More than 300 pupils in Kent have been permanently removed from school since April in favour of home learning.

Kent County Council has confirmed that since the start of the summer term - just over two months ago - 350 children in the county have been taken off school rolls by their parents or guardians.

While all parents have a right to teach their offspring themselves - known as 'elective home education' - hundreds of thousands of families have been forced into long periods of home schooling since the first national lockdown last March, caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Since then education teams have reported significant changes in the numbers of families choosing to continue that learning from home.

In Kent at the start of the new school year in September - when schools reopened to all pupils - there were 376 new registrations for elective home education. This was was compared to 210 pupils, aged between four and 16, for the same period in September 2019.

When coronavirus cases rocketed at the start of this year, another lockdown forced schools to once again close their doors to the majority of pupils, who then didn't return until March.

While some previously home-schooled students may have returned to the classroom environment, says the local authority, since April 19 and the start of this year's summer term a further 350 pupils and their families opted to leave.

By the end of May, and the half term break, 3,300 children in Kent were officially registered as home educated. This month the figure has dropped slightly to 3,122 as parents of older students in Years 11, 12 and 13 start de-registering their children as the end of the school year nears.

Kent County Council has said the changes have been reflective of the picture nationally.

Speaking earlier in the school year, Craig Chapman, head of fair access at KCC, explained: “Each family will have their own reasons for choosing to educate their child at home. For some parents, educating their children at home has been a positive and enjoyable experience and therefore, they have made a commitment to taking full responsibility for the education of their child/children.

"Some parents have chosen to educate their children at home as a temporary measure because they have concerns relating to COVID-19 and are not yet ready to return their child/children to school."

Parents opting for permanent home learning are asked to contact their child's existing school in writing to tell them of their desire to 'de-register' whilst also notifying the local education authority of their intention to home educate.

KCC says any family who gives up their child's school place, in favour of home learning, must appreciate that a return to that class or school at a later date cannot be guaranteed and parents are advised to speak with their school about all available options before removing them from the roll.

Meanwhile, despite a shift in home school figures, the demand for school places in Kent continues to rise with education chiefs now calling for radical solutions to address the problem of pupil spaces.

Around 19,908 Year 7 places have been made available across the county for September 2021 to July 2022, which is 489 more than the previous year. This includes temporary provision in Sevenoaks for 35 places and 45 spaces at Canterbury's Archbishops School rather than more permanent solutions.

But at a meeting on Wednesday, members of County Hall's education committee were told more cash support will be needed.

KCC's cabinet member for education, Cllr Shellina Prendergast, said the Covid pandemic has impacted on the authority's ability to deliver permanent places.

She added: "We are working with developers and district councils to ensure we have the funds we need to meet our legal requirements in providing school places. I have become acutely aware that we are heading for a big problem."

Pressure for new spaces is also growing at special schools. For September 2021, an extra 120 places have been created in mainstream secondary schools with demand "greater than anticipated" by the authority.

The total number of SEND places offered in Kent was 1,266 in January 2021, rising by 191 in January 2020, an increase of 18% in 12 months.

There is a need to create more capacity and improve parental 'confidence' of secondary schools managing children with a variety of special needs, say KCC.

Christine McInnes, KCC's director for education, said: "Headteachers have difficult choices to make in balancing how they use their limited resources."

Commenting on special needs, Cllr Trudy Dean (Lib Dem),the party's education spokesman, added: "We have increasing demand from parents which is arguably being fuelled by the difficulties in getting an education health care plan.

"We also have the priority of the county council to get more children with special educational needs and disabilities accommodated in mainstream schools. Those two things are working opposite to one another and I wonder whether we have got the balance right at the moment."

A KCC report is being published in July to detail the funding gap faced by the authority for all schools, including those supporting special educational needs.

To learn more about elective home education in Kent please click here.

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