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Home schooling - Elective Home Education (EHE)
Page updated on: 16/06/2020
Alert Level 4: Lockdown from midnight 19th December
Services in Carmarthenshire will be affected during this time. We will not be updating our entire website. Go to the Newsroom for information on what is open, closed or where restrictions are in place.
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The Welsh Government website has information on what you can and cannot do.
We must all work together to keep Carmarthenshire safe and stop the spread of Covid-19 throughout our communities.
Stay home – stay safe.
If you're considering educating your child at home, you will need to provide a suitable education. The style of learning should be:
Broad: It should introduce children to a wide range of knowledge, understanding and skills.
Balanced: Giving equal time to each area of learning.
Relevant: Subjects should be taught with regards to the pupil's own experience and to adult life and be both practical and theoretical.
Differentiated: Matched to the child's abilities and aptitude.
A good curriculum includes personal and social education, health education, outdoor and environmental education, citizenship, careers, food technology and information and communication technology (ICT).
Opportunities to mix and relate with other children and adults are also important to a child's personal and social development.
You have a right to educate your child at home providing you fulfil the requirements of Section 7 of the Education Act, 1996 which places a duty on the parents of every child of compulsory school age to receive efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs that they may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
The phrase "full time" can be interpreted differently, since a child's education at home is often formulated on an individual basis. You should consider the need for any young person to have formal qualifications for any future role in life.
The law requires a child to be educated from the start of the term following their fifth birthday until the last Friday in June in the school year they are 16.
If you wish to home-educate, you are financially responsible for your child's education this includes the cost of any public examinations.
We respect your right to educate your children at home and aim to provide information and guidance for parents who are considering or have decided to Electively home educate (EHE) their children.
How to inform us that your child is being educated at home
You should inform the headteacher of the school where your child is registered, the headteacher should then inform us.
The child's full name and address will be passed from the school to the Elective Home Education (EHE) advisor within ten school days from the date on which the pupil's name was removed from the school register. The EHE advisor will send an acknowledgement letter to the parent, confirming that the child has been taken off the school roll under the Education (Pupil Registration) (Wales) Regulations 2010, and they will arrange a visit to discuss the EHE provision.
If your child has never attended school, it is strongly recommended that you notify us as you could get access to support, call us on 01554 742197 or 01554 742373.
If you do not send your child to school and do not inform the school, then you may be liable to prosecution under section 444 (1) (1A) of the Education Act 1996 and the child may also be considered as a Child Missing from Education (CME).
We have an Elective Home Education (EHE) Advisor who will offer to visit you so that they can discuss how you will educate your child and offer advice and information.
The initial meeting with the EHE advisor should be held within four school weeks of you deciding to provide home education. We will meet with you to discuss our role in monitoring your child's education. Ideally your child should attend this meeting so that we can get a better understanding of their wishes and opinions on what is important to them.
We want to work with all parents that electively home educate their children and while we are not legally obliged to provide any resources for children and young people educated at home. We aim to:
provide advice and support on curriculum matters
provide information on organisations which support home educators
provide information on how to access Careers Wales
provide information on how to access support services
Where there are concerns around the level of education provided
Every effort will be made to resolve issues about provision by a process of ongoing dialogue. If dialogue fails, it may be necessary for us to serve a notice on the parents. Under Section 437(1) of the Education Act 1996, we can intervene if we have good reason to believe that parents are not providing a suitable education by serving a School Attendance Order.
Initially we will serve a notice and this will allow a period of at least 15 days for the parents to provide us with further information about the suitability of the education. The parent may choose to do this by meeting with the EHE advisor either at home or a mutually agreed venue.
Children with additional learning needs
If your child has special educational needs (SEN) you have the same right to educate them at home, but you must make suitable provision for their special needs.
Where children are statemented, this provision may be different from that outlined in the statement which would apply in a school setting.
If the parents' arrangements are suitable, then we are relieved of our duty to arrange the provision in the statement. If however, the parents' arrangements fall short of meeting the child's needs and are not making suitable arrangements, we have a duty to arrange the provision in the statement. The Additional Learning Needs Manager will be consulted on these issues.
Where a child has a statement of SEN and is educated at home, the statement does not automatically cease. While the statement is maintained it must be reviewed annually.
In the case of home-educated children Section 324 (4A) of the Education Act 1996 does not require the name of a school to be provided in Part 4 of the Statement. There will be a discussion between the authority and the parents and, rather than the name of the school, Part 4 of the statement should mention the type of school we consider appropriate but should go on to say that: 'parents have made their own arrangements under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996'
As a Local Education Authority (LEA) we have a duty under section 175 (1) of the Education Act 2002 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
This section states: 'A local education authority shall make arrangements for ensuring that the functions conferred upon them in their capacity as a local education authority are exercised with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.'
The Children Act 2004 ('the 2004 Act') provides the legislative framework for developing children's services. Section 10 of the 2004 Act sets out a statutory framework for cooperation arrangements to be made by local authorities with a view to improving the well-being of children in their area.
A parent's decision to home educate is not in itself grounds for concern about the welfare of children. However, as with school-educated children, child welfare issues may arise in relation to home-educated children. If any safeguarding issues come to light in the course of engagement with children and families, these concerns will be immediately notified and acted upon appropriately.
If at any time during your child's education you'd like them to attend school, you can apply online for a school place. If you'd like advice or support you can contact the Education Welfare Service, e-mail: educationwelfare@carmarthenshire.gov.uk or phone 01554 742369.
Tell us about a change
To help us maintain accurate records we would be grateful if you would advise the EHE advisor of any change of address in writing or by phone, please call us on 01554 742197 or 01554 742373.
The Welsh Government have allocated some grant funding to local authorities to use on a defined range of areas to support children and young people who are electively home educated. This is in recognition of the additional costs a home educating family will incur when providing resources and opportunities that are typically available for free in school.
The areas identified include:
GCSEs or alternative qualifications
Welsh language courses for the family;
learning resources such as textbooks and materials;
educational trips;
learning software; and
facilities to use for group activities.
Within Carmarthenshire, part of this funding has been used to fund a number of initiatives including:
Botanical Gardens: electively home educated family passes and access to science workshops
Mindfulness programmes for young people
Welsh language lessons for young people
For further information please e-mail EHEenquiries@carmarthenshire.gov.uk or contact one of our elective home education team members:
Becky Thomas: 07976466399
Ceri Bevan: 07813393783
Su Crowther: 07813393782
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More from Education & Schools
Home Education Advisory Service
Useful advice and resources to help you take the first steps to home education.
HEAS
Education Otherwise
Information and resources providing guidance on home education and the law, SEN and disabilities and downloadable fact sheets.
Careers Wales
Careers Wales now have a public duty to offer a service to home educated young people under section 9 of the Employment and Training Act.
Information about support services in the local area providing families with the right help at the right time.
SNAP Cymru
Free to families they offer impartial, accurate information and advice through an independent Family Support Scheme.
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Welsh Government announcement on schools
The Welsh Government has confirmed that unless there is a significant reduction in cases of coronavirus before January 29 – the date of the next three-week review of regulations – school and college students will continue to learn online until February half-term.
Schools will continue to make on-site provision for children of critical workers as well as vulnerable children where absolutely necessary, however, it is important that children remain at home wherever possible.
Qualifications Wales has also announced that the spring internal assessment window for GCSE, AS, and A level, which were planned to take place between 22 February and 23 April, will not take place and new arrangements will be made.