Hello everyone, and some Q's i'm afraid

Please excuse me if you've read this before, as I posted it on the Home Ed forum, and I was directed here.

Hi, i'm a Father, hope that's OK ?, as there appear to be a lot of Ladies here, who has just started down the Home Ed route with my 12 Yr old SEN son, after having fought the LEA for 7 years to get him the right schooling.
It became a fight that I could no longer endure after Educational Welfare wanted to take us to court because our boy was refusing to go to his mainstream secondary school, a situation that had been predicted not only by myself but by his teachers at his Primary School, but as per usual, the LEA did what was the least useful, and least expensive option, and sent my Boy, who has the Social age of about 5, to the local secondary.
I haven't just jumped into Home Ed as a get out clause, it's something that i've been contemplating for well over a year now because as hard as they try, the local schools are not geared for kids with High Functioning Autism.

Anyway, on to the Questions, which have probably been asked a Million times before, but I have looked, and could not find any recent answers.
I have just received a letter from the Home Ed Dept. of the Local Council ( Surrey ), Saying "We do have to ask for information about your Education at Home" also asking for a Home Visit, or a Report, samples of work, report from a third party, Evidence in some other way.
Now i'ts only been a week since I pulled him out of school, and I haven't really organised anything hard and fast, although I have done some "Life Skills" stuff like cooking with him, as I see this as important for him, but I suppose this week has really been a "Cooling" period
I want really to ask where do I go from here ?, how much do I need to tell them ?, what do I have to do Legally ?, As I really don't want to be getting into too much rapport or letting them into our lives too much, I've been there, done that, got the Scars.
I'm sorry for the tale of the old iron pot, but any information would be greatly appreciated, and Hello again, im sure i'll get to know the "Form" here as I go along.

Regards
Paul

P.S. I've also just received the his Teacher reports ahead of his Statement review on Tuesday, and 8 out of the 12 of them say that his relationship with his classmates was poor, and that they didn't tolerate him well, and they wonder why he didn't want to go to School,

I have to say that kid's education, parenting, and SEN forums overwhelmingly attract a female clientele but you will find a few exceptions here and there. Fathers are more than welcome to join this forum.



Congratulations for making the decision. You will probably wish you started HE years ago.



They seem a bit hasty asking for an inspection and work samples so soon after starting HE. These requests for inspections usually take place 6 months or one year after home educated has commenced. My advice would be to tell the LA officials that if they want to carry out any home visits and inspect your son's work then call back in 6 months time.

Hi again
Thanks for the advice, but just one more thing, they have asked in the letter for a report to be submitted by 30th April, can they set time limits ?, or should I just send something to keep them happy ?

A few years ago my LA sent a similar request to a parent who had withdrawn their 12 year old son with AS from school and only just started HE. Sending out such requests at the outset of HE is quite commonplace with certain LAs and it's all part of a sneaky and dishonest game LA officials play to intimidate parents and try to catch them out.

30th April is a reasonable deadline to submit the report by. Some LAs have been known to impose a two week deadline. What you have to do is produce a short document that would convince a LA official that an education is being provided for your son. It does not have to be a weighty epitome with a detailed exposition of every single day. Something that is approximately two sides of A4 should be quite reasonable. Don't just restrict education to textbook work at the desk. Include things like trips out and visits to places of interest as well.