Elective Home Education Report

1 September 2018 to 31August 2019 Academic year: terms 1-6

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Introduction

This report focuses on Kent’s Elective Home Education (EHE) current population for the academic year 2018/19 (Terms 1-6) as well as starters and leavers to the service during this period.

Key findings

• The total number of Children and Young People (CYP) currently registered as Electively Home Educated (EHE) has increased to 2690 at the end of the academic year 2018- 2019. This represents an increase of 9% compared to the academic year 2017- 2018.

• The six EHE Support and Advice Officers have completed 1918 visits to new and historic families within Terms 1-6 2018/19.

• The total number of CYP registered at some point during this academic year is 3888.

• Of the 99 Kent secondary schools, 17 schools are accountable for off-rolling 20.5% of the current home educated cohort.

• Of the current cohort of CYP registered to home educate, 29.2% are known to Early Help (current and historic) and 26.8% are known to Social Services (current and historic).

• Currently there are 134 CYP with an EHCP (SEN) registered to home educate, an

increase of 38% compared to Term 6 2017/18.

• Over the past 2 years, there has been an increasing trend for CYP registering to home educate within Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. Currently, Key Stage 3 represents 32% of the cohort and Key Stage 4 represents 31% of the cohort.

• Data provided by schools suggests the main reason parents advise schools they wish to off-roll a CYP to home educate, records (50.1%). As ‘preferred method of education’, ‘Anxiety and health reasons are cited for 22.6% of cases representing an increase of 11.5% compared to the academic year 2017/18.

• During this academic year to date 1198 CYP ceased being registered to the home education team at Kent County Council. 64% of cases closed were open for a year or less; this may indicate that home education has been chosen by parents as a short-term intervention.

• During Terms 5 and 6 of 2019, the home education team have been contacting Year 11 families to ascertain onward destinations of the CYP as part of the NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) prevention process. Of the 422 Year 11 pupils registered as home educated, our current data* states 301 CYP (71%) have a September guarantee for EET (In Employment, Education or Training) including 121 (29%) remaining as home educated.

*The EET and NEET data will be confirmed at the end of September 2019.

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1st September 2018 – 31st August 2019 (Terms 1-6)

Total EHE cases currently open at the end of Term 6

2690

Total cases opened during this period 1590

Total cases closed during this period 1198

Total registered at any point during this period

3888

Total visits completed by Elective Home Education Support and Advice Officers (new and historic cases)

1918

Total visits declined (not engaging/not home/cancelled)

1754

The total number of Children and Young People (CYP) registered to Elective Home Education (EHE) in Kent continues to increase.

At the end of this academic year (2018-2019), 2690 CYP are registered to home educate; representing an increase of 9% compared to those registered at the end of the academic year 2017/18.

1918 visits were completed by the EHE Support and Advice Officers during the academic year; visiting new and historic families.

1754 visits were cancelled or declined by families who were not engaging with the service. This high number of cancellations and families not being home at the scheduled time for a visit, has impacted on the EHE Support and Advice Officers workload. Currently the EHE policy is being revised to reflect the DFE guidance for local authorities, published April 2019; with the aim to reduce the number of cancellations incurred allowing the officers time to focus on families who have require support.

Current EHE Population

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Current EHE Population: End of the Academic Year

The total number of CYP registered at any point during this academic year to date is 3888, an increase of 15% compared to the academic year 2017-18 where the total number of children registered at any point was 3379. This is a marked increase; highlighting the increasing trend of home education within Kent.

Current EHE Population: Referral District

Looking at two of Kent’s most deprived districts, we can see that the highest number of CYP registered to home educate reside in the district of Swale (13.1%) and third highest number reside in Thanet (10.7%).

The district of Maidstone has the second highest number of referrals (12%). Maidstone currently has pressure on primary school places, which may be reflected within this figure; a situation compounded by the ongoing conversion of commercial properties into residential in addition to new housing development.

24712690

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

2018 2019

Total EHE cases currently openat the end of Term 6

260242

193172 162

323

191 181

353

289

190

142

10

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

EHE referral district

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Current EHE Population: Previous School Recorded

Of the 99 Kent secondary schools, 17 schools are accountable for off-rolling 30.4% of the Key stage 3, 4 & 5 current home educated cohort. 15 of these schools have Academy status.

Current EHE population: Other Service Involvements

Of the current cohort of CYP registered to home educate, 29.2% are known to Early Help

(current and historic) and 26.8% are known to Social Services (current and historic).

Concerningly, this demonstrates that more than half (56%) of the cohort have required

professional intervention prior to deciding to home educate

9.8% of the current cohort were currently open to either Social Services or/and Early Help

at the time of referral.

This data indicates a significant proportion of parents who opt to home educate; may not be

best placed to provide their children with a suitable level of education, due to the wider

environmental and social issues they are facing.

97

341

2033

73

358

2040

158

627

1905

105

615

1970

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Known to EarlyHelp - Current

Known to EarlyHelp - Historic

Not known toEarly Help

Known to SocialServices - Current

Known to SocialServices - Historic

Not known toSocial Services

EHE Early Help and Social Services pupil involvement

2017-2018 Cohort end of term 6

2018-2019 Cohort end of term 6

24

24

24

24

25

26

26

29

29

29

30

32

3335

36

53

72

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Brockhill Bank Performing Arts College

Charles Dickens School

John Wallis Academy

Westlands School

The Sittingbourne School

The Aylesford School

Folkestone Academy

Canterbury Academy

Hartsdown Academy

Thamesview School

New Line Learning

The Towers School

Cornwallis Academy

Sandwich Technology School

Mascalls Academy

Homewood School & sixth formOasis Academy

EHE - Previous school recorded

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Current EHE Population: Special Educational Needs

Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) - Currently,139 CYP with an EHCP are registered

to home educate (5.2% of cohort), representing an increase of 38% compared to the same

period in 2017- 18.

Special Educational Need identified and/or EHCP - The current number of CYP with SEN

and/or and EHCP has increased from 19% for the academic year 2017-18 compared to

21% 2018-19.

Current EHE Population: Key Stages

Over the past two years, there has been an increasing trend EHE within Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4; Key Stage 3 represents 32% of the current cohort and for Key Stage 4 represents 31% of the current cohort.

101

139

375

431

19%

21%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Cohort end of Term 62018 - 2471

Cohort end of Term 62019 - 2690

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

EHE children with an SEN identified

EHE children - EHCP EHE children with SEN need (no EHCP) % of EHE with SEN

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Cohort end of Term 6 2019

Cohort end of Term 6 2018

EHE by Key Stage

EARLY YEARS KS1 KS2 KS3 KS4 KS5

7

162 153181

88

182

135

175

120 125 133 135

29

377

160

79

36

76

43

74

42

77 72

109

40

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Sep-18 Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug-19

EHE starters and leavers

Registered to home educate Left home education

Starting and Leaving EHE this academic year

This acadmic year (2018-19) 1590 new registrations were recorded in Kent.

Since November 2018, the number of CYP registering each month is higher than the

number of CYP who have ceased to EHE.

Starters: EHE Starters

The majority of CYP who became home educated during this academic year (2018-19) were in Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. The highest number of EHE referrals were received from secondary schools in Year 9 (13%), Year 10 (15%) and Year 11 (12%). This is a pivotal time in a pupil’s education when CYP are undertaking their GCSE examinations and is questionable why parents are choosing to home educate at this late stage in their child’s education. Within primary schools the highest number of EHE referrals were made in Year 2 (6%) and Year 6 (7%). These year groups are the end of Key Stage One and Key Stage Two where the children complete SAT’s examinations.

45

89

206

255223

639

66

156

293

201

11

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Early Years Key Stage 1 Key Stage 2 Key Stage 3 Key Stage 4 Key Stage 5

EHE starters by Key Stage

Male Female

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Starters: Reasons for EHE: Schools

Schools stated*, ‘preferred method of education’ (50.1%) as the main reason for off-rolling CYP to home educate. Anxiety and health reasons are cited for 22.6% of cases representing an increase of 11.5% since 2017-18, highlighting health and emotional health issues.

*The collated data matches the EHE 1 form schools complete when off-rolling a CYP to home education. The document has been

amended this academic year in line with the ADCS Survey. Therefore, some reasons are no longer listed on the EHE 1 form (as the table below indicates).

Reason 2017-2018 2018-2019 2 Year Trend

Referral from CME 1.8% 3.5%

Dissatisfaction with school - SEND 1.5% 2.1%

Dissatisfaction with school - bullying 2.6% 3.6%

General dissatisfaction with the school 5.7% 5.9%

Did not get school preference New *X New

Health and emotional health 11.1% 22.1%

Difficulty accessing a school place 4.8% 3.9%

A means of avoiding legal prosecution New 0.1% New

A means of avoiding school exclusion New 0.06% New

Parent did not provide a reason 21.8% 9.4%

Religious, philosophical or cultural 3.1% 45.8%

Parent child relationship (No longer a criteria) 0.7% 0.2%

Preferred method of education (No longer a criteria) 32.9% 50.1%

Short term intervention (No longer a criteria) 4.6% 4.4%

Unwillingness or inability (No longer a criteria) 10% 5.9%

Starters: Reasons for EHE: Parents

The EHE team are now collating data* to cite the parent’s reason for choosing to home educate.

Reason Reason cited by school 2018-19 Reason cited by family 2018-19

Dissatisfaction with school - SEND 34 2.1% 58 3.6%

Dissatisfaction with school - bullying 57 3.6% 106 6.7%

General dissatisfaction with the school 95 5.9% 127 7.9%

Did not get school preference *X *X 13 0.8%

Health and emotional health 352 22.1% 168 10.6%

Difficulty accessing a school place 62 3.9% 17 1.1%

A means of avoiding legal prosecution 2 0.1% 19 1.2%

A means of avoiding school exclusion 1 0.06% 22 1.3%

Parent did not provide a reason 149 9.4% 16 1.0%

Religious, philosophical or cultural 728 45.8% 68 4.3%

No information gathered from parent *X *X 976 61.3%

* The data above represents 25.4% of parent’s reasons for home educating (data collected in latter part of the academic year). X represents data not available. A full data set will be recorded from September 2019. 55 cases were referred from the CME.

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Starters: Other Service Involvements

At the point of referral, 2018-19 6% of CYP and their families were in receipt of support from Specialist Children’s Services (SCS) 34% had historical SCS involvement.

During this academic year, at the point of referral, Early Help was providing support to 8% of the CYP and their families. 34% newly registered CYP and their families had historic involvement.

960

91

539

630

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

No Social Servicesinvolvement

Current involvement Historic involvement Historic and currentinvolvement

EHE Social Services involvement

919

126

545

671

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

No Early Help involvement Current involvement Historic involvement Current and Historicinvolvement

EHE Early Help involvement

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Leavers: EHE Leavers

The majority (64%) of CYP leaving EHE during this academic year (2018-19) have been registered to home educate for less than one year; indicating that home education is being used as a short-term intervention, rather than a philosophical or lifestyle choice*. * Due to the implementation of Synergy the data has been defined as one year plus and less than one year for the duration of EHE. As time progresses these data ranges will become more specific.

Leavers: EHE reasons for leaving home education

The majority of CYP leaving home education this academic year are now attending a mainstream school (34%).

763

435

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Less than 1 year

1 year plus

EHE leavers - duration of EHE

6

26

31

413

23

22

82

254

117

217

7

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

Referred to Ed Prog

Apprenticeship

Attending alternative cur, PRU or Special School

Attending mainstream school

In employment (including with training)

Inappropriate referral

Moved out of area and country

EHE cases closed and referred to CME

Attending further education

NEET/Year 12/13 (no onward destination shared)

No reason given

EHE Leavers - Reasons for leaving

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Directorate Scorecard Indicators

CYPE20* Percentage of children registered to EHE where the LA is not satisfied a child is

in receipt of suitable education, referred to CME.

CYPE 21* Percentage of registered EHE children requiring a school place, offered a school

within 60 school days.

* CYPE 20 and 21 are new indicators and currently Synergy reports are being written to provide this data set.

CYPE 22 Percentage of CYP registered to EHE who receive an offer of a visit within 10

school days of them being brought to our attention

The percentage of CYP registered to home educate who receive an offer of a visit within 10

school days of them being brought to the team’s attention has increased this academic year

and the scorecard indicator target is being met. This is largely due to the implementation of

Synergy database and processes followed within the EHE administration team.

72.23% 72.91% 73.91% 74.77%

80.19%83.40%

89.88%

96.66% 96.76% 98.01% 97.90% 97.90%

0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

120.00%

Sep-18 Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug-19

Percentage of CYP registered to EHE who recieve an offer of a visit within 10 school days

% Target met

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Conclusions

This academic year 2018-19 the EHE Support and Advice officers have continued to focus on

increasing the numbers of visits made and developing positive relationships with home

educating families. The six EHE Support and Advice officers are responsible for twelve districts;

during the 2018-19 academic year, the EHE Support and Advice Officers each held an average

caseload of 648 individual CYP.

The Synergy database provides clear workflows for the EHE Support and Advice Officers to

Follow ensuring that visits are recorded and follow up visits are offered within the required

Timeframe.

The EHE team sit within Fair Access and we are incredibly proud of the work that the team is

delivering, the officers work collaboratively with other colleagues in the Fair Access team,

including Children Missing Education, In Year Admissions and the Senior Access to Education

Officers; ensuring that pupils who are not in receipt of a suitable education are identified at the

earliest opportunity and a school place secured where appropriate.

Further collaborative working with schools is required, to ensure that schools have the

conversation with parents so they are fully informed of their responsibilities when they make

the decision to remove their child from a school roll to home educate,

Data is captured to identify patterns and trends. Where Schools are identified as off-rolling

disproportionate numbers to home educate, this information is collated reported to the school,

allowing them the opportunity to address this. The data is also reported annually within the

Schools Adjudicator report.

As one of the largest local authorities, Kent are proactive in supporting legislative change,

providing data which evidences that EHE is on the increase and not always parent led.

Kent Chair the South East Elective Home Education Officers forum (SEEHEO), which is made up of

78 members from 53 authorities and Kent have a place on the panel of the Association of Elective

Home Education Professionals (AEHEP).

Data Summary

The data in this report is based upon EHE referrals within Kent County Councils term dates

and therefore may be marginally different to the figures in Management Information’s

monthly reports.