Agenda item

25.1     The Assistant Director - Education introduced a report updating the Committee on the number of children who are electively home educated (EHE). The report also provided an update on the priority actions the Department had completed following a report to the Committee in 2022.

25.2     The Assistant Director informed the Committee that the service was seeing a continued rise in the number of children who were EHE, although there had been a slight slowing of these numbers, which was in line with national figures. The largest increase was amongst pupils in Key Stages 3 and 4 and areas of current concern related to the number of vulnerable children, including children with a Child in Need Plan, Child Protection Plan or an EHCP or an identified SEND need. The report highlighted priority actions for 2023/24, including working with other agencies to support families. The Assistant Director also noted the concern that some children who are EHE had been permanently excluded.

25.3     The Senior Manager Specialist Teaching Service informed the Committee that since the report was produced, a DfE consultation had opened on revised home education guidance for local authorities. In the absence of legislation for a statutory register, the guidance proposed local authorities set up a voluntary registration scheme for parents who home educated. The Department was in the process of responding to this consultation.

25.4     The Committee welcomed the positive priority actions outlined in the report and asked questions and made comments on the following areas:

•     Potential of a voluntary registration scheme – The Committee was very concerned that a voluntary registration scheme could result in the most vulnerable children not being known to the local authority and requested this concern be noted in the Council’s response to the Government consultation. The Senior Manager Specialist Teaching Service agreed that a voluntary register was a significant limitation in identifying families that may need additional support and the Assistant Director - Education confirmed that the response to the consultation would include these comments from the Committee. The Lead Member for Education and ISEND echoed these concerns and also highlighted correspondence with the Secretary of State for Education which had indicated that there would be something put in place to address this.

•     Vulnerable children – The Committee enquired about the steps the Department was taking to address concerns about vulnerable children, including those with a Child Protection Plan, who were EHE. The Service Manager - Teaching and Learning Provision told the Committee that this was a priority, and the Department was addressing this in a number of ways, including joint working with social care leads and other professionals, including the new Early Help Level 2 Service, to ensure that EHE was everyone’s responsibility. The Service Manager also noted the effective systems and processes in place to identify any concerns early on, including a new Early Intervention Officer post which was responding to enquiries about potential EHE and working with schools to offer alternative support where appropriate.

•     SEND support – In response to a comment about a local case where a parent with a child with autism was told to try home schooling and concern that this could be a wider issue for children with SEND, the Director of Children’s Services clarified that the guidance to schools was very clear that they should not be advising families to EHE and that the Department would follow up with schools on any reported cases of this happening. The Service Manager - Teaching and Learning Provision added that there was a local agreement in place with schools in East Sussex that if EHE was found not to be suitable for a child, they would return to their named school. She also noted that school data was used to identify any patterns. The Senior Manager Specialist Teaching Service added that, although EHE was a parental choice, there was a strong culture of challenge around this which all staff were aware of.

•     School admissions – The Committee asked if some families were choosing to EHE their child due to not obtaining a place at their first choice of school. The Service Manager - Teaching and Learning Provision acknowledged that this was sometimes an issue for pupils transitioning to secondary schools and told the Committee that the Department was working with schools and the admissions team to address this, including working with families who chose not to take up the place offered to them. The Director of Children’s Services confirmed that this approach would not change or affect the admissions process or criteria.

•     Reasons for EHE – The Committee asked about the reasons for families choosing EHE and whether bullying was a factor. Members asked whether the Department had detailed data on these reasons, including the reasons a family may state, for example, dissatisfaction with the school as an issue. The Service Manager - Teaching and Learning Provision clarified that the reasons for EHE were recorded in line with national DfE criteria, however more detailed data was captured through a survey sent to parents which was shared with area teams. The Service Manager noted that there was often a complex set of issues underpinning why a family chose to EHE, but the Department would talk to families to identify these issues and, where possible, would work with schools and families to resolve them. The Assistant Director - Education commented that the recent restructure in the Education Division allowed teams to more easily share information and data to get a better understanding of issues cutting across education. 

•     Attendance – The Committee enquired about the number of pupils who attended school part time and were therefore potentially being EHE at other times. The Service Manager - Teaching and Learning Provision clarified that EHE was a choice that parents made through an off-rolling process. The Director of Children’s Services informed the Committee that part-time timetables should only be used on a temporary basis if it was in the interest of the child and guidance was clear with schools that these were not to be used to manage behaviour. She also noted that, under the recent restructure, there were termly meetings with schools to look at the roll and identify any issues with attendance, including pupils on part-time timetables. Feedback from these conversations had been positive so far and it was important to continue these as the number of pupils on part-time timetables was of ongoing concern.

•     Links between EHE and school exclusions – The Committee commented on the recent School Exclusions Scrutiny Review and asked if the Department recorded children at risk of permanent exclusion electing to EHE. The Service Manager - Teaching and Learning Provision told the Committee that this was a priority and noted the data systems in place when there was a new application to EHE to identify any previous suspensions and to work with schools and colleagues to ensure EHE was suitable for that child and identify alternative appropriate support where possible.

•     HOPE Sussex Community – The Committee discussed the HOPE Sussex Community and raised concerns that this was operating as an education setting outside any legal support mechanisms. The Director of Children’s Services noted the Department’s concern about this but stated that it was outside the remit of the local authority as it was not a registered school; any safeguarding concerns would need to be investigated by the police. The Service Manager - Teaching and Learning Provision added that, as there was no legal requirement for families to register to EHE, the department was not able to know what education children were accessing but that any evidence highlighting concerns would be investigated and shared with relevant organisations, including the DfE.

25.5     The Committee RESOLVED to keep this item on the Committee work programme, as an ongoing area of interest, with the potential to conduct a scrutiny review at an appropriate time in the future. The Director of Children’s Services commented that previous scrutiny work on EHE could be circulated to the Committee for information.

25.6     The Committee RESOLVED to note the report and to request that the concerns of the Committee about the proposal for a voluntary register were included in the Department’s response to the DfE Elective Home Education Consultation.