Elective Home Education: Frequently Asked Questions
I am interested in registering my child for EHE, who do I contact?
If your child is currently on roll of a school, you may notify the school that you wish to home educate your child.
You may also contact the local authority by email electivehomeeducation@hounslow.gov.uk
Am I legally obliged to inform my local authority that I want to educate my child at home?
The law does not currently require you to notify your local authority of your intentions to home educate. However, the local authority does have a legal duty to ensure its resident children are in receipt of a suitable education. It is therefore recommended that you register your intentions.
My child’s current school has requested I remove my child from their roll and register as EHE. Can they do this?
A school cannot request or advise a parent to de-register their child from the school to home educate. Any decision to home educate must be made by you. The responsibility to provide a suitable education for your child will be effective from the date you remove your child from the school.
My child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), can I still home educate my child?
You have a right to electively home educate your child if you wish. It remains the responsibility of the local authority where your child lives to ensure that your child’s education needs are met. If your child is attending a special school, the local authority must give consent for your child’s name to be removed from the school roll.
Does the local authority supply textbooks, exam papers, laptops etc?
The local authority does not supply textbooks or pay/arrange for exams. If you make the choice to home educate your child, you will be expected to pay for any exam fees, should you wish your child to sit them, and the cost of textbooks, tuition fees, resources etc.
Will my child/children still be entitled to free school meals?
If your child/ren received free school meals at their school, please check with hounslow.schoolmeals@liberata.com to find out how to claim vouchers whilst you home educate.
Am I required to follow the National Curriculum?
If you decide to home educate, it will be your responsibility to provide your child with a suitable full-time education programme that meets your child’s needs according to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs. There is no requirement for you to follow a prescribed curriculum. However, the education programme should be well balanced and prepare your child for life within the community of which he or she is a member.
After I notify the school that I want to register my child as EHE with the local authority what happens next?
The local authority will send you a formal registration letter and acknowledgment of your intention to home educate your child. A request will be made for you to meet either face-toface or virtually with an EHE Team Member to share the education provision you will be providing at home.
What should I expect from the EHE visit/virtual meeting?
If you prefer a face-to-face visit ,it will be conducted in your child’s home unless otherwise agreed by the EHE team member with you. In the case of the visit taking place elsewhere a suitable venue, such as a library or children’s centre, will normally be agreed. The visit would not normally take any longer than one hour and the EHE team member would expect to meet with your child. The same principal would apply for a virtual visit.
Can I provide evidence of home educating my child rather than agreeing to a visit?
If you do not wish to meet with the EHE team, we will request a written report/questionnaire setting out your education philosophy and ask that you support this with evidence of your child’s work. If you do have support in the delivery of your child’s learning, such as a tutor, an endorsement in the delivery of the programme is accepted as evidence but is not essential in the assessment. If available, they would need to confirm that the education provided, in their view, is suitable.
My last visit was unsatisfactory, what happens now?
The EHE team will make recommendations to arrange a further visit to assess progress after giving advice. We strive to work together with families to ensure that education provision is appropriate.
What information do you hold about my child on the EHE records?
We hold their full name, date of birth, address, parent details and contact details, whether they have any SEN needs or have an EHC plan. If your child was on roll of a school, we would be provided with a notification of your request to home educate and basic education background information. We also record dates of your last visit and whether it was satisfactory. We ask for your religion and/or ethnicity. We do ask for your reason to home educate for our monitoring purposes.
