Parental Responsibility

Section 7 if the Education Act 1996 states that:

“The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable:

• To his age, ability and aptitude, and
• To any special educational needs he may have,
  
  either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.”

This means that the responsibility for children’s education rests with their parents.

Parents/carers may decide to provide home-based education for their children instead of sending them to school – this is usually referred to as ‘Elective Home Education’.  Wokingham Borough Council, as the Local Authority (LA) with general responsibility for education in its area, recognises that home education is a key aspect of parental choice and is equal, in law, to education provided at school.

The Learning and Achievement Partnership at WBC takes the lead role in working with home educators and young people who are being electively home educated in Wokingham.  We are able to advise and guide home educators, where requested, through consultation and guidance.

No educational choice should ever be taken lightly.  Before deciding to electively home educate parents should consider the time, resource and energy they will need to put into this important area of your child’s life and you may want to involve your child in that decision-making process.  Current legislation makes it clear that parents who choose to educate their children at home assume full financial responsibility, including bearing the cost of any public examinations. 

Parents may elect to home educate their child from a very early age so the child may never be enrolled at school.  They can also choose to exercise their right to home educate at any other stage up until the end of compulsory school age.  Compulsory school age starts at the beginning of the term after the child turns 5.  Compulsory school age ends on the last Friday in June during the academic year in which the child turns 16.

Parents are not required to register or seek approval from the Local Authority to educate their children at home.  If a child is currently on a school roll, parents should the school in writing of their intention to home educate and request the removal of the child from the school roll.  There is no legal obligation for parents to do this however the parent may be at risk of prosecution for not securing attendance at the school even if suitable education is being provided.  This means that it is in the parent’s interest to notify the school in writing of withdrawal for home education.  The school has a duty to inform the local authority of all deletions from the admission register when this takes place at a non-standard transition time.

Although there is no specific legal requirement to do so, parents are encouraged to:

• Notify the LA when they elect to educate their children at home. 

• Provide information when the LA asks for information about a child’s education. 

Parents are asked to provide information that would persuade a reasonable person that the child is being educated effectively, such as plans, records of their child’s work and progress made as well as professional reports in some instances.

There is no legal basis for a period of ‘de-schooling’ and families should be aiming to offer satisfactory home education from the outset, and to have made preparations with that aim in view.

Parents who employ others to educate their child at home are strongly advised to ensure that such people are deemed suitable to have access to children. References should be taken up and in some cases, upon request, Wokingham Borough Council will assist by undertaking a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check free of charge. This practice is endorsed by the Department for Education.

Any assessment of suitability will take into account the environment in which home education is being provided.  Suitable education is not simply a matter of academic learning but should also involve socialisation.