An independent report (Child Practice Review) into the death of a young child, who was home educated and not known to the authorities from the age of 13 months, was published on Friday.

The report was authored independently by Gladys Rhodes White OBE, a national expert in safeguarding and child protection.

The purpose of a child practice review is to identify learning for future practice, and involves practitioners, managers and senior officers in exploring the detail and context of agencies’ work with a child and family.

The output of a review is intended to generate professional and organisational learning and promote improvement in future inter-agency child protection practice, with a focus on accountability and not on culpability (Protecting Children in Wales Guidance for Arrangements for Multi-Agency Child Practice Reviews, Welsh Government 2013).

The report recommends that Welsh Government change the law so that the details of all elective home educated children are kept on a register and that they are seen and spoken to and their wishes recorded on an annual basis.

At present there is no such requirement and the law does not state any general requirement for parents to inform the education directorate if their child or children were never on a school roll.

The child - who lived in a remote Pembrokeshire community with his parents and older sibling - died in December 2011 aged eight years old.

The family, the report says, were not engaged by choice with mainstream universal services.

The child had been suffering from severe symptoms of ill health and there was no evidence of any medical input regarding the deterioration of the child’s health.

The Child Practice Review calls for a multi-agency protocol to be drawn up across mid and west Wales to safeguard children educated at home. The Review also calls for CYSUR to write to the National Independent Safeguarding Board to ensure there is widespread training for all practitioners working with children, adults and families on the implications of the new guidance for the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 to ensure that assessments on individuals also consider the wider family context, including the impact on parenting and the needs of carers.

The review was commissioned by CYSUR - the Regional Safeguarding Children Board - which comprises a variety of statutory agencies including the police, probation, four county councils and two health boards.

The Board accepted the findings of the review when it met last Thursday.

The CPR is publicly available on Pembrokeshire County Council’s website: www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk

FINDINGS WELCOMED

NSPCC Cymru/Wales has welcomed the findings of a Child Practice Review.

“NSPCC Cymru / Wales has long supported registration for children who are educated at home and we welcome the findings of this review,” said their head, Des Mannion

“While every family has a right to educate a child and home learning alone is not a risk factor for abuse or neglect, it is absolutely vital that we ensure children do not fall off the local services radar.

“Prioritising training for professionals and ensuring home educated children have easy access to health checks are much needed improvements.

“This was a rare case - but there are clear lessons to learn and it is now important that Welsh government adopts each of these recommendations as swiftly as possible.

“We know that the overwhelming majority of parents want a safe learning environment for their children. A register would help to ensure this is the case for every single home educated child.”

MORE RIGHTS

The Children’s Commissioner for Wales, meanwhile, has called for more rights for home educated children following the publication of the review.

“While a parent’s decision to electively educate their child at home is not a safeguarding matter in itself, I am concerned about a small number of children who are not in school and may have fallen under the radar,” said Professor Sally Holland.

“Under the current arrangements, it is possible for a local authority and health board to be unaware that the child is resident in their area and for that child not to be receiving any meaningful education and health care. This is the case in Wales and throughout the UK.

“Children may also be deprived of other rights such as the opportunity to express their wishes and feelings about their education and to socialise and make friends. Under the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child, and Welsh law, every child has the right to an education. They have a right to express their wishes and feelings about their education and to be safe and healthy.

“I do not believe that it is too much to ask of parents that they register with their local education authority their decision to home-educate their child, and for the local authority to check that the education meets the child’s needs. I think it is vital that every child has the opportunity to express their view about their education and to be seen by a professional on at least an annual basis. Every child should receive health care, including routine checks and dentistry.

“The death of this child is a very sad case. I have read the child practice review with interest and support all of the recommendations for improving systems and practice. I am calling on the Welsh Government to act and make the legislative changes that may prevent another similar tragedy.”