Issue - meetings

The PDS Panel is informed that there has been a rise in the number of children and young people who are electively home educated (EHE) in Bath & North East Somerset. This rise is reflected nationally and concern is growing that this rise is due is to increasing numbers of vulnerable children and young people who are EHE and potentially out of sight of the education system and possible support services.

The Head of Education Inclusion Services introduced this report to the Panel. He informed them that there has been a rise in the number of children and young people who are electively home educated (EHE) in Bath & North East Somerset. He added that this rise is reflected nationally and concern is growing that this rise is due is to increasing numbers of vulnerable children and young people who are EHE and potentially out of sight of the education system and possible support services.

He said that all local authorities are reporting experiencing a rapid growth in the numbers of children who are EHE, especially children removed from registered schools in key stages 3 and 4. He said that a concern is the challenges for EHE parents of children coming out of Year 11 to arrange exams, with limited access to post 16 options, with no qualifications and high risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

He said that for many years within Bath and North East Somerset the numbers of EHE children remained fairly stable with the majority being a parental informed choice where children never entered the formal education system. He added that there has been a definite upward trend in numbers over the last few years of pupils coming out of the school system across the authority.

He informed the Panel that in response to the growing national concern, the DfE has carried out a formal consultation on EHE which B&NES took part in. He added that the consultation closed on 2nd July 2018 and that the date for the feedback outcome is yet unknown, but may have an impact on the DfE guidance that will be published. He said that if additional guidance or duties are introduced the Panel is advised that this is likely to have additional resourcing requirements.

He explained that in March 2018 the CMES presented a report to the LSCB highlighting their concerns. He said that the Board tasked the service with formulating a task finish group to look at the issue locally and to carry out an audit of the last 12 families who have notified the local authority that they will be electively home educating their child/ren and to report their findings back to the Board.

He said that the findings of the audit demonstrated a high level of concern regarding the vulnerability of the families choosing to EHE their children. He explained that only in one case did it seem that a parent had made this decision in an informed way. He said that the other families, just under half of secondary school age, had removed their children from education due to a series of difficulties relating to their children’s needs and their education, including exclusions, dissatisfaction with support or lack of support, difficulties with meeting special educational needs and disabilities, emotional and mental health, either relating to the child, or as indicated in professional notes, relating to parental mental health. He added that it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40