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Homeschool Australia
Teach your children at home!
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Application For Exemption from Attendance at School Please read Home Education in South Australia before this page. Thank you. Attendance at School The Education Act 1972 requires that children of compulsory age be enrolled at school. Compulsory school age includes children who are at least 6 years old but not yet 17. Every child of compulsory school age, irrespective of distance from the school or whether disabled or not, is required to be enrolled at a government or non-government school, or the Open Access College, and is required to fully participate in the education program arranged and approved by the enrolling school. Where a student of compulsory school age is absent from the education program, the parent is required to present a written explanation for that absence within a reasonable time. If this is not received by the school the Principal is required to contact the parent. Although truancy is not an offence, parents who fail to ensure the attendance of their children of compulsory school age may be prosecuted and are liable to a penalty not exceeding $200. Persistent cases of non-attendance are referred to Families SA (FSA) (under Section 6(2)(d) of the Children's Protection Act 1993). Under this Act, truancy is defined as an 'at risk' factor for child protection, although it is not a mandated reason for reporting. Home educating parents need to be aware that Police Officers and Student Attendance Counsellors are empowered to obtain a child's name and address and the reason for non-attendance if the child is observed in a public place in school time. If the child does not have a proper reason for being absent, only the Police Officer (not the Student Attendance Counsellor) may take the child into his or her custody and return the child to someone in authority at the school, or to a parent or guardian of the child. If the child is accompanied by an adult, the Police Officer or the Student Attendance Counsellor may inquire into the reason for the child's absence. Police Officers and Student Attendance Counsellors have the authority to call at a home at any time, to seek the full names and ages of all children of compulsory school age living in the home and the schools at which the children are enrolled. Exemption from Attendance The Minister of Education may, by written notice, if the Minister considers it appropriate to do so, grant, or revoke, an exemption from the attendance provisions of the Education Act. There is a maximum penalty of $500 for failing to comply with a condition of the exemption granted by the Minister. Principals have delegated authority from the Minister to approve applications for temporary exemption from school attendance for up to one calendar month. Parents need to apply in writing and Principals are required to provide their responses on school letterhead. Temporary exemptions exceeding one month, and exemptions for the purpose of home schooling, are approved by the Director, School and District Operations. Homeschooling students are entered into a separate roll class set, and are not marked absent. All applications for exemptions for home schooling are to be set out on form ED175 or in a letter and addressed to the Director, Schools and Children's Services. Procedures for the processing of applications for home schooling are available from the Home Education Project Officer (see contact details below). Not all families who choose to home educate their children register with the Department of Education and Childrens' Services (DECS - commonly referred to as the Education Department) for an exemption from attendance at school. The reasons for this are many and varied - it is a personal decision. Before deciding to home educate your children it is advisable to talk to local homeschooling families, and perhaps attend a few homeschooling support group meetings or excursions. This will give a much better idea of what homeschooling is, what it can be, and how different families teach their children at home. You will also glean much information about how to register as a home educator and what is required. This can save you time and worry! For more information about home education in South Australia visit the Home Education in South Australia page. Preparing to Home Educate To be exempted from attending, and therefore registered as a home educator, students must be enrolled. . For children not yet attending school: . For children currently attending school: . Contact the Education Department: Completing the Paperwork A single application is used for all the children you intend to teach at home. Always ask for confirmation in writing for any dates and times of meetings. In addition, ask for an agenda for each meeting. This will ensure that you will be adequately prepared and may save application processing time. Request that this information be advised in the letter from DECS which confirms the date of the meeting. You are able to negotiate a date that suits you: it is okay to put the meeting off if the date offered is inconvenient. Keep a dated log of any phone conversations together with brief comments about what was discussed or resolved. If you find the Application for Exemption from Attendance At School forms a little daunting, make contact with the South Australian Chapter of the HEA which can advise you, either by providing an example of a completed application form, or put you in contact with experienced home educators who can personally assist you. In SA home educators are allowed great latitude with regard to the choice of curriculum/program and educational style to use. This form is to be used to assist the applicant in providing information required for assessing the application. It is not required to be completed and can be substituted with your own application materials and information. It is not prescriptive but does give an idea of the kinds of things on which your application will be assessed. The form requires name, address, telephone and the names, date of birth and schools at which the child is enrolled and attending and the names of the person/s responsible for the education of the child/ren. The form asks for a reason to be given for the request for exemption: it is usual to simply state that, after duly considering all other options, you consider home education to be the best educational choice for your child/ren. You are then required to give 'an outline of the proposed program of work including areas of study and essential skills and understandings, resources to be used and methodology of teaching'. In essence this is a brief, half page summary of the curriculum you propose to use for your child/ren. It is not meant to cover everything: simply give an idea that you know what is involved in teaching your children at home. For the review, a separate form is provided which allows a paragraph detailing educational progress and resources used in each of the curriculum subject areas as well as one paragraph about directions and intentions for the coming year. The form also asks for an outline of a typical day as well as your long term goals for the education of your child. You will also be asked how you will assess your child's educational progress and to give a description of the learning environment. The last question on the form relates to social activity with peers and other adults. Most homeschooling families find their children social sphere is broadened by removing them from school. Social activities include regular interaction with people from all age groups. List cultural, religious, sport and personal interest social activities, as well as participation in homeschooling group activities. Make it obvious that you are a member of the Home Education Association or are regular in contact with local or state based homeschooling groups for support, advice and social opportunities. The information you provide at this stage is added to a report written after the home interview. These are used to assess the application and are forwarded to the Director, School and District Operations (to whom the Minister delegates responsibility for granting and revoking exemptions) for approval. The final section of the form is a declaration signed by you regarding responsibility of educational program, access to resources, and review. If you are not certain about signing this declaration prepare your own application in your own words and sign that. The application for exemption from attending school needs to be signed by both parents, unless one parent of the child/children has guardianship of the child/children to the exclusion of the other parent by Court Order. The Interview with the Project Officer A Project Officer from the DECS will either phone and/or send a letter advising a date they would like to meet with you to discuss your application paperwork further. If the date doesn't suit you then you have absolute freedom to negotiate a different date. It is at your invitation that the DECS would enter your home for this interview - the first interview must be held in the place where the learning will be occurring, i.e. the family home. However subsequent meetings are not required to be held in that same location - some people go to the DECS's offices, whilst others meet at a neutral location. It could be said that most people do have the DECS's Project Officers to come to their homes. One family obtained the following advice from their lawyer regarding the interview process - it's worth considering, but if in doubt seek your own legal advice from a qualified practitioner: "Our legal advice has been that if they have seen your home once they have no need to do it again and that all future interviews should be done at a convenient place outside the home and a third person should be present because if you invite someone into your home a lot of your legal protection disappears because of the "consent" implied in saying "come in..." You need to ensure that the third person is not a physical third person, such as a mother, husband or direct relative, etc, but a person who is not affected by any decision making on either side and who can take notes to support memory at a later date. You will need to inform the authorities a third person is present to take notes and help you remember the important points of the meeting." There is no requirement for your children to be present during the interview with the Project Officer. Be firm and assert that it is the learning program that is under consideration - not the children's current educational abilities and understandings. As the approved home educator it is your, not the interviewing officer's, responsibility to monitor the progress of your child. Most families are happy to have the children greet the Project Officer, talk for a few minutes and perhaps showing a sample of completed or ongoing work. Project Officers are not permitted to do any of the following: . Talk to your children without your permission. Meetings are usually quite relaxed. The Project Officer will go through each item, or just a few, from the form which you previously completed and returned to the DECS. Project Officers should always be polite and professional - they are not permitted todo any of the following: . Come on to your property without your permission. The Project Officer is in your home at your invitation, therefore you have the right to instruct the Project Officer to leave at any time during the meeting and to request that a different Project Officer be appointed to complete the interview on a different date, either in your home or elsewhere. Exemption Advice Some time shortly after the meeting/interview you will receive a letter advising the outcome of your application - the normal outcome is to be granted a 12 month exemption from attendance at school, however sometimes it may only be granted for 6 months (this is uncommon). If you are only granted the legal minimum of a 6 month exemption, or your application is denied (this is rare), then you are within your rights to be given clear and detailed reasons why, and you would have the right to re-apply. Annual review You won't hear from the DECS again until about 10-11 months later when they will phone or write to you to organise your 12 month review. It is entirely up to you as to what date the meeting is set for - if they want to make an appointment well prior to the end of your 12 months exemption period then it is justifiable to set a date that matches the month that your original interview was held. If you wish, you can complete and return the forms prepared by the Department of Education, or you can prepare you own 'progress report'. You will also be contacted to arrange an appointment with a Project Officer for the review interview. At the review interview you will be required to demonstrate educational progress of the children. This necessitates some degree of record keeping, an essential element of a sound educational program. See Getting Started with Homeschooling - Practical Considerations for ideas you can use. Never give away original documents or children's work. In most cases a simple annual report prepared by you should suffice. When working through the review simply write brief summaries of what the children have done during the year, and then a brief outline of the next year's program. If you are feeling less than confident get help - many experienced homeschoolers are happy to assist or be present at interviews as observers. Legal advice to one family in SA urged them to keep an attendance record of their children's homeschooling: "The attendance diary should just be a very small week at a glance diary (my children's is about 10cm by 4 cm). Sign it each morning or at the end of the homeschool day. It is a legal record that on that day you did school work. If there are doctor's appointments for the individual child include a note about that, or if they were ill and didn't work say why. It's also a good idea to note when the children participate in social activities. This is the only record you need to show that the children have worked for a minimum of 200 days per year. It's good because if you need to present that diary to the department or a court you are only providing information relevant to the home education program and not your personal or family life." Keep records, such as diaries and homeschool report until the child is past compulsory schooling age. The HEA thanks Marina and Vanessa from SA for assisting with the writing of this page.
After 20 years of being a contact and support person Beverley no longer takes phone call or email inquiries. Please join one of her yahoo groups if you want to know more about homeschooling or have a question.
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Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling their children in 1986 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network.Beverley wrote Getting Started with Homeschooling in 1995-97 and since then continues to write books and booklets on home education. She balances spending time helping home educators with working in her garden and renovating her home, as well as continuing to build her collection of writing on a variety of homeschooling subjects. Beverley maintains an extensive collection of websites as well as several Yahoo groups supporting families teaching their children at home. In 2007 Beverley joined the HEA and became a committee member in 2008: she also edits and produce the HEA Newsletter, HEA magazine, Stepping Stones for Home Educators, annual Resource Directory and other HEA publications. If you'd like to keep in touch with what Beverley is up to her in her life, sign up for the Homeschool Australia Newsletter or visit her Facebook page.