Elective home education (EHE) is when parents or carers educate their children at home instead of sending them to school. Home education must be full time, suitable, and efficient. If you choose to education your child at home, you must be prepared to pay for their whole education in full.
Registering for EHE
If your child currently attending mainstream school and you choose to educate them at home, you must write to the school to tell them about your decision.
If your child has
additional learning needs (ALN) and has a place at a specialist provision, we have to agree to your request before they are taken off the school roll.
When they are taken off the roll, the school will let us know and an EHE Officer will contact you. The EHE Officer provides support and guidance, and they are responsible for making sure the home education is efficient, suitable, and appropriate.
Your child attends a mainstream school and has an individual development plan (IDP)
If your child has an individual development plan (IDP) that is maintained by the school, the school should ask us to maintain the plan once your child is taken off the school roll.
A council panel will consider the request and decide if your child continues to have ALN which needs an IDP that is maintained by us.
Your child attends a specialist school and has an individual development plan (IDP)
If your child attends a specialist school, you will need to get permission from us before taking them off the school roll.
Your child may have ALN but does not have an individual development plan (IDP)
If your child is home educated and you think they may have additional learning needs, you can ask us to decide by completing an additional learning needs notification.
Please contact us by:
If we decide they have ALN, we will prepare an IDP. We have a Designated Officer who can support you through this process.
Your child needs additional learning provision
We decide your child has ALN, we will prepare and maintain an IDP and secure the additional learning provision that is described in the plan. This does not mean that we will provide the additional learning provision directly.
For example, if the IDP says the additional learning provision should include one-to-one support, this could be provided by you. We would still need to make sure the additional learning provision is being provided, and this would be assessed as part of the yearly IDP review.
Writing the individual development plan (IDP)
The Designated Officer will organise a person centred meeting to put an IDP in place. This meeting can take place at home or at another agreed location. You and your child will be at the centre of the decision making and planning. You will be asked who you would like to be invited to the meeting.
You do not want an individual development plan (IDP)
If you feel that EHE is meeting your child’s needs and they no longer need an IDP, you can choose to
cease the IDP.
Your child gets specialist teaching
If your child is getting support from specialist teachers or teams in school, the teacher may be able to contribute to a person centred meeting and offer advice about the additional learning provision that will be needed. This should be included in the IDP.
You disagree with our decision