Out of school?

I’m often asked by parents,

“If I take my child out of school is that going to prevent me “from getting any support?

It’s such a dilemma, isn’t it? On the one hand, you can see the harm that school is doing, and on the other, you feel that if you take them out, it might be worse. Could it be a case of out of sight out of mind?

As you might expect there are pros and cons either way.

If you take your child out of school, and there isn’t sufficient evidence that the school has used its ‘best endeavours’ to support your child, you may find it difficult to secure additional support for lack of evidence.

During the process of applying for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) an Educational Psychologist will make an assessment of your child. If they are no longer in school, that assessment may not show the extent of their difficulties, if those difficulties do not present outside of school.

It can be the case that once they are out of sight they truly are out of mind, particularly if you de-register and opt for the elective home education (HE) route. This would mean your child is no longer on a school roll. Whilst it removes the pressure of trying to justify why they’re not in school, the school is no longer motivated to improve its attendance figures and help you to get the right support for your child.

On the other hand, if you really have tried almost everything and it is still not working, withdrawing your child can demonstrate that the placement has broken down.

If the challenging behaviour your child is presenting disappears or significantly reduces when they are no longer in school, (or in an alternative school), that can contribute to your evidence that they need more support to be successful.

Legally, Local Authorities have obligations to ‘all relevant children in their areas’ not just those in their schools. HE children are specifically mentioned. Sadly, some local authorities will use it as an argument, you cannot apply for an EHCP because your child is not in school. One parent said,

My LA has told me I can’t apply for EHCP until my boy is in school, he’s been expelled from two and the other two schools I’ve applied for have rejected saying they can’t support him ..

If you find yourself in this situation, ask your LA to tell you which piece of legislation they are using to justify this position, or ask them to re-read the SEN Code of Practice sections 10:30 – 10:38.