More Hampshire parents have turned to home schooling in 2020

Speaking to the Gazette, Cllr Roz Chadd, executive member for education and skills at Hampshire County Council said: “In Hampshire we have seen an increase in notifications of parents intending to electively home educate (EHE), since September 2020.

“This is in line with most other local authority areas and is mostly linked to Covid-19. However, it reflects an acceleration of the steady increase in EHE numbers over the past 10 years.”

Home Schooling Association UK (HSA), a network of home schooling families across the country, has also seen a 50 per cent increase in enquiries this year.

Founder Hannah Titley told the Gazette that a major reason for this has been anxieties among both parents and children about the safety of school environments, as well as how the child would cope with the necessary coronavirus restrictions.

She said: “I think it’s interesting because obviously this is a new type of family that is home schooling, because traditionally we’ve sort of advised parents who have considered home schooling for a long time. They often buy into certain values, where they don’t believe in the national curriculum or they just want to do things differently. Whereas the families who have been in touch with us since home schooling was enforced back in March are quite new to home schooling so we have been providing them with lots of support as to how it can be done, because there’s a whole range of ways it can be done.

“The reasons are sort of split into two camps. There’s families who are very concerned about covid safety in schools. Schools have been sending lots of children home because of covid incidents at school, and parents are worried about that, or they’re worried about how their child would have coped with social distancing measures and the anxiety around the safety in schools.

“And then there are also families who tried home schooling, wouldn’t have tried it otherwise but had to try it, and actually their child has really grown and developed and really enjoyed it. It’s given them an opportunity to try to educate in a different way. It’s shown them that in school it’s a very sort of cookie-cutter mould approach. There’s one teacher, they teach a lesson and that has to suit 30 children.”

It comes amidst recent renewed discussion around the role of the state, and specifically local authorities, in monitoring home schooling.

Currently, there is no legal requirement for home schooling to be overseen by councils, and this has led to concern that many children may be slipping through the cracks, and vulnerable to losing out on formal education.

Hannah said: “For us, I am a teacher and we believe in there being at least a minimum of a national register for home school students. When students decide to come off the school register and are home schooled with us, we automatically notify the local authority, but I know that isn’t a legal requirement.

“It’s been discussed for so many years. They put out a consultation about two or three years ago which had mixed responses. There is a very vocal part of the home schooling community who are against the idea that the government should be involved in any way and unfortunately for us, that voice was quite loud in the consultation.

“That said, with these new home school families adopting home schooling and them being quite modern, I think the dynamic might be shifting and more people are open to there being a national register, and I think that would be a very positive thing.

“In home school, while the vast majority of families are doing it well and care about the outcomes for their child and in terms of their social, emotional and educational needs, obviously there are children who are at risk.”

Hannah says the register would be an “important first step”, but hopes the “trend” in home schooling will also prompt further action.

“I also think, since obviously the government funds school places, I think local authorities should be given some of that funding to support families who maybe don’t have lots of resources to home school because it can be quite expensive,” she said.

“There are affordable options for families who are considering home schooling and don’t reject the national curriculum entirely, but they could still be a barrier for some families. And the government would otherwise be paying for the school place, so why not divert some of that funding to the home schooled child if they’ve been taken out of school, or at least support the local authorities to give resources to parents. At the moment, none of that exists so it’s just not very sustainable for some families.

“If the trend continues in the direction that it’s going, I don’t think that local authorities or the government can ignore it. It will definitely be back on the agenda and I’m not saying that we need to regulate all aspects of home schooling, but as it becomes more professional and a partly regulated industry, I think more parents would consider it as an option.”

Cllr Chadd added that further changes to law would be “welcome” in Hampshire.

She said: “We recognise that EHE is equal in law, to children attending school, and also that many parents provide excellent educational provision for their children. When a parent withdraws their child from the school to teach them at home, the school must both report this to their local authority and remove the child from the school’s roll. We keep a register of all children known to be EHE because, as a local authority, we have the responsibility for determining if the education is suitable or not. Parents who have never sent their child to school are not obliged to inform their local authority, although in practice many do and, in turn benefit from the supportive role that we can provide in relation to their child’s education.

“By electively home educating parents take full responsibility for educating their child or children, this includes their choice of curriculum, how, when and where they teach and all financial responsibility. We would welcome further changes to the law and guidance around EHE, particularly for children who are deemed vulnerable and may receive a very inadequate education. I am proud to confirm that our education officers are working closely with the Department for Education to bring about changes that will benefit all children who are home educated.”

Hannah said that many of the parents HSA work with are very proactive, enrolling their children in many extra-curricular activities to avoid social isolation. However, she accepts that with the future of the pandemic and schooling uncertain, many parents may be nervous about having to deliver their children’s education from home again in the future.

She said: “When people think of home schooling, they’ve often thought of a very liberal approach to education, quite traditional in that it's led by parents, but actually in the last 10 years things have really shifted. People just want more out of education. Not just being taught to pass GCSE or A Level exams, they want their child to be able to set up a business, or problem solve, and go into the workplace feeling ready, rather than just being able to sort of tick boxes. This has really been an opportunity for parents to clock on to that.”

Offering advice to any parents considering the shift, she added: “The first thing is to put in place a timetable which balances the academics, but also having play time and time outside. I think what a lot of families struggled with at the start is they see their child as in school six hours a day. Some families contacting us expected the child to be home schooled for six hours a day. But actually when you are home schooling, it’s much more efficient generally and six hours of continual learning is very difficult, even for older children.

“At primary age, we often recommend two hours of lessons per day plus some independent study in the afternoon, so say 30 minutes of homework, and for older children three to four hours of learning a day and no more, and then balance that with sports or some sort of extra curricular.

“Then there are so many online resources that home school families use to develop different skill sets, whether that be building websites, things that compliment the national curriculum, or things children can look through independently.”

For more information and resources, visit: homeschoolingassociation.co.uk