Social services onto me about not having child in nursery! Advice needed

Lozzy88

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

My daughter was also painfully shy.

So in my case it was more of the case of a brilliant teacher rather than attending nursery that helped my daughter.

Am really pleased for your daughter, and sorting it fairly young too.

I missed out on huge amounts as I would not allow myself to interact like a normal child should.

Has the OP actualy came back to comment yet it seems like a lot of arguing we need a few more facts

POPPYOSCAR

[QUOTE=poet123;58887813]I agree it is probably irrelevant, but it could be very relevant.

People like to offer their opinions based on a scenario and look at different outcomes. No one act can been seen in isolation you have to look at the overall picture, some posters have said it could be xyz, and some have said it could be the HV. None of us knows which scenario is true or whether it is a mixture of all the parts.[/QUOTE]


I do not think it is.

The OP asked two specific questions, as affirmation of her rights.

The bottom line is it is not a legal requirement to send a child to nursery so this should not be questioned by anyone, her reasons are her own and she should not be under suspicion for choosing this for her child.

If The State think all children should attend then they should make the same rules as for sending to school.

gravitytolls

May not have even been the HV herself, when she put her notes in with your 'opt out', her superior may have put the referral through and it's quite likely to be done so as a matter of course.

TBH, in my experience, you needn't have bothered sending her on her way, as once the early checks are satisfied, you only see them once a year for routine height/groth checks anyway.

POPPYOSCAR

lozzy88 wrote: »

Am really pleased for your daughter, and sorting it fairly young too.

I missed out on huge amounts as I would not allow myself to interact like a normal child should.

Has the OP actualy came back to comment yet it seems like a lot of arguing we need a few more facts

I hope she does come back and let us know the outcome from the referral to Education Welfare but I very much doubt it after the grilling she has had on here.

poet123

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

I hope she does come back and let us know the outcome from the referral to Education Welfare but I very much doubt it after the grilling she has had on here.

To be fair, I do think she can hold her own!

POPPYOSCAR

poet123 wrote: »

To be fair, I do think she can hold her own!

Even so.

Why would you want to put yourself through it? Perhaps she has said enough is enough.

Zziggi

poet123 wrote: »

You have to complete forms to choose a school, because you have just that; choice. If you have a child in school and choose to take them out you have to de register them because school is the default option.

No. You have to deregister child because you are choosing to opt-out of state education after having previously chosen to opt in.

If you never fill in the forms, never choose a school (and you are unknown to the Local Authority*), you will not be allocated a school place. This is because you do have to opt-in. You are opting in by filling in the forms.

The overwhelming majority of parents choose to opt in and send their children to school. I do. However I also am aware that I have CHOSEN to opt in and I have the right to opt out and Home Educate. Also, just because the majority choose to do something doesn't mean it is necessarily the best thing for everyone, nor does it mean it is compulsory or that negative connotations should be necessarily attached to those who choose to follow a minority course of action.

We need to remember, in law, parents are responsible for ensuring the child is educated. The school is simply a means provided by the state to assist the parents in ensuring the fulfil their legal obligation to educate their child. It is up to the parents to decide if they wish to take up the state's provision of a state education.

*If you are known to the Local Authority and you do not fill in the forms for a school place then a school place can be allocated to you and offered to you. I suppose this is for those parents who, for a variety of reasons, don't actively apply for a school place (EFL? literacy probs? learning difficulties? mental health issues?)

Also, I recall that when my eldest was born and I had my first HV appointment, I was specifically asked if I wished to opt-in the HV services and at that point I signed a form and was given a red book for my DD. It was later that I chose to opt out when passed to the awful school nurse.

poet123

Few children would be unknown to the LA as most have medical care, HV visits etc. Sending children to school is the default option because that is the norm. If the school admission forms from the LEA were not completed are you saying no questions would be asked?

Zziggi

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

I hope she does come back and let us know the outcome from the referral to Education Welfare but I very much doubt it after the grilling she has had on here.

It sounds to me like the SS referred the matter to EWO just to pass the matter on to someone else (one agency passing the case onto another who then just tries to pass it on to someone else). I bet EWO will take one look at it (child of non-compulsory age etc etc) and then refer the matter back to SS. Who will then have to decide whether to shut the case or investigate it (if they can find grounds).

I've seen agencies play pass-the-parcel with families resulting in them constantly being passed from one agency to another. My experiences lead me to the opinion that the 'professionals' (I use the term losely) are more bothered about shifting cases off their workload than addressing any minor issue their may or may not be in a given family.

Zziggi

poet123 wrote: »

Few children would be unknown to the LA as most have medical care, HV visits etc. Sending children to school is the default option because that is the norm. If the school admission forms from the LEA were not completed are you saying no questions would be asked?

True. I do know of one local family who are unknown to the LA as they never accessed nursery, school etc for their child. I know the child is under a GP (having bumped into them at the GPs) and under the hospital for a minor condition. I personally wouldn't choose the course they have, but having said that, the child seems perfectly happy, well educated, polite, interested in others and a generally nice child. Not my choice, but not necessarily a poor choice either.

I can understand why HEing families try to stay under the LEA radar too. It may be not because they have something to hide but because once they are known to the LEA they have nothing but hassle, assumptions made and generally have to spend their time justifying their decisions rather than spend their time HEing their child!

It is right that tentative questions are asked why an application for a school place has not been made. It may be because of EAL, literacy issues, mental health issues, social problems etc etc and if so, then support needs to be offered. However if tentative enquiries are made, at the appropriate time (compulsory school age) and its quite clear that an application has not been made because HEing will be the choice or that the parents have chosen to access private education. Then leave it there.