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school attendance order

I have home schooled my two daughters from the ages of seven and nine,we always welcomed visits from the school advisers.however my girls are now 16 and 18 and we feel that we do not need to see them anymore.because i refused a visit they have threatened me with a school attendance order.Am i in my rights to refuse a visit?will i be prosecuted?i am living in fear at the moment as there is no way i could send my 16 year old to school,i would go to prison before that happened,any ideas?

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Comment by Scott on October 21, 2011 at 5:03pm: Attendance and schooling laws vary from state to state in the US, so here it depends.

I see you're in the UK and will call that out in case any other UK readers see this comment and have advice.

In the US, I'm skeptical that any state has the ability to do such a thing with an adult, which an 18 yr old is. When people run into trouble here, often a useful resource is the articles and references at the homeschooling legal defense fund site: http://www.hslda.org/ I see they have some articles with information about the UK here: http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/UnitedKingdom/default.asp. In particular notice that Compulsory Attendance Ages or 5-16, so you'd want to find what their legal basis is for interfering with your relationship with the 18 year old. As far as homeschooling goes, it says there are no legal requirements other than to inform school officials if withdrawing from government school to home educate. There's quite a few articles linked to there, maybe it will help you get started, Also notice the contact information for Education Otherwise http://www.education-otherwise.net/, they have a helpline number for you there 0845 478 6345 which seems to be specifically for people in situations such as yours.