Withdrawing Your Child From School

If you have never sent your child to school, they are not registered with the Local Education Authority (LEA), even if you have put their name down for a school, and so your decision to home educate should not generate too much publicity! You will doubtless be asked about your child’s schooling by your Health Visitor, but if you give them a confident answer, explaining how you areteaching and how much your child is already achieving, they should be content with that and are unlikely to take it further Insha Allah.

If a child is either currently attending a school or has been registered by you as about to attend (for example in year 6 at a primary school and registered to start year 7 of a secondary school), then parents have a duty to “de-register” their child. This can be done in the form of a written letter to the school’s head teacher. This letter is not supposed to ask permission from the school for the parent to home school – as legally, a home education does not have to be sanctioned by a school. Instead, the letter should ask the school to remove your child from its register of pupils.

It is a good idea to keep the letter addressed to the school as simple as possible, not waffling about reasoning. In fact, you merely have to ask for your child to be de-registered from a school, you do not actually have to tell the school anything about your education plans for your child, such as teaching your child at home, although many parents choose to do so as they may later require the school’s help with things like examination entrance and even education resources.

Letter to De-register Your Child from a School

The letter format set out below is a sample letter addressed to a head teacher from parents who have made the decision to home school their child. It can be used as an example of the kind of thing you need to explain to a school to ensure a positive response. Don’t forget to send it by Recorded Delivery/Signed For.

Note: This information is correct as of 21:45, 13 January 2012. For the most up to date information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/home-education

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