Removing A Child from the UK School System for Home Education

Deciding to home-educate our children was a big and brave step. We did not take it lightly. We talked at length with our wonderful headteacher, our class teachers, the soon-to-be-our headteachers from the secondary schools we are considering for our eldest next year. We spoke to friends who are teachers, people who have and are home-educating, we did deep research about potential adverse and beneficial consequences of doing what we were proposing before we took any further steps or even mentioned it as a possibility to our children.

We are both big believers in the benefits for most children of being in school with their peers. Both of our children love school, they have thrived at school and have deep, committed relationships with friends and teachers. We also know that mainstream schooling does not suit all children, but it suits ours (and us!), so we are committed to going back to it. We discussed early and often the prospect of a family educational journey with our children, we talked about the pros and cons, we explained what it would mean, what they'd gain, what they'd miss and we asked them to take some time to consider the prospect. We didn't rush it, we didn't push our own agenda, we did not use language biased towards opportunity and fun in order to 'sell' it, we listened openly to their questions and tried to answer them as honestly as possible. We let them think on it, disagree with it, agree with it, change their minds and perspectives multiple times because they're kids and they don't really know what the experience could be, they only know what they know. Their every day. Giving them time, they went through their own process and eventually and independently, they both informed us, yes mummy and daddy, we want to do this. It sounds brilliant!

The Deregistration Process

One of the first tasks you’ll need to tackle is deregistering them from the school system. Here’s a practical guide to help you navigate this process and understand what to expect once you’ve done it. One thing we would recommend is to involve your headteacher early on in your thought process. Give them time to work out how this will impact the school, the class, attendance, particularly if, like us, you want this to be a temporary absence and you would like to rejoin the school.

Once you have deregistered a child from school with a plan to homeschool, there is no guarantee they will get their place in your preferred school back if you change your mind. You can change your mind but you need to reapply to the local authority for a school place as if you had moved into the area for the first time. You will be assigned a place at a school that has places. For overpopulated year groups and oversubscribed schools operating a waiting list, there is no guarantee you will rejoin the school you left. We made sure both of our children understood this before giving us their opinion on whether to do this.

The process of deregistering your child depends on the type of school they attend:

1. State Schools (Including Academies and Free Schools):
   Write to (email) the headteacher of your child’s school to inform them of your decision to homeschool. By law, the school must remove your child from the register immediately. There’s no need to ask for permission, but it’s polite to provide a short explanation, such as:

   “We have decided to homeschool [child’s name], and request their name be removed from the school roll. Please confirm the deregistration has been processed.” If you do not do this and they are on the register, they will be recorded as absent and there will definitely be follow-up and consequences for long-term unexplained absence.

2. Special Educational Needs (SEN) Schools:
   If your child attends a special school and has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you will need permission from your Local Authority (LA) before deregistering. This is usually granted, but it’s worth being prepared for discussions about how your child’s needs will be met.

3. Independent Schools:
   While not governed by the same regulations, you should inform the school in writing of your intention to withdraw your child and check any contractual obligations, such as notice periods and consequences regarding fees and deposits you have paid (whether they will have to take an assessment process to rejoin at a later stage).

What Happens Next?

Once deregistration is confirmed, the school notifies your Local Authority. We did speak at length with various people from our LA, including the home-ed department. They were pretty supportive actually. The LA may contact you to ask for details about your home education plans, as they have a duty to ensure your child is receiving a suitable education. You are not legally required to provide a formal curriculum, or follow the national curriculum in the UK, but you should be prepared to explain your approach.

We received an email followed up by a call when I didn't answer within a day (we were in long-haul transit). I emailed back to acknowledge, to explain our approach in brief and to confirm our willingness to engage with them in open dialogue, to show records and evidence of learning and to have some facetime with us and the children whenever they wanted to. They offered a home-ed support officer, but this was at our choice and discretion. They did say we could expect a request for demonstration of learning (but we are keeping our own detailed records and lesson plans and outputs anyway), but, three weeks since that last contact, we are yet to receive any request. I'll update here if this changes.

Common Questions you could from the Local Authority

• How will you ensure your child receives an education appropriate to their age and ability?

• What subjects or topics will you cover?

• How will you support your child’s social development?

It’s helpful to have a broad plan, but remember: home education is flexible. You’re not bound by the same structure as schools, and you can tailor your approach to suit your child’s needs. We found it helpful to have a copy of the curriculum expected for each of our school years so we could loosely and flexibly ensure they would not fall behind when returning. We also found it helpful to trawl through homeschooling resources (infinite possibilities on the internet!) and I will list our favourites in a separate post for those interested.

What to Expect After Deregistering

1. Freedom to Learn Your Way
   You’ll no longer be tied to the school timetable, curriculum, or holidays. This is your opportunity to design an education that works for your child. Whether you prefer structured learning or a more relaxed, child-led approach, the choice is yours. This is easy enough for teachers and educators like myself, but it won't necessarily be easy for everyone and it certainly takes time to plan engaging 'lessons' if you want to retain some academic learning structure and rigour, as we do.

2. Building a New Routine
   The transition can feel daunting at first. Give yourself and your child time to adjust. Some families find a ‘deschooling’ period helpful, where they take a break from formal learning to rediscover their natural curiosity. We felt this would get us all into lazy habits so we plunged straight in, setting stricter expectations early. We gave them a few days off at Christmas! We explained the deal. At least two hours a day of focused work one-to-one focusing on maths and English. Then less structured experiential learning as we went about our adventure and our experiences, using the world as our classroom (you can get a sense of some of these from our blog posts).

3. Joining the Home Education Community
   Connect with local or online home education groups. These communities can offer invaluable advice, support, and opportunities for social interaction. Many organise meet-ups, group classes, and co-op learning experiences. We have done this around Thailand and we are already doing the same for the next part of our trip in Morocco. We learn a lot from these communities and the children have appreciated the occasional meet-ups and organised games and beach-clean-ups. We dip in and dip out as suits us. This in itself is 'learning' for the children, meeting new people from different backgrounds and navigating new and temporary friendship dynamics.

4. Balancing Responsibilities
   Home education requires planning and adaptability, especially if you work or have other commitments. Explore resources, online courses, and support networks to help balance your responsibilities. We do not believe in just putting a child in front of 'educational' videos as this is too much passive learning and the learning is unlikely to stick in the same way as if they are doing exercises, experiments, little tests, discussions, answering questions. So, learning outcome planning and making learning engaging is definitely taking time and not always appreciated by the child. A thankless task, though we know it is getting accelerated results.

5. Reassurance for the Journey
   It’s natural to have moments of doubt, especially if this is new territory and particularly when the child is resistant to learning and gives you the runaround pressing all your parent buttons on a bad day. It can be a battle and consistency is key, but also being realistic about what can be achieved, particularly if the child is tired from adventuring the day before. Some days will be better, others will be a frustrating battle. That's life. Trust in your decision and focus on the unique benefits that homeschooling can offer—more family time, personalised learning, an opportunity to explore key objectives using topics your child is interested in, and the freedom to explore the world together.

Final Thoughts

Deregistering your child from school is the first step on an exciting journey. While the process may seem overwhelming at first, remember that thousands of families in the UK successfully homeschool and thrive. Although we believe children need consistent schooling in English, Maths, and develop a fluency in reading and creative and factual writing, remember your child will be learning a lot through their experiences and through time with you and other travellers. Everyone you talk to will have an opinion on what you're doing - some positive, others negative and vocal. Do your research, do consider alternative viewpoints from experts of course, but ignore other negative 'noise' from the uninformed, and do what you truly believe is best for your child.

Have you recently deregistered your child or are you considering it? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below—we’d love to hear from you!