The Association of Directors of Children's Services has conducted a survey of 151 local councils across England, and their report suggests that the number of home-schooled children has risen by close to 38%.
The ADCS estimates as many as 75,668 children were home educated on 1 October, up from 54,656 a year earlier.
Many local councils said that the fear of Coronavirus and safety within the school environment were the top reasons parents gave. Due to this being the primary reason,
many families have said that they were intending to send their children back to school once their concerns over the pandemic and its risks were alleviated.
Others reported that some parents said they had made the decision because they felt so positively about having their children home during the closure of regular schools between March and July. During this period, the responsibility fell on parents to effectively home-school their children while some schools struggled to adapt to remote and virtual learning.
Parents have always had a legal right to home educate their children, and many do this for philosophical, ethical or religious reasons.
Others home educate as a last resort due to lack of support for special educational or mental health needs.
Parents who home-school are required by law to inform their local authorities on how they are going to educate their child, and councils do give plans and ideas to assist those parents. They must also give regular updates on how their children are progressing. Besides that, there is no obligation to follow the National Curriculum strictly. However, the child will need to be prepared for any examinations and qualifications they undertake at external exam centres.
One problem that is often raised with home-schooling is the lack of social interaction students may have. This is combatted in recent time by various internet support groups were you can arrange meet-ups and events with other home-schooling families.
We at Bauhaus are set to announce a home-schooling programme in the new year, to support those who home-educate. Follow us for more on that in the new year.