Lincolnshire County Council Getting It Right!

I've been reading a lot recently about the awful harrassment some HE families are receiving from their councils and LEAs. It was with some trepidation, therefore, that we opened a letter from Lincs County Council Children's Services this morning. They haven't been in touch with us since autumn 04 when Emily left school. At that point, we provided a written report, declined a home visit and stuck to our guns through a flurry of emails and letters before they got the message and went away.

We were very pleasantly surprised by the tone of the letter. Short of never getting in touch with us again, I guess this is as good as it gets:
----------------------------
"Dear _

ELECTIVE HOME EDUCATION: EMILY _

I write regarding the education provision for your daughter Emily. I would like to ask if you remain happy with her home education arrangements, and to offer the assistance of an EHE Monitoring Advisor should you have any queries or concerns you wish to discuss.

Whilst I understand that you did not wish to receive a visit previously, I would like to make you aware that you are welcome to contact us, and to receive a visit, should you require any assistance in relation to Emily's continuing education.

If you are also able to provide me with details of Emily's current provision, I would be most interested to hear how she is progressing. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
Education Out of School Co-ordinator"
--------------------

I like that. Nicely worded. They've understood that they have absolutely no right to insist upon a visit or even to insist upon further written reports and that the ball is firmly in our court as to whether we get in touch or not. In other words, they've understood the law! I think we will write them a little progress report, to reciprocate the good will. Besides, it'll be nice to have a think back over the last two years and see how far we've come :-))