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BarnetLA

Page history last edited by starkfamily1@... 16 years ago

Barnet

a page for information, news and comment in the London borough of Barnet

 


 

 

related links:

 

Meeting the LA Education Department

Guidance on improving LEAs

 

 

EHE Consultation

 

February 2008:

 

In response to our enquiry about Barnet's response to the DCSF consultation about guidelines for LAs re elective home education, (guidelines released Nov. 2007) we have received the following from the London Borough of Barnet:

 

"I am replying to your freedom of Information request dated 18 February 2008. Please find attached Barnet's response to the consultation:-   <<elective home ed- sen regional partnership.doc>>"

 

...along with what the FOI officer says is a copy of Barnet's response. However, the document is labelled "draft" and the sender details are not completed. The responses to questions 1 to 8 are an exact copy of the response of the London Safeguarding Network. See our page about this network response including AHEd comment:

 

7th March 2008:

 

It has now been clarified by Barnet LA that this document was sent to us in error and was not submitted by them to the then DfES. It is interesting though that it was labelled "Draft" and obviously in use as a guide or crib sheet or reference - this is what we suspected was happening in some LAs and what we wrote to DCSF to complain about just before the Guidelines were produced.

 

Barnet also sent us another document which was sent to DfES as a response to the consultation. However, they state

 

"Only one response was sent in to the consultation. It was the view held by colleagues within my department and therefore personal rather than an official response from Barnet." 

 

AHEd has posted the response below, without personal names for the time being. However, we will also ask Barnet what was written in the "about you" info at the top of the response in order to clarify that the response would not have been assumed to be from an LA and/or recorded as a LA response in the DCSF analysis. 

 

 

Handwritten at the top of the file: “This response is from an officer from the London Borough of Barnet. The officer states that the views expressed are his/hers and not the authority’s.” The file is a scanned image of a list of questions and answers only.

 

 

 

 

1 Do you agree that it is helpful for the DfES to issue guidelines to local authorities?

 

Yes it is helpful for the DfES to issue guidelines to LAs but guidelines to parents/carers would also be useful. It would be a helpful addition to have a consistent picture of what a “suitable and efficient” education looks like and how/when this can be assessed. a timeframe for inspection would assist both LA/parents so that clear expectations are laid down.

 

 

2 Do you agree that the description of the law (paragraphs 2.1-2.3) relating to elective home education is accurate and clear?

 

We agree with the principle of parental responsibility in 2.3 but feel that until the Act is amended different communities may be encouraged to be inward looking rather than inclusive. 

 

In principle we agree with 2.4, but we do not agree with the lack of requirement for parents to register as we have a safeguarding responsibility for all the young people in our Borough.

 

We agree that the parents who have opted out should take financial responsibility for their children’s education but that grants should be available from Central Government for exam registration/fees and invigilation in the public examination system at Key Stage 4 and above. This could be linked into the requirement to register with the Local Authority so that parents have an incentive, and the LA then ahs an overview.

 

 

 

3 Do you agree that the description of local authorities’ responsibilities (paragraphs 2.5-2.11) is accurate and helpful?

 

In 2.5 we would value a definition of “reasonable progress”, especially for students who have opted out of Standard Assessment Tests (SATs)/QCA.

 

 

We feel that the duty mentioned in 2.6 should apply to children educated at home and there should be a comprehensive database in each Children’s Service and a requirement for all parents and carers to register.

 

4 Do you agree that the section on contact with the local authority (paragraphs 3.4-3.7) is accurate and helpful?

 

We agree with 3.4 – 3.7

 

5 Do you agree that the section on providing a full-time education (paragraphs 3.11-3.14) – and in particular, the characteristics of provision (paragraph 3.13) – is accurate and helpful?

 

Whilst we value the principles in 3.13 we would appreciate a suggested outline of the last paragraph in 3.11. “However the LA should offer advice and support to parents in these matters if requested”. We are equally aware of the need for flexible arrangements in elective home education.

 

 

6 Do you agree that the section on developing relationships (section 4) is useful?

 

4.1 has made us reflect on how we as a Children’s Service could work towards better partnerships with parents who educate their children at home.

 

 

7 a) Are the suggested resources in section 5 and appendix 2 useful?

 

 

We feel the resources and links in Section 5 and Appendix 2 are very useful.

 

7 b) Should any other contacts be included?

 

 We feel that there should be a note to refer people to Local Authority intranets where local contacts details can be obtained.

 

8 Please use this space for any other comments you wish to make about the guidelines

 

·        Need to review the Act so that there is a statutory responsibility to register with the LA from a safeguarding point of view

·        We have experienced the problems families have faced when Post 16 options are closed to them as a result of Elective Home Education and no formal qualifications

·        We feel that some families are not entering their children for formal qualification because of the cost

·        We are concerned that because of the new guidance on Exclusions that EHE will be challenged in the streets during school hours. The requirement for an ID card might also be another incentive for parents to register. If discounts to Leisure Centres were available on production of an ID card, this might also serve as an incentive to register.

·        Whilst we appreciate that the majority of Home Educators take Elective Home Education seriously we have concerns from personal experience and visits regarding extremely vulnerable children.

·        To ensure our pupils are safe we have a “net” of alternative routes e.g. assessment by Educational Psychologists and referrals to the education Welfare team. We feel this safeguarding needs to be written in the guidance.

 

 

 

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Comment:

 

 

Strange how they don’t know if it was a him or a her – never mind the name – and strange how the author consistently refers to “we” not “I” ! “ 

 

 

 

 

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News:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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