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How we can help you

Initial visit to discuss your plans

When we're told that you plan to educate your child at home, we'll contact you to offer advice and guidance.

We may offer an initial visit or conversation to:

  • talk about your plans for home education
  • answer any questions
  • share information that may be useful to you
  • signpost you to organisations, websites and local support available to home-educating families.

During this conversation, we'll discuss how you plan to provide a suitable education for your child. As well as simple ways you can keep a record of their learning and progress.

Ongoing support

If you'd find ongoing support helpful, we can stay in touch and arrange further contact. Many families choose to have occasional conversations with us as their home education journey develops.

You can decide for yourself how much contact you'd like with us. We will not insist on meetings if you choose not to engage. If you do not want a visit, you do not need to agree to one.

Our Elective Home Education Policy explains the limited circumstances where we may need to make further enquiries if there are concerns that a child may not be receiving a suitable education.

Helpful resources

You can use our template to record your child's learning and educational progress:

Or you can also:

Providing a suitable education

As a parent, you are responsible for making sure your child receives a full-time education that is suitable for their age.

We have a legal duty to act if it appears that your child is not receiving a suitable education. To understand your approach, we may ask you to share information such as:

  • examples of your child's work
  • learning records or reports
  • details of learning activities
  • information from someone independent who knows about your child's education
  • a meeting or discussion about your child's progress.

In most cases, any concerns can be resolved through discussion and support. If we still have concerns, we will:

  • write to you to let you know about the concerns
  • give you the opportunity to adapt the education being given
  • review the work your child is doing.

Only after all reasonable steps have been taken would we consider a School Attendance Order (SAO). This would require your child to be registered at a school. This is always a last resort.

See what to teach your child at home.

Safeguarding children

We have a duty to help keep all children safe, including those who are educated at home.

If you use tutors or other adults to support your child's education, we strongly recommend checking their references and considering whether a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is appropriate.

Like all local authorities, we must act if we have concerns that a child may be at risk of harm. Any safeguarding concerns are dealt with through our child protection procedures.

However, safeguarding powers cannot be used to assess whether a child is receiving a suitable education at home.