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Home Educators and Truancy If you home educate you might think none of this affects you. Sadly, this is not the case. At the time when the Bill was passing through parliament, home educators lobbied energetically to have specific mention made of home education. This lobbying achieved only a partial success. No mention was made of home education in the eventual Act; however, the subsequent Home Office guidance document concerning the power for the police to remove truants did make specific mention of the existence of children educated 'otherwise than at school' in sections 4.1, 4.20 and 4.21, stating that where a child indicated that s/he was home educated, 'no further action should be taken' unless the police officer 'had reason to believe that this was not the case'. In practice, s.16 has made life difficult for many home educating families. It seems that not all police officers are aware that the guidance makes reference to home education, and on occasion have been unaware that home education even exists. Some officers have wanted to see proof of a child's home educated status, and accompanying EWOs have sometimes insisted that the child give their name and address before being allowed to go, despite the fact that they have no right whatsoever to demand this information, nor actually to detain the child at all. Choice in Education have produced truancy cards for unaccompanied children out and about during 'school' hours, which state the legal position and quote s.7 of the 1996 Education Act; however, many children feel so intimidated at the thought that they might encounter a truancy sweep that the effect of this legislation has been to curtail their freedom and independence to an intolerable degree. During 2001, ARCH contacted the chief constables of every police force to outline the concerns of home educating families, and seek to ensure that the attention of those involved in truancy sweeps was drawn to the relevant sections of the guidance. The letter can be seen here. Of the 35 chief constables contacted, 26 responded. In some areas it seems that police are well aware of the existence of home education and adhere to Home Office guidance. The response is sympathetic and we are told that instructions about HE'd children have now been reiterated. In some cases, dismay was expressed that individuals might have complaints and we are asked to pass on details of any unpleasant experiences. If anybody has any comments, please do let us know. One or two police areas have given us some cause for concern. Thames Valley Police say: "Clearly the only way a police officer can establish whether a child is either a truant, authorised to be out of school or receiving home education, is to question them." Their letter goes on to state that: "It would be the education representative who would make the necessary checks." They suggest that a solution is for HE children to carry "some kind of identification of their home educated status." It may be helpful here to reiterate the words of the Home Office guidance: "Where a child indicates that he/she is home educated, no further action should be taken unless the police officer has reason to believe that this is not the case." In some cases, this seems to have been translated as: "no further action should be taken if a child can prove s/he is home educated." Quite a difference, really! Some police forces have stated that they do not undertake 'Truancy Sweeps'. Unfortunately, ARCH does have evidence that in at least two of those areas children have been stopped by police. Of real concern in this situation is that the police are acting outside of the powers granted by s.16 of the Crime and Disorder Act 98. 'Child Protection' has been invoked by some as a reason for questioning all children who are out and about alone during the day. This raises questions about what 'protection' a child is likely to need and why it is deemed necessary only during school hours. Presumably the police are not stopping every child whom they encounter at weekends or after 4pm.
If anyone has any information or comments about the 'Truancy Sweep' situation in their area, please do let us know about it.
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