Truancy
2007 Guidance from DCSF says school attendance sweeps "involve stopping any young person believed to be of school age, whether accompanied by an adult or not. The intention is to establish whether or not the young person is registered at school and, if so, whether he/she is out of school legitimately." "We are aware that some authorities also use attendance sweeps as a way of finding home educated children who are not known to the authority.
Sweeps will generally involve a police officer and an Education Welfare Officer. There are no longer any national sweeps on pre-arranged dates, so in theory you could be stopped at any time. Since the home educated child is not a registered pupil, the parent cannot be committing any offence to do with registered pupils being absent from school. In addition, the child cannot be committing an offence because ensuring attendance of registered pupils is the legal responsibility of the parent and not of the child. It is advisable to talk this through as a family because some children may otherwise become distressed if stopped by police. You should tell the truancy sweep personnel that your child is home educated following section 7 of the 1996 Education Act and that therefore you should be allowed to go on your way because you are not the target of the sweep.
Some members opt to carry a laminated Education Otherwise "Truancy Card", particularly if young people are out and about on their own during school hours. Printed information on the card reminds police and EWOs that home education is a legal option. Write to PO Box 325, Kings Lynn, Norfolk PE34 3XW enclosing £1 for each card (cheque, postal order or stamps) + a stamped self-addressed envelope.
You don't have to give your name and address unless the police officer has further specific concerns which are communicated to you during the encounter. There is a legal difference between refusing to give your name to an EWO and refusing to give your name to a police officer. You should establish whether it is actually the police officer who is asking for your details. Ask the officer to write down his/her name and badge number. You also need the EWO's name and the name of his/her line manager.
During a truancy sweep, the EWO may be carrying a list of home educators who are known to the authority and if you give your name and address, he/she will be able to see immediately whether or not you are on the list or not . Some Education Welfare Officers may not know that home education is legal and some may believe that we have to be "registered" or "approved". You should make them aware that the Government states very clearly that we don't have to register. In terms of police officers, some areas may use Community Support Police Officers on truancy sweeps, and these officers only receive 3 months basic training.
2009 Statutory Guidance on Children At Risk of Not Receiving Suitable Education says:
"73. When raising awareness with partner agencies it is useful to remind them that parents may lawfully educate their children at home. Where a local authority is satisfied that a parent is providing their child with a suitable full time education, the child is not the target of this duty. However, the local authority does have the power to issue a school attendance order if it appears that the parent is not providing a suitable education. Education of children at home by their parents is not in itself a cause for concern about the child’s welfare." p.22
87. Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 requires local authorities to make arrangements to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children who are not pupils at schools and who are not otherwise receiving suitable education. In order to comply with this duty local authorities need to make arrangements which will as far as possible enable them to determine whether any children who are not pupils at schools, such as those being educated at home, are receiving suitable education. In order to do this local authorities should make inquiries with parents educating children at home about the educational provision being made for them. The procedures to be followed with respect to such investigations are set out in the EHE Guidelines, 2.7-2.11 and 3.4-3.6." p.25
"91. Local authorities should keep a record of children who are known to be educated at home by parents. Parents are not, however, required to inform the local authority if they decide to home educate a child who has not previously attended school." p.26
Your details may be passed to Children Missing Education so that the blank data field for "place of education" can be filled with your home address. Your details might also be passed to the local authority Elective Home Education team. You are quite likely to get a follow-up letter/phone call from the authority saying that it has come to their attention that you are home educating and asking you to supply information about your educational provision. The authority might want you to fill in a form/ answer questions and/or meet with the authority's home education consultant. You should read the DCSF Guidelines on Home Education 2007. It is important to respond to any communication from the local authority, which does not mean that you have to agree to specific demands.
Where local authorities are getting it right and treating home educators respectfully and not harassing them for names and addresses, this has involved local home educators being pro-active with the council and campaigning for fairer treatment. If possible you should network with other local home educators and see if you can get a small group together to tackle the authority, because it is much easier if you aren't trying to do this on your own.
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