what happens when you take a child out of school?
Posted by gangstalkedbybabylon@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 31 comments
hypothetical situation:
a 14 year old in year 9 is forbidden to return to school one day by parents. during school holidays, parents make the decision to remove them from mainstream education and the student is forbidden from communicating with classmates or teachers. it’s so sudden and unexpected that classmates think the student must have died.
the parents send a letter explaining they don’t think their child is a good fit for school. they insist they will be homeschooling.
the child is not properly homeschooled. one textbook is purchased and never used.
the child does not complete year 9, and doesn’t start year 10 until the following new year. the entire time, the child is not being educated.
how would this play out in the average british secondary school? would anyone question it?
would the response differ if this scenario happened in 2015? compared to now? is there more or less safeguarding?
TravellingMackem@reddit
Why would this play out in a school? If the kids been removed by his parents, that’s their parental rights. The miseducation is then a social services matter to deal with. The school wouldn’t be aware of this as due course - if the school was made aware by, say, schoolyard gossip, then it would report the matter to social services who would take it along with other information. There is also standard checks for home schooling by the council, which presumably would be made aware of the complaint too.
MermaidPigeon@reddit
When I was a kid, all the way up to 18, this was illegal. Gutted I missed out on this, school was traumatising and I would be a much healthier adult if I was able to be home schooled. A lot of autistic people would have been as it was hardly known about back then. Used to infuriate me that parents had no say in how kids spend 5 days a week out of 7, 9am to 4pm. I’m still disgusted at it now tbh.
gangstalkedbybabylon@reddit (OP)
it’s a really difficult one because for me school was my only escape and relief from being severely abused and i’m not a healthy adult especially because of that extended period of time being isolated with my abusers. i only left the house to go to the shops during this time 🥲
VideoNo82@reddit
That's an oddly-specific "hypothetical".
It's you isn't it?
Spiritual-Fondant656@reddit
Aside from the lack of capital letters I'd say it's too well written & thought out for the average 14yr old? A concerned family friend/relative maybe?
gangstalkedbybabylon@reddit (OP)
14 years old in 2015 you can do the maths
Spiritual-Fondant656@reddit
Ah, okay - sorry. I mis-read & thought the reference to 2015 was purely for comparative purposes
Sensitive_Guest_5995@reddit
Or their presumed dead friend who appears to be getting let down by every adult in their life.
Genuine misery.
vientianna@reddit
Feels like it’s someone researching for a book
gangstalkedbybabylon@reddit (OP)
it was one of the most traumatising experiences of my entire fucking life
C0nnectionTerminat3d@reddit
I was home educated between 2017-2020 and no one tracked me. people may gossip and internally question it but no one formal will actually be concerned or reach out beyond the home check if that makes sense (home visit is/was required before home education takes place).
afaik home education right now is not required to be tracked in the sense where someone like social services or even the school demand to check school work; this depends on your area. however, this is being changed and a record will soon be required which (allegedly - who knows how strict the gov will be on this) will be checked yearly by someone in social services. So compared to 10 years ago there is definitely more safeguarding now than what there was when i was HE. .
gangstalkedbybabylon@reddit (OP)
so there is still a preliminary home visit?
C0nnectionTerminat3d@reddit
I don’t know for certain but there should be.
gangstalkedbybabylon@reddit (OP)
yeah i had nothing. i felt like a hostage just begging to have someone give them the opportunity to say they are in danger. and i was actually in danger lol
LucyLovesApples@reddit
I’d speak to social services because their educational and behavioural needs aren’t being met at home.
Squirrel_Worth@reddit
What’s ‘properly homeschooled’ there is no requirement. School is optional and at the point they withdraw their child then the education is up to them. Refusing communication is odd, and may raise safeguarding flags with the council teams who will likely look into it.
pistachio_shelll@reddit
Kind of similar thing happened to me. I stopped attending school when I was 15 and my school was shite and actually forgot that I was meant to be there. No one checked up on me so my parents could have killed me or sold me and no one would have known. I slipped through the cracks of the system and have no qualifications despite getting straight 8s & 9s in my year 10 mocks.
gangstalkedbybabylon@reddit (OP)
so basically the system is cooked 🥲
MermaidPigeon@reddit
U will be fine. U will need to catch up but the school can give u the books for that when u go back :) u may have to study a little to catch up in your own time but its very doable
SheriffOfNothing@reddit
Of the people I know that have taken exactly this path, it’s played out very differently. But your terms of reference are off. Kids don’t “complete year 9” quite like that. It’s not like they are ever asked to resit it like you sometimes see on US TV and kids who are home educated (not home schooled) take an entirely different path. Text books may not be used at all. My brother’s kids are home educated. Mine goes to school. Both are valid choices.
gangstalkedbybabylon@reddit (OP)
i was just highlighting the significant amount of time spent being not allowed to go to school
SheriffOfNothing@reddit
So you’re taking about prolonged absenteeism. Gotcha.
Koda614@reddit
There are safeguarading policies in place that means if the local authority are doing their job properly, a sudden withdrawal from school would promptly trigger checks to be made to ensure the person is either attending another school, or a welfare check at home to ensure that everything is ok and a viable plan is in place to continue education even if by independent means.
This is an oddly specific hypothetical situation though. If you are in this situation, or are concerned about someone else who may be going through this, please do make a report to help make sure nobody slips through the cracks and that it can be investigated promptly. A lot of the time when these things happen it's not just education that suffers, but there's often other problems that need attention too.
2KCoinsLTD@reddit
I have first hand experience of this exact situation and . . . Absolutely nothing has happened! No check ups, no welfare officer, no one to report to no one has even asked for a diary/schedule of learning! For all they know my son could have emailed the school himself and been bunking off for the best part of 2 years!
Everything you've heard from the school that "will" happen. Is just wishful thinking, I'd like to think someone vulnerable kids are being checked up on atheist! I mean he could be in my basement!
DameKumquat@reddit
This sounds like it should trigger welfare concerns, but equally, would be unlikely to lead to much happening given how overwhelmed social services are.
If this is you or a friend, contact your local council and ask for child social services - the key word is 'safeguarding'.
Though I'm confused about your mention of y10 in the new year - if someone is taken out of school for a few months but then starts at school again later, that's a very different story.
HighNimpact@reddit
You’re asking several different questions.
A parent has the right to withdraw their child from school and home school them instead. The parent is legally obliged to provide an appropriate education to the child but this is rarely enforced or followed-up and is a huge problem. Generally, for this aspect nothing would be done.
A parent cannot simply write to a school and say they’re homeschooling now. They would have to formally withdraw their child and declare that they are being homeschooled. A failure to follow the proper process would mean the school and local council would have obligatory safeguarding actions that include physically going to the home and demanding to see the child. The parents would also be very likely to be fined for attendance issues.
Telling a teen of that age that they are not allowed to have any communication at all with children their own age (especially when they already have relationships with those children) is a safeguarding issue. It’s probably a criminal offence depending on how the rule is enforced and the reason behind the decision. Again, police and social services are not likely to have the resources to follow-up on this in the absence of physical abuse or some issue with a known cult or terrorism or similar.
It’s broadly similar now as in 2015. Generally, safeguarding expectations have gone up slightly but capacity to enforce them has gone down slightly so it roughly balances.
SheriffOfNothing@reddit
Of the people I know that have taken exactly this path, it’s played out very differently. But your terms of reference are off. Kids don’t “complete year 9” quite like that. It’s not like they are ever asked to resit it like you sometimes see on US TV and kids who are home educated (not home schooled) take an entirely different path. Text books may not be used at all. My brother’s kids are home educated. Mine goes to school. Both are valid choices.
Rugbylady1982@reddit
It wouldn't play out in school at all, the school are not involved because the child has been withdrawn
Final_Flounder9849@reddit
2015 and they probably could have gone about a year without anyone doing much but not nowadays. It’ll get flagged for a welfare check from social services or the police within a couple of weeks after the sudden withdrawal of the child from school.
zendayaismeechee@reddit
There’s a new bill coming in soon about homeschooling provision designed to prevent this situation and protect the rights of the child. Have a look at it as it might help. If this is you reaching out for help, please contact an adult you trust, your old school, or even social care. There’s someone out there who can help you
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