an update on the new policy implementation.

It was reported that Hillingdon’s EHE policy was updated and published in February 2021, following the Department for Education EHE policy update in April 2019. The policy had been through consultation and received Cabinet approval in February 2021. The updated policy reflected a more balanced approach to both safeguarding issues and the rights of parents, as well as improved methods of information sharing and communication with parents and professionals. Over the last two years there had been a significant fluctuation in the numbers of parents choosing to home educate their children. It was highlighted that the pandemic had impacted the number of children who were home educated and the report provided further data on this. It was noted that that there were unlikely to be key performance indicators in this area as it was difficult to measure factors such as academic attainment and progress. Soft targets such as engagement with parents and guardian and their experience with the local authority could be measured more easily.

In terms of assessments being done to ensure that EHE was the right option for children with Education Health Care Plans (EHCP) or children requiring SEND support, it was explained that parents were unable to home educate children with EHCP without the agreement of the local authority. The local authority liaised closely with parents arranging cross professional meetings and discussing suitable options. Factors such as funding, access to therapies and interventions had to be taken into account, and after considering all the options available, many parents decided an education setting was better than home education. It was confirmed that there were no looked after children who were home educated.

It was noted that a mandatory register for all children who were home educated was needed to ensure that there was a record. The only way the local authority was aware of children who were electively home educated was if parents made the local authority aware or if children came into contact with services. If the local authority did become aware of a child who was home educated, contact would be made with the parent to ensure that a suitable education was in place. Any issues could be referred to the Children Missing Education Team who had statutory duties and would undertake checks. It was reported that 80 cases were referred to the Children Missing Education Team in 2021.

During Members questions, it was confirmed that the views of children were taken into account when making a decision for home education and this formed part of the suitability checker.  In relation to the 17 children with EHCP that were home educated, further information would be provided on their reasons for choosing this route. Generally, it was explained that the vast majority of children with EHCP were home educated as parents preferred a holistic approach or routines and timetables in mainstream education settings did not suit children.

The Committee commended officers for their fantastic work and welcomed the mandatory register.

RESOLVED: That the Committee noted the update on the Elective Home Education Policy.