i)                    Basic life skills, literacy, numeracy and physical activity

ii)                  Social interaction'

This list continues with further items taken directly from the DCSF guidelines issued in November 2007.

Lucy asked why Brighton & Hove Council felt the need to add these points.  She said that each child has a unique set of needs and capabilities, and it is not appropriate to impose blanket requirements in this way.  Maggie said that she had not written that section of the draft; it had been written by Barbara.  Dani said that Barbara had said at the previous meeting that she felt obliged to include these points because of pressure from her managers.

Jan said that there was no intention to impose age-based standards, and that EOTAS staff were well aware of the law's statement that education must be suitable to a child's age, aptitude and ability and any SEN they may have.

Maggie suggested that wording should be added, clarifying that educational provision should be suitable to the child's age, aptitude and ability and any SEN.

Dani said that she did not see why there needed to be a list such as this in the policy at all, and that it would be better simply to refer back to the law.

Dani mentioned that the document's repeated use of the term 'programme' is not appropriate for many home educating families.  Maggie said that this would be changed to 'provision'.

The use of the term 'approval'

Dani said that the fact that the procedures discuss what should happen if a family's educational 'programme' is not 'approved' is an indication of a misunderstanding of the authority's role in relation to home education.  She said that this wording is also used in the standard letters sent by EOTAS staff following contact with home educating families.

Maggie said that the letters would be looked at again.  Dani said that HEdline had previously been through the wording of letters in detail with Barbara Benson, and had had the experience of changes being agreed in the meeting and then overturned later.  She felt that the key issue was the underlying attitude of the authority, and that the wording of policy documents and letters would flow from that once it was decided.

The offer of a home visit when people make an initial enquiry about HE

Maggie said that she had instructed Barbara to include this in the procedures section of the policy.  She said that the purpose of this was to offer to facilitate discussion between parents and schools or the LA if the reason for them considering HE was as a reaction to problems with school or unhappiness with a school allocation.

Dani said she hoped that this was not an attempt to discourage parents from choosing home education.

Maggie said it was not that at all, but was a way for the LA to respond to parents' concerns or problems with schools.

Children missing education strategy

Maggie said that she is intending to review the CME strategy, and that she hopes that this process will result in the CME strategy and the EHE policy being better dovetailed together.

Dani said that the flowcharts included in the CME strategy currently do not allow for EHE to be a valid reason for a child not to be registered at school.

Maggie explained the procedures when a child is treated at hospital.  The parents are always asked to give information about the place of education, and this is routinely checked against the central database.  If the child is home educated, the family's details are passed to the EOTAS team, and there will be a follow up letter offering a visit if the family is not already on the EOTAS team's list.

Lucy asked why these checks are made, and Maggie said that she had once stopped a child and parent on a truancy sweep and had been told the child was home educated when in fact he was registered at a school and was truanting. 

Truancy patrols

Maggie said that EWOs conducting truancy sweeps are required to approach school age children, and that they would be criticised if they didn't talk to all the children they see.  Dani said that she understood that officers couldn't tell by looking whether someone was home educated or was truanting, but that truancy patrols don't have any powers in relation to children who are not registered at school.  She said that many home educating families who are not already known to the EOTAS team are concerned not to allow unwanted scrutiny of their lives by giving their names and addresses to EWOs conducting truancy patrols.

Staffing issues

Maggie said that Barbara's replacement has been appointed and will start in September.  His name is Gavin Thomas.

He will be jointly managed by Maggie and Janet Swingle, who are themselves managed by Jo Lyons.

Home education information day

There had been no progress on finding a date and venue for an open event for the HE community to meet the EOTAS team and share information and ideas.  The idea of using the South Downs Learning Centre had fallen through.

Jan said organising the event would not now be possible before the end of term.  Lucy said she was still keen to help with it, and it was agreed that Jan and Gavin would look into it for September.  Lucy said she would contact Jan by email with some suggested dates and possible venues.

Future development of policy

Dani said that HEdline members were unhappy with the process so far.  She and others had put in hours of voluntary time redrafting the policy and attending meetings, only to find that suggestions were accepted at meetings and then dropped later.  She said that the minutes of the meeting on May 8th did not reflect the detail of the agreements that had been made at that meeting.

Dani gave Maggie a copy of her own notes from the May 8th meeting, with comments showing all the instances where an agreement had been reached but no action had been taken.

Maggie said that she would look again at the policy, Dani's notes, HEdline's suggested draft, and the DCSF guidelines, and make further changes following this discussion.  She said she would not put it before Jo Lyons (her line manager) until it had been redrafted and circulated to the reference group again.