The Scottish Government’s Home Education Guidance is a refreshingly clear and balanced document that upholds parents’ rights to educate their children at home while ensuring children receive a broad and balanced education that prepares them for adult life. Unlike the proposed legislation in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill for England, the Scottish guidance affirms the role of local authorities in safeguarding children without excessively limiting the rights of home educating families.
The key strength of the Scottish guidance is its respectful and gentle approach towards home educating parents and their children. In section 1 of the policy document it states that home education is a ‘legitimate choice’ and that every home education enquiry should be dealt with ‘fairly, consistently, timeously, transparently, and as accurately possible.’ Furthermore, in the same section the document emphasises the rights of children,to have their voices heard. Whilst this principle has sometimes been used to advance the sex education agenda and to undermine parental rights, in this case it is used for positive reasons: ‘1.4 Every child has a right to an education and their views should be listened to when any decisions are made that will significantly affect them and their education.’ Sadly, there is no similar suggestion in the CW&S Bill; there are several references to the child’s ‘best interests’, but there is no acknowledgement that children ought to have a say in what happens to them.
A second key strength of the Scottish guidance is that it provides clear practical advice about the sorts of things that might represent a ‘suitable education’:
6.6 “In their consideration of parents’/ carers’ provision of home education, local authorities may reasonably expect the provision to include the following characteristics:
- Consistent involvement of parents/carers or other significant adults
- Presence of a philosophy or ethos (not necessarily a recognised philosophy), with parents showing commitment, enthusiasm, and recognition of the child’s needs, attitudes, and aspirations
- The opportunity for the child to be stimulated by their learning experiences
- Engagement in a broad spectrum of activities appropriate to the child’s stage of development
- Access to appropriate resources and materials
- Opportunities for physical activity
- Interaction with other children and adults”
While there is some flexibility in interpretation, these criteria provide both home educators and local authorities with clear guidelines. This level of transparency helps home educators understand what is expected and what evidence they may need to provide. In contrast, the wording of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill falls short in offering such clarity. Indeed, as yet there are no specific guidelines as to what constitutes a ‘suitable’ education, which at present, gives excessive latitude to anyone, especially local authority representatives, interpreting the legislation. A third key strength of the Scottish guidance is that it respects the diversity of approaches found among home educating families: 4.9 “It is important to acknowledge that learning takes place in a wide variety of environments and not simply in the home.” It appears that acknowledgement of this reality is missing from the CW&S Bill, which— for example, under the section 436C ‘content and maintenance of registers’ — requires home educators to provide details of every hour spent learning and every resource used. The reality is that education at home is often not so easily quantified.
The final key strength of the Scottish guidance is its nuanced approach to monitoring home educated children. For example, the guidance suggests that local authorities may need to build trust with a family before arranging a home visit (4.6). While such visits, which not all families will be comfortable with, are deemed desirable by the guidance, the document clarifies that local authority officials do not have the right to enter a private home uninvited and ‘Where a parent/carer does not allow access to their home or their child, this does not of itself constitute a ground for concern about the education provision, and the local authority must not treat this as such.(4.9)’
In contrast, in the CW&S Bill, the subject of home visiting is used as a coercive strategy. Under the section 436I, ‘school attendance orders’, the Bill states that such an order ‘may request the child’s parent on whom the preliminary notice has been served under section 436H to allow the local authority to visit the child inside any of the homes in which the child lives. If a request under subsection (2)(c) is refused by the person to whom it is made, the local authority must consider that to be a relevant factor in deciding whether the child’s parent has failed to satisfy the local authority as mentioned in subsection (1)(b)(i) or (ii).’ (pg 60)
The difference here is astonishingly stark. How can it be that in one part of the United Kingdom, the desire to protect the sanctity of the family home is to be considered a serious concern, and just over the boarder it is absolutely fine?
In the final analysis the Scottish Home Education Guidance is to be commended for its clarity and respect for home educating families. There is no obfuscation of the duty to safeguard children and it emphasises the rights of young people to receive a suitable education. However, it also greatly respects the benefits and diverse delivery of home education, as well as the overarching human right of parents to choose to provide it. It doing so the guidance brings into the light the failings of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which will bring into law authoritarian measures to restrict unjustly the rights of home educating families.
ParentPower Team
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