Recommendation 11 from the December Casey Review on integration in the UK has called for the registration of home schooled children and standards against which home education should be judged.
The report states: ‘It is extremely concerning that children can be excluded from mainstream education without sufficient checks on their wellbeing and integration. The Government should step up the safeguarding arrangements for children who are removed from mainstream education, and in particular those who do not commence mainstream schooling at all.
Monitor divisive practices
‘All children outside mainstream education should be required to register with local authorities and local authorities duties to know where children are being educated should be increased. It should also consider the standards against which home education is judged, to be clear that divisive practices are not acceptable in any setting.
Parental rights
‘While every parent has the right to choose what is best for their child, local authorities must be satisfied that children are not put at risk. Ofsted and the Charity Commission should be resourced to support additional central and local government action to ensure the safeguarding of all children in mainstream and supplementary educational environments.’ Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, has said he will comment in the report as a whole in the early Spring.
