Agenda item

The Department for Education recommends that every Local Authority has ‘A written policy statement on elective home education, which is clear, transparent and easily accessible by using different formats as necessary, is consistent with the current legal framework and preferably drawn up in consultation with local families who educate children at home so that it can reflect both the challenges and rewards of educating children in this way’.

Rotherham’s Elective Home Education Policy was last agreed in 2021, and a review has been initiated to ensure that it would be easy to navigate and understand, and would accurately reflect the current way in which the Elective Home Education Team works with home educators in the borough. Home educators and partners were key to this process with a period of public consultation taking place following informal stakeholder events.

This revised Draft Rotherham Elective Home Education Policy will be presented to the Commission for pre-decision scrutiny, prior to the presentation to Cabinet for consideration and approval.

This item included an update on the draft Rotherham Elective Home Education Policy, which was presented to the Commission for pre-decision scrutiny, ahead of it being presented to Cabinet for consideration.

The Chair invited to the meeting Sarah Whitby, Head of Access to Education and Rebecca Braithwaite, Senior Officer in Access to Education.

The Chair invited the Cabinet Member for CYPS to introduce the report, during which the following was noted:

·      The Elective Home Education (EHE) Policy was last updated in 2021.

·      Although there were some changes proposed nationally via the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the service felt that the policy review should still go ahead, as only minor changes were expected if the bill was approved at a later date.

·      The review of the EHE Policy provided the service with a good opportunity to engage positively with home educators across the borough, and to update and refresh the policy in advance of any potential national change. The service aimed to ensure the new policy would be easily understandable and would dispel myths relating to the proposed bill.

·      The consultation on the EHE Policy had provided positive feedback and the proposed draft policy was being presented to scrutiny for pre-decision work, in advance of it being presented to Cabinet for a decision.

·      In relation to key changes, information within the policy had been simplified, the responsibility of all partners involved in the process, and an explanation of those responsibilities had been set out clearly in the policy. The action the service would take if they believed that a child wasn’t receiving a suitable education was also set out clearly in the policy. Information on flexi-schooling had been added into the policy, this was a legal arrangement where a child would be registered at a school and would attend part time, with the rest of their education provided at home.

The Chair invited the Head of Access to Education to give the presentation, during which the following was noted:

• The agenda pack included a written report, the full consultation response summary, a copy of the proposed policy being presented at the meeting and a copy of the presentation.

The need for a policy-

·      The EHE Departmental Guidance was issued in 2019, this was non-statutory guidance for local authorities.

·      The Department for Education recommended that every Local Authority had ‘a written policy statement on elective home education, which is clear, transparent and easily accessible by using different formats as necessary, is consistent with the current legal framework and preferably drawn up in consultation with local families who educate children at home so that it can reflect both the challenges and rewards of educating children in this way’.

Rotherham’s Policy-

·      The policy was last updated in 2021 and was found to be unnecessarily wordy and was often difficult for parents to navigate.

·      Although the new Children and School’s Wellbeing Bill proposed some changes for Elective Home Education Policies, it was felt that the policy review presented a good opportunity to collaborate with home educators. Any changes brought about by the Bill could be assimilated into the policy at a further date and were not predicted to fundamentally change the Rotherham approach.

·      The service felt that parts of the policy were unnecessarily wordy and potentially difficult for parents, carers, children and young people to navigate.

What had been done-

• Informal engagement had been held with home educators, all were invited to attend sessions at Riverside Cafe on 21 and 27 January 2025, both events were held at different times of the day to maximise attendance, three attendees were present at the two sessions. Home educators were also asked to provide their views in alternative ways, if they did not wish to attend an in-person event, as a result five additional emails were received by people unable to attend the sessions. Views were also sought via home visits and contacts.
• A stakeholder event was also held with key partners on the 27 January 2025, seven partner agencies attended the session and this included health colleagues and the Rotherham Parent Carers Forum (RPCF). RPCF provided the views of 49 parents to the session who had responded to a survey they issued.
• An engagement session took place with the Improving Lives Select Commission on the 28 February 2025.
• Formal consultation took place via the Council’s webpage between the 16 April and 17 June 2025. The consultation was available on the council’s website and was promoted via neighbourhood bulletins, directly with home education groups across local schools and through the RPCF. 11 responses were received from the online consultation.

Feedback-

• The majority of responses to the consultation events were positive and were in agreement with the proposals put forward.
• Where there was disagreement, some of this was in relation to duties sitting outside of the statutory role of the local authority, for example the funding of examinations.
• Examples of feedback were as follows:

o   “Rotherham seems to have a good balance & way of working with Home Ed families. Keep up the good work!”.

o   “I think it's vitally important that the EHE team remain approachable and working with Home Educators rather than against them”.

o   “More could be done to support EHE as a positive choice. For example, supporting EHEs with exam provision arrangements or holding events at transition points - accessing higher education or apprenticeships for example”.

o   “Frequent visits, communication and stronger guidelines for parents and care givers”.

o   “I prefer to keep my correspondence in writing and have had nothing but polite, professional and respectful communication”.

o   “My experience of the EHE team & policy has been very positive”.

o   “The EHE policy still appears weighted towards EHE being a negative choice which is viewed with suspicion…More needs to be done to demonstrate EHE in a positive light”.

Next Steps-

·      The policy was on the forward plan for Cabinet consideration in October 2025.

·      Any changes mandated by changes to the national framework would be assimilated into the policy by way of further update.

·      The revised policy would be launched with schools and other stakeholders in November 2025, subject to agreement. The policy if approved, would be promoted via the Communications Team and the School Attendance Matters Pathway Forum, which was a forum that all schools within the borough were invited to, and it was attended by key stakeholders. This combined would provide a good opportunity to present those changes that were made and to launch the new policy, if agreed by Cabinet.

The Chair thanked the relevant officer for the presentation and opened up to questions, during which the following was discussed:

• In relation to flexi-schooling, the child would remain on a school role, therefore by remaining on the school role the school would remain responsible for public examinations and formal testing, in the same way as they would be for a child attending their school full-time. Schools were not legally required to agree to flexi-schooling, however the EHE Team provided schools with a balance of information relating to the potential consequences and implications of flexi-schooling.
• It was felt that the information on flexi schooling within the policy was too short and further detail could be provided within the draft policy. The service would consider the option of providing an additional document containing information on flexi-schooling, which could sit alongside the EHE Policy.
• The service was aware that in terms of home education, there may be several parents and carers who were wary to talk directly with the team. As a result, informal feedback was sought during visits. The views members shared on the Communications Strategy for the consultation period would be considered for any future consultations.
• The aim of the draft revised policy was to present a balanced and factual view of home education, this included the local authority not encouraging or discouraging elective home education. Where parents and carers chose to home educate, the service would ensure that the right support would be provided to them. The strength of the team’s work was the prevention work completed with parents and carers who were considering home educating. The local authority’s duty to parents, carers, children and young people was to provide information, support and challenge where required, to ensure the best outcomes for all children and young people across the borough.
• Drop-in sessions across the borough were being considered by the service, as a result of the consultation feedback received.
• It was the choice and right of parents and carers to decide whether to home educate. In situations where elective home education was a positive choice and a suitable education was provided, the local authority would not seek to prevent parents from home educating. The local authority would not support situations where a child was removed from a school role and would not be provided with a suitable level of education, every child was entitled to a suitable education and that was their right.

Resolved:- That the Improving Lives Select Commission:

1)    Considered the contents of the report and the draft Elective Home Education Policy and endorsed the proposed revised Elective Home Education Policy to go forward for Cabinet approval.

2)    Requests that a written responses is provided to any additional questions submitted by members via email following the meeting.

3)    Requests that consideration be given to Flexi Schooling and how it would sit alongside the Elective Home Education Policy.

4)    Requests that a future update is provided to the Commission on an annual basis, or at an earlier point if there are any significant material changes, such as the outcome of the upcoming bill.