Lest We Forget: Homeschooling and the Law in England

An on-line forum I belong to (OxonHE on Yahoo!) brought up a very helpful reminder today of the important legislation for HE-ers in England.  I thought I would review it here.

First and foremost, we parents are the educators of our children, and we MAY -- should we choose to -- delegate this responsibility to schools.

If educating at home is so flexible and fun,
why would anyone want to delegate it???

Therefore, we must never let the Local Authorities forget that they aren't ALLOWING us to home educate -- that right is ours from the beginning.

Here are the salient points of law:

2.4 - Parents are not required to register or seek approval from the local authority to educate their children at home....local authorities are encouraged to provide support where resources permit

2.5 - The DCSF recommends that each local authority provides written information about elective home education that is clear, accurate and sets out the legal position, roles and responsibilities of both the local authority and parents

2.7 - Local authorities have no statutory duties in relation to monitoring the quality of home education on a routine basis

2.12 - Local authorities also have a duty under section 175(1) of the Education Act 2002 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.....It does not, for example, give local authorities powers to enter the homes of, or otherwise see, children for the purposes of monitoring the provision of elective home education.

"Don't you be messin' with my right to learn at home!"