Would anything come of reporting child homeschooling in England?
Posted by BeneficialJuice2878@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 132 comments
So i was previously homeschooled and received NO tutoring and didn’t even get to sit my GCSE exams. My parents are now homeschooling my younger sister (12) and I know she receives no curriculum. By this I mean genuinely sitting in her room watching tv or on her phone ALL day, not a single bit of teaching has ever been done.
i just want to know if I have any legal basis to report them. I wasn’t sure if there is a legal requirement for children to be up to a certain level educationally with homeschooling. I feel like it is a form of neglect. I just want to see if anything can be done by authorities.
thanks everyone!
sedsaus@reddit
Teaching a class of 1, 4, 15, 27, 33 or whatever (these are class sizes I recall from the private a s state sector) is hard. Each child has a specific need and by comparison, and in case anyone thinks teaching one child is easiest, it's not.
I'm qualified, for years, and teaching isn't a walk in the part, so I'm amazed at when I read and have seen parents who have homeschooled their children.
The lack of regulation is in my opinion dangerous, the lack of safeguarding, even moreso - trust me when I say the things that came out of lockdown was enough and should've been enough to alert the population of child poverty, abuse or basically all the ACE's. Also, if and when they return to school, and I've taught a few, to they lack social skills on some level. Skills we take for granted until they reach adulthood.
Report to social services. If there is any sign of neglect, they'll investigate it with your full cooperation.
Party-Werewolf-4888@reddit
I used to work on a child education team who monitored home schooling. All this meant was: parents would declare their children would be home schooled and they made a note of it. I dont believe any reason has to be given. I dont believe there is any legal obligation to meet a certain standard, if there is a legal obligation I can tell you it was not mentioned once when I worked there (I was a plebby admin so maybe they just didnt tell me about it). We did have conversations about the rising numbers of home schooled children in our area (one of the few regions in the UK where homeschooling has continued to rise post covid) but there was no plan, budget or workforce availability to tackle it 🤷♀️
I would still report to social services because there must be some sort of precedent on this. If failing to educate id wonder what other basic care needs they were failing to meet.
No_Height_2408@reddit
gov.uk "You must make sure your child receives a full-time education from the age of 5, but you do not have to follow the national curriculum.
The council can make an ‘informal enquiry’ to check your child is getting a suitable education at home. They can serve a school attendance order if they think your child needs to be taught at school."
Party-Werewolf-4888@reddit
Interesting! I can confirm none of this was ever discussed in the office and we certainly did not enquire as to what a suitable education might look like
No_Height_2408@reddit
It seems quite vague. If they are not following the national curriculum, I don't see what 'suitable' really means!
Party-Werewolf-4888@reddit
One of the common enquiries we did have was from parents asking how their child could sit their GCSE's and we would go through the process and mention they would need to be paid for by the parents. Parents would (mostly) go mad at this. Bit of a giveaway that they hadnt researched home schooling at all before taking it on.
No_Height_2408@reddit
That must cost thousands, yikes
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
I believe it costs around £450 for each GCSE… As you can imagine if parents did the 11-12 GCSES kids would do in school this would cost a LOT. Most homeschooling parents do not pay this as it’s not a legal requirement for homeschooled children to sit exams. There NEEDS to be laws put in place because it is horrifying at how unregulated it all is
bendyfaerie@reddit
Plus a hefty amount for access arrangements. Then anything with a practical or coursework that needs marking add more. Plus mocks for predicted grades if they're needed. When you hit A level the sciences are over a thousand each alone for the exams and practicals. It's pretty costly. I did a lot of explaining to angry parents that no, it's still paid for if they're at school just by the local budget that funds the schools rather than the parent direct - it gets paid either way!
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the info. Really insightful. I mean as far as I know she is given basic care. But she is given no socialisation and rarely spends time out of the house. She isn’t even taken to go to the park and play with kids her age. I also wonder if there is ANY regulations in terms of what socialisation homeschooled children need. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is no regulation on this…
Odd-Currency5195@reddit
Out of curiosity, what do your parents do, as in jobs?
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
My dad doesn’t work and is on benefits. and my mother works part time in care work (care homes).
Goldf_sh4@reddit
So they do have time to home educate her, they are just choosing not to.
Fit_Adhesiveness7307@reddit
It sounds like the parents do not have the level of education themselves required to teach her.
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
They have all the time in the world. Just no interest for some reason
Goldf_sh4@reddit
She deserves better.
Impressionsoflakes@reddit
The threshold for neglect is pretty high. Based on what you've said, they'll likely offer Early Help but it would be entirely up to your parents if they accessed this.
Professional_Snow576@reddit
I know you have a lot on your plate right now. But I would consider starting a moment, or patition, or blog, or something to bring light to you and your sisters struggle. I'm not against home schooling if done properly, but there should be some governing body who keeps an eye on it, and I think regardless of political views most people would agree, so wouldn't be difficult to get on the radar of policy makers, especially if there's social media hype. Just a thought, I wish you and your sister the best.
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
It is a form of neglect. The home schooling option should be banned in my opinion
Social services first.
wardyms@reddit
It shouldn’t be banned, it should be regulated better.
Goldf_sh4@reddit
If they banned it they'd have a huge number of SEN children flooding into the system with no way to provide adequately for them. That's why a lot of them left school.
hamstertoybox@reddit
Yep, in the UK SEN seems to be the main reason for home schooling. If your kid’s outright refusing school you still need to educate them.
adymann@reddit
Parents who let their kid decide whether they go to school are weak, and damage their children. Imo. My child is SEN and gives us difficulties sometimes but we're the adults and she will do what we say!
hamstertoybox@reddit
Well bully for you for having a kid who can cope with a school environment.
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
Yes I clarified this below. Agreed.
SyrusChrome@reddit
I was home schooled and came out with 13 gcse's through two diplomas. There are home visits and checks.
I fear your opinion is not based on experience.
Now saying that OP's situation is clearly bad home schooling and that should be rectified.
DameKumquat@reddit
There should be home visits and checks. There generally aren't. I've had one visit in the last 5 years, to confirm my kids were alive. I'm nice and middle-class and probably actually doing education, so I'm not in their top 500 problems to check up on.
CrazyPlatypusLady@reddit
My local council axed our EHE team in 2014 and stuck the EHE folk under the truancy team. This was ridiculous and made a lot of people who were previously happy being monitored become very unhappy to be monitored. The truancy team didn't understand the nuances and generally services plummeted.
I don't know what it's like now, mine opted to go back into school for secondary nearly a decade ago and slotted in with all the other year 7s at the time.
DameKumquat@reddit
I dealt with the truancy team before the home ed lot. Had nice cuppa with them the one time they came round, and they were lovely, and told the general council team and the SEN teams to shut it when they tried lecturing me on the importance of education (if child 1 has had 1 day off in their entire primary career, ditto y7 and 8, and child 2 similar to y4, we can assume it's not general fecklessness that's the issue).
Last year there was one woman dealing with over 500 secondary kids with EHCPs who werent in suitable placements. She was mostly trying to swap some over.
KelpFox05@reddit
This. I was homeschooled, got mostly 9s on GCSEs, passed college with a diploma in media production. Was going to go to university and then my chronic pain suddenly escalated but that would've happened either way tbh. It's educational neglect that's the issue and kids can be (and arguably, are regularly) educationally neglected in mainstream school also.
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
Until we have a government that's actually going to police it, it's not fair on the children who are either lucky or unlucky. At least those with potential are usually sculpted into something at school.
I agree it works for some, and I agree with additional management and monitoring it should remain a viable option.
CrazyPlatypusLady@reddit
Exactly this. There's a massive difference between home education and home schooling. There's also a massive difference between actual "unschooling" and neglectful, ineffective parenting given the same name by people who don't care to know better.
Demi_silent@reddit
Then there needs to be decent alternatives. I have both my children home because they fell through the cracks of the school system and couldn’t get the support they needed. There are many many children like mine that are now taught at home.
That said, you do have to give the LA evidence of their progress annually when the LA request it. If you do not provide evidence or your education is not deemed satisfactory, then school does become compulsory.
It isn’t quite as free and easy as people seem to think.
There is also tons of free and cheap resources now for home education that makes the job of the parent so much easier.
No-Club3690@reddit
I work in a large outer london borough. Home education team has 2 people. I have done a lot of referrals to them because in most instances, kids are being pulled out of school for parents benefit or reasoning So unfortunately these same parents lack the energy and drive to actually home educate properly Ive met kids who havent been outside except for medical appointments in a year... I realise schools need to make adjustments in some cases but i do see schools trying their best with worse than terrible funding. Expectations are quite high in context of day to day school life
Demi_silent@reddit
Are you a teacher or social worker? Usually it’s not referrals. You can inform the LA that a child is being home educated. However if a child is not being educated, you would refer them to the child missing in education team.
I know there are children that haven’t been outside. I know personally some children that are rarely making it outside. However, often I’ve found that this isn’t the parents refusing to, or not trying. It’s because the child has had so long in an environment that was detrimental to them, that they just kind of nope out. It can take years to reverse that sometimes. It’s a lot of patience and going at the child’s own pace and a serious lack of resources for the parents.
I’m not saying schools aren’t trying, but you said yourself they have a serious lack of funding and that means that those children that aren’t coping can’t get the support they need in a school setting. Couple that with parents being threatened with fines when they can’t get their anxious child into that environment and legal actions. Of course children will be pulled out, and once they are, building those children back up again takes time.
No-Club3690@reddit
Im not teacher or social worker am a therapist, soni see a lot of children who have understandably noped out. They are often waiting for neurodivergence diagnosis and on lists, parents co operate and try
However i Have had to do child missing in education a lot, often seen families move out of borough to try and evade that because parents have their own physical or mental health issues so cannot get out of bed etc. They need a different kind of support and sadly Informing home ed team to me is not good enough, so social care get involved too. One of these vulnerable children being killed or hurt to me is far worse a prospect and why we have to tighten up legislation and scrutiny of home education.
Building them back up to going into school does take time and I work a lot with school staff to support reintegration. The majority do provide support, its just a lot of parents expectations are quite extensive and ive seen the child be more resilient or happy at school than parents believe them to be in some instances. Anxiety feeds anxiety. Some aspects of disliking school are developmentally appropriate or easily sorted, e.g. they hate a particular lesson or can cope when allowed to wear ear defenders and a late start to the day. Pressure of fines is not ideal, though in a 10 year career ive rarely seen it happen with emotionally based school avoidance, only once see it go to court. Most of the fines I saw were for term time holidays (government needs to regulate travel industry)
KeyboardMash615@reddit
It's as good as the people who are doing it. For some, it works out wonderfully - for certain kids, I think it's a lifeline out of a mainstream setting they are not able to deal with for various reasons. But there isn't a lot of oversight or checking, so it's all too easy for kids to disappear into bad set-ups.
keishajay@reddit
Yes. Report it to children’s services. There needs to be SOME education and it will link in with education welfare service.
TSC-99@reddit
Report to social services and the local authority. It is neglect.
CheeryJP@reddit
This is the answer. My mother used to work with social services a lot supporting a few students which were fleeing arranged marriages, and were trying not to be shipped back to Pakistan.
Follow up, follow up, follow up, call them, complain they haven’t done anything. They resist doing anything that isn’t easy and straight forward. Normally because they are over worked, underpaid and understaffed.
Also if the person who visits is lazy and your parents are charming. If they make out this has all been blown out of proportion, they may believe them.
Follow up.
SnooCats611@reddit
I'm afraid it isn't the answer.
OP should report, but at this stage we do not have enough information to know whether OPs sibling is experiencing neglect.
SnooCats611@reddit
I'm afraid it's far more nuanced than this. I have no doubt this reply will be downvoted because this sub hates being told what is actually true and prefers to deal in what we think should be true, but there is not enough information available at all at this juncture to label this as "neglect".
Home schooling is not particularly well regulated in this country but in essence a parent has the right to home school their child with very little oversight by any regulatory body. There are very minimal requirements as to what should be offered as part of a home schooling programme.
If you are worried about your sister you absolutely should report it to children's services, but do not be surprised if the legal threshold for child protective action- a child having suffered, suffering, or being likely to suffer significant harm- is a high bar and in itself, lack of structured curriculum around home schooling is not, on its own, something that the Local Authority have powers to deal with.
AlGunner@reddit
This
oooohshinythingy@reddit
I know someone who ‘homeschooled’ her son from him being about 12. She honestly let him watch Star Trek most of the day because it learned him about science smfh
Sandman1812@reddit
"Learned him"
Dependent_One6034@reddit
Not correct in todays standards, but is still usable. However, it used to be correct usage.
People still use it today to take the piss a little bit. I have to guess the OP used it because they are teaching the child, but aren't really teaching the child the correct things.
Basically a touch of sarcasm.
oooohshinythingy@reddit
What issues do you have with ‘smfh’
oooohshinythingy@reddit
Maybe I should have put quote marks
oooohshinythingy@reddit
Maybe google and you’ll find it’s a word and used correctly 🙄
stm2657@reddit
Would be surprised if they acted. We homeschooled our daughter from the age of 11. We got one letter for us to fill in and ask questions- no response came. We chased, went to our MP etc but had to do everything ourselves.
Was stunned at how little anyone checked on what we were doing. She got 6 GCSEs in the end so it worked out, but it’s all on the parents with almost zero oversight.
hamstertoybox@reddit
Really?! That’s horrifying!
stm2657@reddit
Even worse, we had to remove her because she was struggling to go in each day. She had been relentlessly bullied by a girl, and the other girls that were scared of her, with more than 180 citations against her (she was classed as vulnerable so she stayed at the school).
My daughter’s attendance dropped- she had panic attacks every morning and the school always isolated the victims each time. It reached the point that we were told we could be taken to court and because of our the nature of our jobs my wife and I could easily have been made unemployed. We had no choice but to remove her.
This was then followed up by having to pay lots for mental health care (private) because there was no help for that either and now my daughter is finally able to live her life. The utter lack of support was shocking throughout in a supposed first world country.
hamstertoybox@reddit
Oof, I’m so sorry. I’m glad she’s doing better now.
prettybunbun@reddit
It’s different if someone makes a report to social services on a child’s behalf. They have a duty of care to investigate.
stm2657@reddit
Yes that’s true. A shame it comes to that to get some oversight, especially when you consider the money parents save the government by home schooling.
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
Social services
I was your little sister once.
walkunafraid7@reddit
Another failed home education child here. Went hand in hand with every other type of neglect you can imagine, and I'm only just beginning to unravel it all in therapy now at the age of almost 40.
Icing on the cake was when my Mother had a face on for weeks when I told her I planned to send my children to school. Do you ACTUALLY think you did a good job?!
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
My Mother never wanted to homeschool us, but dad refused to send us to school
zznznbznnnz@reddit
As someone who also received little to nothing formal education, I do browse r/ukhomeed and I’m not sure why. I do wonder how the parents posting there would respond to adults feeding back their first hand experiences, negative or positive
Phoenix_Fireball@reddit
Have a look at r/homeschoolrecovery
Most people are from the USA but there are some from the UK and Australia and a few other countries.
pennypenny22@reddit
This is most definitely the saddest sub I know. Anyone thinking of homeschooling their child should read it.
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
I can tell you how they respond; they ban you.
I made a post talking about my experience, and got banned for spreading negativity
NorfolkingChancer@reddit
As some one who comes into contact with a quite a few home schooled kids, there are very few cases were home schooling is the better option. My attitude is the home schooled child has an idiot for a teacher unless proven otherwise.
Also having met a number of home schooling parents they nearly always over estimate their own abilities and underestimate how fucking hard it is to teach to a well rounded curriculum. Being band for telling an uncomfortable truth is very much believable.
ItsDominare@reddit
My view is it doesn't matter if the parent is a fully qualified teacher, home-schooled kids still miss out on one of the most important parts of all: being around other kids and large groups, and learning the necessary social skills to cope with it.
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
I agree, many people say I’m likely a sociopath due to my upbringing
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
My Mother is a very intelligent woman, and a math wizz, however there is only so much one person can do..
She was the teacher, the parent, the housekeeper, etc.
iffyClyro@reddit
Sorry if this isn’t appropriate to ask but do you know why?
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
..you’re going to have to be a little more specific mate
iffyClyro@reddit
Why didn’t your parents send you to school if they weren’t going to bother actually homeschooling?
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
My Mother was overwhelmed having to homeschool my sisters, one of which has brain damage and autism.
My dad is a useless waste of space
iffyClyro@reddit
Aside from being neglectful though, why couldn’t you go to school if your mum wasn’t coping?
MiserableSympathy230@reddit
My dad was against the system because he was raised in care.
We were also vegetarian/vegan because he didn’t trust farming..this went on till Mum nearly died from a terrible diet, and suddenly we were meat eaters.
Didn’t have meat till I was 12
SpectreSingh89@reddit
Yes when homeschooling there must be a curricular set in place where parent / guardian must set up and become like a teacher for good couple o hours per week.
Reporting is yer best bet.
Sandman1812@reddit
Were you home schooled?
SpectreSingh89@reddit
Nope! No idea how it works but I did hear "how it should be" in a lesson, from a teacher.
SpaTowner@reddit
It has to be full time education, not a couple of hours a week.
LukeArchArk@reddit
It's not enforced at all, I went through the same thing as OP's sis.
Mmmycorona@reddit
That’s inaccurate here in the UK.
Repulsive_State_7399@reddit
There is no rule about following the curriculum, just they a suitable education is being provided. There will be a department at your Local Authority that deals with homeschool children. They can contact your parents and ask for more details, and arrange a home visit. Although I see comments saying contact social services, they may not be a lot of help here.
Entire-Emotion-819@reddit
I was gonna suggest this, I had a friend who was homeschooled, and she constantly had people from the council visiting and checking how she was getting on etc, her mum was a teacher so she had that advantage as well.
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
I know… this is what I’m really unsure of. “Suitable education” can just mean knowing basic maths and English - being able to read and write. I want to know I have a genuine basis for putting out a report.
Turbulent-Fun-3123@reddit
Legally, she should be registered as home educated and some checks that she is receiving an education be carried out. Speak to an adult in your school, this is a safeguarding issue so they should report it on.
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
I’m not in school anymore sorry haha. And I do not live anywhere near that county anymore. She should be registered as home educated, as me and my siblings used to have regular visits from social services doing checkups on our education. However after a couple of years these check ups stopped and my parents told me they stopped even asking for proof (just pictures/documentation) of the work we had been doing since our last visit. So I’m 99% sure they have never done a check up and do not ask for any proof of education for her anymore.
Most_Kiwi3141@reddit
Yeah, the budget probably isn't there any more for the people who are supposed to do the checking. In theory there are supposed to be safety nets but in practice the safety nets have been shredded by years of austerity.
Mmmycorona@reddit
In England there is currently no legal requirement for a home-educated child to be “registered” as home educated, unless they were previously on a school roll or attend a special school with an EHCP. If a child is taken out of school, the school informs the local authority, but there is no formal registration system for all home-educated children
SpaTowner@reddit
The law calls for ‘efficient full-time education suitable to [a child’s] age, ability and aptitude.”
Full time education doesn’t involve watching tv and playing on a phone all day.
You mentioned that charges against your father may have been about sexual abuse, and also that your mother works outside the home. I’m sorry to ask, but have you considered whether your sister is safe at home?
Repulsive_State_7399@reddit
It means suitable for the child. Many kids are Home ed due to disability, sen schools are massively overwhelmed. They couldn't draw up a framework for home education, because many kids will never be able to go past basic maths and English. It should be suitable for the individual child's abilities. So in other words, if shes 12, only doing basic KS1 work, then its not suitable, but it would depend on the child.
Angelf1shing@reddit
You can make an anonymous report and they’ll determine if there’s a basis or not
Wonderful-Medium7777@reddit
Schooling is not the legal requirement… Education is and it is the parent’s responsibility...you can find further info on the website education otherwise.
Could you speak with your parents about your concerns as your relationship with them and your sister is important.
Maths and English are the required priority …normally a “curriculum” based on the child’s needs would be followed, it does not have to be the same as a school curriculum although some parents do use it as a guideline. If you can do some research on home education so you have your factual evidence and then share your concerns with the local education authority, this would probably be the best way forwards, they will probably contact your parents to discuss your sisters education provisions as they can offer support and forward planning.
AttorneyOk4808@reddit
I work in a special needs team and have those who are home schooled.
Literally the local authority have no authority to do anything. Its a parental right under the children's act 2014 for to right to home educate.
A parent could teach a child that the colour blue is actually the colour pink (so the sky is pink) and nothing can be done.
The only thing that would be of concern would be a family teaching a child extremist views, even then its still the right to home educate. Social would be limited unless this was the case.
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
Thank you. I thought this was the case. I feel really stuck on what to do. It upsets me that it will likely be another 4 or 5 years before she goes to college and gets out and lives her life… I feel like I can’t do anything as the authorities will deem her as being well cared for, as she is not being physically neglected.
SpaTowner@reddit
How’s she going to get to college if no-one is teaching her anything?
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
In my area our college will give you a place but you have to sit your maths and English GCSE in your first year… so unless those rules change she can go to college and do something… she just doesn’t have many options unfortunately
walkunafraid7@reddit
Can confirm it was like this roughly 25 years ago too. I sat my Maths and English GCSE alongside AS levels. Does your sister want to be "home educated"?
Certain-Trainer3591@reddit
It should lead to at least an investigation by the local education department. Wasn't homeschooled but have met a few throughout my life and have found the same thing with all of them. Socially very awkward and either highly religious or cultish, also very good in what their parents were good at but a bit useless at everything else.
LukeArchArk@reddit
You can try reporting but being realistic, probably nothing will happen, my mum 'educated' me in the exact same way and had social service visits but literally nothing would happen, at school leaving age I didn't even know my times tables.
It's bad but at least poor school education is manageable in the UK, I just did college at 16 till 19, then headed off to University and managed to snag a first, so it's not all bad! It can be fixed
ThatSamShow@reddit
Yes, failing to provide a suitable education while claiming to homeschool is a form of educational neglect. In black and white, under the Education Act 1996, parents have a legal duty to ensure their child receives a "suitable" full-time education.
Also, if your younger sister is left in their room all day without instruction or stimulation, this may also constitute emotional neglect or broader child welfare concerns. It needs reporting.
jooniejoon3@reddit
Please report them!
I tutor a few homeschooled children and they unfortunately are so behind, compared to their peers. I don’t agree with homeschooling. The only child I’ve seen it work for is a child who’s parents can afford to pay for tuition sessions everyday for all subjects.
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
The thing is… if the parents can afford tutors every day for every subject, the child may as well go to a very select private school. I don’t think parents who go down that path understand what it actually requires and what the expenses are
Raunien@reddit
I was homeschooled for a while. We had occasional visits from the council to make sure I was getting a decent standard of education (although you don't need to follow the national curriculum). You should definitely report this to the council. The law, unfortunately, is rather vague about the whole thing and it's mostly left up to local authorities to decide what qualifies as an unsuitable education and how they go about fixing that. Guidance here
Emergency_Future5156@reddit
Phone your local authority and ask for the social safeguarding team and the elective home education team
pippins2ndbreakfast@reddit
What is your relationship like with your parents? How would this change if they got in trouble with this? Hope you and your siblings are okay
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
Thank you. My relationship with them is “okay”. I’m at university now and don’t live at home. I will speak to my parents but I’m at the point of basically refusing to meet up with them, or go home for any university holidays. As it is just such an unhealthy environment to be in for my mental state.
If they found out I’d make a report they would definitely cut me off. Which would make things pretty tough for me as I’d have no place to stay for summer break (3 months). And I do need a place to stay during summer until I finish university unfortunately. As they do not financially support me I’m not in the position to financially support myself living alone during that summer. It’s a tough place to be in
Fit_Adhesiveness7307@reddit
You’ve done amazingly well getting to university after suffering educational neglect like you describe.
ReliefZealousideal84@reddit
What do your parents say when you ask them about it?
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
It’s one of those things I haven’t brought up in years. My parents will always be on the defensive and refuse to accept they are in the wrong. My dad did say to me about a year or two ago that my mother felt it was wrong she was stuck in her room all day… But my dad said he didn’t want anything to change and he was happy with how the house was running. So nothing came of my mums concerns and she continued not being given an education.
I do wonder if this information also gives more leverage for a checkup to be had. As my mother had admitted to not being comfortable. Weather there is abuse happening in their relationship I don’t know…
Goldf_sh4@reddit
Group tuition online can be very affordable. Could you talk them into it?
SpaTowner@reddit
If the sister has had no education at all, which OP seems to be saying, she’s going to need some specialised remedial education if she’s to stand a chance of catching up with her peers.
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
Yes… I honestly believe she would fail a SAT exam. I doubt she would be able to get into any high schools in the area with how low her grades would be. She’s basically stuck now being homeschooled for years…
SpaTowner@reddit
She isn’t being honest schooled though. She’s being warehoused.
wardyms@reddit
It’s so loosely regulated that it wouldn’t surprise me if your parents are deemed to be doing enough.
SpaTowner@reddit
The law seems to require them to provide
It’s difficult to see how doing nothing could be deemed ‘enough’.
wardyms@reddit
It is isn’t it? And yet there’s thousands of kids in the UK like it.
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
Exactly. I don’t want to have my relationship cut off from my sister if they put two and two together it was me making a report, with nothing beneficial coming of it. As I believe this would do a lot more bad than good…
Georgxna@reddit
Have you spoken to them about it before? If you haven’t, I don’t see how they would know, it could’ve been anyone.
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
Never spoken to them about it. But as my sister has NO other outside contact whatsoever, my parents would know it is someone in the family.
Dangerous-Use7343@reddit
Op can I ask why your parents are doing this? All children have a right to education that meets their needs in the case of sen. So dather than pull children out uf they are not doing well you have to ask for a different provision. My daughter does 2 hours a day of online learning with a tutor because of sen. But sen can be undiagnosed or it could be anxiety which still means they have to provide different learning.
Is there any other absue or neglect?
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
Hi, In terms of other abuse or neglect… I’m not sure. She is physically well cared for. But she is given no socialisation, and rarely spends time out of the house. Recently her first outing in nearly 2 weeks was to go to a pet store for half an hour…
My parents had previously homeschooled me and my other siblings. As far as I know this is because my dad had been arrested, and it went around in the community and parents that this was the case. As a result, my parents pulled us out of school. They had a ton of legal troubles and fines for pulling us out of school and I’m guessing. This is why they never enrolled my sister in education. As it is easier to never put her in education, instead of trying to pull her out if something goes “wrong again”.
If I had to assume they are doing it because it is easiest for them - they have no obligation to take care of her and are not in any legal trouble for her not having an attendance at a state school…
I know this is super confusing to follow but my parents have a LOT of issues and the background information is extensive…
Dangerous-Use7343@reddit
What did your Dad get arrested for? Why does that have such a big pull over whether you kids go to school? The school, kids and people are not usually intrested in or privy too such information.
I would call social services, they will contact the local authority. I thought that even if you are homeschooling you have to be registered and the LA have to come amd so welfare checks and make sure you are being taught in line with the curriculum?
Do they take you to the drs etc when you need to go? Is your sister ok with being in all the time?
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
I’m not sure what he was arrested for. He has been arrested multiple times. I know one of them was potentially for sexual abuse…
Apparently upon reading as she was never put in education she doesnt have a legal requirement to be registered as homeschooled with LA, which explains why she has no visits from the authorities.
Yes they would take me to the DRs, and I had all of my vaccines back then.
I think she is okay with it as she doesn’t know any different. Just like I didn’t all those years ago. But the older I got the more I struggled mentally with being in all of the time. I ended up being diagnosed with depression and severe anxiety because I couldn’t leave the house without having a panic attack. I think as she gets older the mental boredom is going to take a toll. Hope this all makes sense
SpaTowner@reddit
Are you saying then that she has never had any education at all?
BeneficialJuice2878@reddit (OP)
No… she never went to nursery or primary school even. “homeschooling” is all she’s known…
Dangerous-Use7343@reddit
It makes perfect sense op. I'm sorry you and your siblings have been put in that situation.
A google searched showed that your parents still have to provide her with a suitable education. And if they are not they can be forced to register her for school.
So ring social services, because your parents will have to show what work they have been doing with her etc. Its considered neglect.
When you say sexual abuse is this involving minors? Perhaps they didn't want you to go to school and be told about it? Or face the reactions from other parents with him being around their children.
Goldf_sh4@reddit
There is no legal requirement to follow the national curriculum or any other particular curriculum. But there is a legal responsibility to educate them. Yes, you can report them.
Zealousidea_@reddit
Call social services immediately
Lear_ned@reddit
Contact your Local Education Authority. When I was homeschooled they would come round once per year to check in on my learning and curriculum. My parents really cared so they always signed off and then stayed behind for a cuppa and a matter.
sausages234@reddit
You need to contact the Elective Home Education team at the local authority that your sister lives in. If you contact the county council customer services, they will put you in contact with them. This is the team that deals with this and will look into it properly. Source: I used to work in this team in my LA.
Additional-Guard-211@reddit
I work in a social work team. Go here, find your Local Authority. You then need to find your LA’s front door of children’s services; which may be called MASH (not making that up it stands Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub), or Children and Families, or something, or if your struggling to find it: google “worried about a child [LA name]”. Speak to them over the phone, you can remain anonymous if you wish- but be clear if thats your wish. Tell them what you know. You will have to wait until Tuesday now though, EDT (Emergency Duty) will defiantly not deal with this. Now there is a chance that they could pass this onto education welfare services (i have seen it) and close with no action, so don’t be worried about going back if you feel there is no signs of improvement.
Impressionsoflakes@reddit
You can contact the Elective Home Education (EHE) department in the local authority and complain, and / or report a concern about a child to the local authority.
I would moderate your expectation of anything coming from either of these.
KelpFox05@reddit
You cannot report people solely for homeschooling, that's allowed. You CAN report for educational neglect.
prettybunbun@reddit
You can report to social services here
This is classed as neglect in the UK. We don’t allow unschooling like the US, they aren’t required to follow a set curriculum but there are standards and letting her sit in her room on her phone is not that.
The local authority won’t take her off your parents or stick her straight in foster care or anything like that but they may put a mandatory schooling plan in place i.e. get a forced education order.
You know yourself how damaging a lack of education is. Thank you for doing something.
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