TreeHouse welcomes government's review of home education

Published by Nia for Tree House in Central Government and also in Communities, Education, Local Government

TreeHouse, the national charity for autism education, welcomes the acknowledgement within the government’s review of home education that children with special educational needs (SEN) are disproportionately represented among the population of children who are educated at home.

A TreeHouse survey of parents in 2008 found that almost 1 in 4 children with autism are educated, at least in part, at home.

Whilst the government respects the choice of parents to educate their children at home and is working to improve support for these families, it is notable that many families of children with SEN educate their children at home as a last resort.

Ian Wylie, TreeHouse Chief Executive, said: “Too often, families choose to home educate children with autism following negative experiences at school. 40% of children with autism have been bullied at school, 27% of children with autism have been excluded from school, and children with SEN are nine times more likely to be excluded than children without.

“I am delighted that the government is finally paying attention to home educators and have realised that children with SEN, including autism, are over-represented in this group. It is our vision at TreeHouse that all children with autism can access a world-class education which responds to their needs and offers a broad curriculum to support their overall development.

“As well as improving the support for families who choose to educate their children at home, we believe the Government should focus on reducing bullying and exclusions of children with autism in school and supporting teachers to develop learning programmes with parents that really support children to learn. We want to ensure that home education is a choice, not a last resort.”