Elective Home Education Policy

The council takes the responsibility for safeguarding children seriously and is responsible for taking steps to identify children who are at risk of missing education. Where it is not clear that a child is in receipt of an education the local authority elective home education officer will make enquiries to ensure that the child is in receipt of an education. The elective home education officer will initially make contact with the parents/carers in order to build a positive working relationship with the family, and to ensure that appropriate educational provision is in place and the child is participating in their learning.

The council, as part of its safeguarding responsibilities, works with schools and other agencies to ensure 'off rolling' practices are not taking place. Where the number of children removed from a 5 school roll to be home educated increases the council attendance team and Children Missing Education Officer will explore the circumstances surrounding the pupils removal from roll, providing robust challenge to schools in any circumstance where "off rolling" appears to be the case. The (Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, as amended) DfE 2016 Children Missing Education Statutory guidance detail the only circumstances in which a pupil can legally be removed from the roll of a school; removal for any reason other than that stated in these regulations is illegal.

DfE advice to councils is that where the "off rolling" of pupils from a school is a concern they should consider reporting the information to Ofsted to inform the school's future Ofsted inspection.

Stockton Council operate a voluntary registration scheme; the attendance team hold a register of children who are electively home educated in the area. Parents/carers of children who are home educated and have never entered the school system are encouraged to voluntarily register their child with the council for support and information sharing purposes and to access advice and support that may include new initiatives to support children and families and access to other information and updates that may not have come to the attention of parents who are home educating their child.