Guidance for parents (EHE)

What you need to know

If you're considering educating your child at home, there are some important things to understand. 

As an home-educating parent, you: 

• must ensure that your children receives efficient and suitable full-time education for as long as they're being educated at home.
• may choose to home educate your child from an early age (they may not have been previously enrolled at school). You may also elect to home educate at any other stage up to the end of compulsory school age.
• assume full financial responsibility for the educational costs, including the cost of any educational resources, sporting activities or part-time alternative provision and including the cost of arranging examinations and paying the examination fees
• do not have to teach the National Curriculum, but familiarity with it is likely to be an advantage should your child return to school and if it is your intention for your child to access formal qualifications.
• do not need to seek the permission of the local authority to educate your child at home (unless their child is registered at a school as a result of a school attendance order).

If your child attends a special school the school cannot remove the child’s name from the register without the permission of the local authority, which can only be given when they're aware that the child or young person will have access to the provision laid out in their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). It is the parents' responsibility to ensure their child has this access.

Where parents are funding a place for their child at an independent special school, they do not require permission from the local authority to de-register.

If you're thinking about Elective Home Education, you need to consider how you'll approach your child's learning before making a decision to go ahead. 

Different styles of education

There are a range of education styles that a parent may choose, including:

• school at home
• autonomous learning
• child-centred approaches
• experiential learning
• Semi-structured learning

Some parents choose to teach their own children. You don’t have to be a qualified teacher. Many home educators have no teaching qualifications.

Other parents choose to employ tutors or use online schools and activities led by others.

Types of educational activity

This can be varied and flexible. Home-educating parents are not required to:

• teach the National Curriculum
• have a timetable
• have premises equipped to any particular standard
• set hours during which education will take place
• have any specific qualifications
• make detailed plans in advance
• observe school hours, days or terms
• mark work done by their child
• match school-based, age-specific standards.

It is likely to be much easier to show that the education provided is suitable if there is breadth of learning and content and the concepts of progression and assessment are incorporated into your child’s learning.

The Elective Home Education (EHE) Team can provide you with advice and guidance. You can also find EHE resources on our website.

Educating a child full-time at home can be a rewarding but challenging task.

Taking control of your child’s education is a big commitment. You should not underestimate the amount of time and work this will mean for you as the primary educator.

Take the time you need to think about electively home educating your child. You may wish to consider the: 

• cost of books, materials, resources, examinations (if required) and educational trips which would be your responsibility.
• benefits of school life can include the social interaction between children and young people. You will need to make a determined effort to maintain social networks for your child to prevent them from becoming isolated.

If an issue at school has prompted your thinking about EHE, always try to resolve any problems at school before taking such a big step. The Elective Home Education Team may be able to assist you or help you to find another school more suitable to your child’s needs without the need to deregister them to do this.

Sometimes a reduced school timetable can be arranged for a short period of time to support an anxious or worried young person to have a successful return to school.

Before you decide

If your child is already at school, we recommend speaking to the school to ensure you have all the information you need before informing them in writing of your intention to take responsibility for your child’s education and Electively Home Educate.

If your child attends a mainstream school

You must write to the Head teacher and inform them of your decision and the date you intend to start  electively home educating your child.

You can find a sample deregistration letter on the Education Otherwise website. 

The Headteacher will then remove your child from the school roll and inform the education welfare service.

If your child attends a special school

This school will be named in your child's Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

You must contact the Family Service Team and the Elective Home Education Team. They will then discuss your proposal with you.

Once the service is confident with your proposal, they will instruct the Headteacher of the school to deregister your child. The legal responsibility for education then passes to you as the parent.

If your child is not yet of statutory school age or you have recently moved to Suffolk

If you intend to educate your child at home, it would be helpful if you inform the Elective Home Education Team by emailing EHE@suffolk.gov.uk.

The EHE Team will write to you asking you to share your plans for home-educating your child.

Your plans may be communicated in one of the ways listed below. 

Written report

You may decide to provide a report outlining in detail the provision you intend to make.

This might include:

• opportunities for your child to be stimulated by their learning experiences
• information showing abroad spectrum of activities to cater for wide variety of interests appropriate to your child’s stage of development and the progress they are making
• explanation of the resources you'll be using, physical activity, opportunities, online resources, opportunities for appropriate interaction with other children and adults

Paperwork can be posted or emailed to the Elective Home Education Team in your area.

Meeting with us

If you prefer to meet with an Elective Home Education (EHE) officer we can meet you at your home, our offices or a public place like a library. 

During this meeting you will have the opportunity to discuss your educational philosophy and ethos.

This meeting is also a chance for you to share specific examples of your child's learning, for example pictures, paintings, models, diaries of work, projects, assessments, samples of work, books or educational visits.

Completing a form 

The Elective Home Education Team may request you complete the Parental Confirmation of Elective Home Education form.

This form is not compulsory, but is one option for sharing the provision that a parent has put in place. 

You can download the form below to view it. 

Once your Elective Home Education is in place, we'll contact you annually for an update on how things are going.

The purpose of this annual contact request is to:

• confirm you are still educating at home
• Provide us with updated information about the provision that you are currently making. This should include the provision of literacy and numeracy and how your provision may have adapted and changed over the last year
• support you with the next stages should you so wish

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

You will be asked to provide information on how you are planning to ensure that your child can make progress with the objectives that are on the plan.

You do not have to do this in the same way as a school would, but you will be asked to demonstrate that they are making progress. This will usually be in a meeting with a Elective Home Education consultant.

We try where possible to do this alongside the Annual Review of the plan, so as not to add to your need to come to meetings, but it can be done separately if you prefer that.

Whatever you choose, it must be done annually.