I have been on a difficult but enlightening journey with my family through school attendance struggles, mental health difficulties and navigating the SEND system. All of this was a big surprise for me but, as it turns out, not an uncommon experience. With the number of home educating families rising and school attendance a recurring concern, I started wondering how our sector could be more inclusive of those learning outside of the school system.

I have recently completed an Arts Council Funded Developing Your Creative Practice project which explores how museums and galleries can support children who can’t access school. This includes Electively Home Educating families (EHE) and those who face barriers to attendance. Undiagnosed SEND, mental health challenges and unmet needs are impacting more and more children. How can we welcome them and ensure equitable access to collections, culture and heritage?

There are examples of excellent established and emerging museum and gallery provision for home educated audiences. My recent sector survey highlighted offers ranging from adapted school workshops, repurposed family activities and special event days to tailored projects including Arts Award. It also reflected that many museums would like to offer more for this audience, but that staff capacity along with understanding needs, working with varying group dynamics and effectively communicating offers are barriers. A case study with New Forest Heritage Centre highlights a very new programme designed specifically for home educating families Each monthly session for 6 families offers a craft-based activity, creative writing and games or puzzles.  At Culture Coventry Museums they are engaging large numbers with a coordinated offer across their sites, organising 3 special events each year and branching out into CPD for parents. Morgan Fail from Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums recently initiated the Northeast regional Home Education network for cultural providers to come together and share practice.

Home Ed group visit to Compton Verney in Warwickshire, set up for slow looking activity in the British Folk Art Collection

For children facing barriers to education (who aren’t EHE) I found pockets of activity working with alternative education providers on funded projects, but a regular offer is less common and an area where the sector could seek to provide further support.

The increasing rate of ‘school refusal’ has received recurring attention in the media since the Covid Pandemic. The term ‘Ghost Children’ has been used to describe those deemed as missing from education, often with a focus on safeguarding implications and a presumption that school is the best place for all children. Whilst the safety of all children is paramount, the reasons behind school avoidance are often complex and in practice the school environment is not suitable for all.

On one hand there is the Government drive for improving school attendance and the resulting pressure on schools to ensure a minimum of 95% attendance. On the other hand there are high levels of mental health difficulties in our children and young people and a CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health) service that has waiting lists lasting years. Children with SEND feature highly in this number.

Anxiety, sensory differences, emotional dysregulation, communication difficulties, separation anxiety, trauma and many other factors can make the school environment extremely challenging for children. These can often be hidden barriers particularly for neurodivergent children (diagnosed or suspected).

Illustration by Eliza Fricker, Missing The Mark

By law schools should make reasonable adjustments so that children with SEND have equitable access. Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) can ensure provisions, but these are difficult and lengthy to put in place and many families have to use an appeal and tribunal process to obtain one. Even with an EHCP it is often difficult to secure a place at a suitable specialist provision.

As a result, there are thousands of children who are unable to go to school and this has a huge impact on them and their families. Parent blame, shame, financial difficulties, feelings of isolation and poor mental health are common. There are currently over 61,000 members in the ‘Not Fine in School’ support network on Facebook.

It also means that the home education community is becoming more diverse with a high proportion of SEND children, as many families feel they have no choice but to de-register their children from school and home educate as school is just not right for them. I have heard this termed ‘Unelective Home Education’.

I spoke to Ellie Costello, Director of Square Peg, a CIC campaigning for families facing school attendance difficulties. She agreed that the learning opportunities at museums could be a great fit for these children, offering creative, engaging, experiential and open-ended learning in an environment where children traumatised by school may feel more relaxed.

I also asked families how we can help. Their survey showed that many home educating families already visit museums independently and value museums for learning activities and resources, access to collections and specialist knowledge. Significantly, not all children learning outside of a school setting are EHE and not all home educators are part of support networks. We therefore can’t assume that they will be reached through home educator networks. There is appetite for further programming, especially workshops, loaned resources and online resources and a need to communicate offers more effectively. Timings, spaces, booking mechanisms, pricing and accommodating a broad age range are all important factors.

Home Ed group visit to Compton Verney in Warwickshire, exploring sculpture through loose parts

I spent time with home educating families during outreach at groups and consultation days at Compton Verney in Warwickshire. Our main learning was that a lot could be offered with resources that are already available and that small changes could raise awareness and accessibility. A notable consideration is the need to change expectations within our teams about learning outcomes and what ‘success’ looks like. For some children, arriving and experiencing the museum with their family is a big step even if they don’t attend a workshop. Others will discover an object that sparks their next learning project or an ambition to learn a particular skill. The important thing is to offer choice and acceptance. ‘The opportunity to come into a different, welcoming space with activities to engage in, as desired and others to connect with and talk to was very welcome and will stimulate ongoing learning’ (consultation day participant)

Home Ed group visit to Compton Verney in Warwickshire, sketching sculpture by Louise Bourgeois

If you would like to be more intentional in including this audience here are some suggestions;

  • Make your welcome visible on your website and be clear about costs – if you run workshops for home educating groups, give them a dedicated area, don’t bury it within a section about offers for schools
  • Look at programming you already offer that would be suitable and highlight this to home educating families – think about your family learning programme and self-led resources as well as schools offers. Don’t forget any digital resources.
  • Start simple – offering a space to meet and a suggested route through the museum can go a long way
  • Talk to other local cultural organisations – can you coordinate any special home educator events so that they don’t clash or promote them for each other?
  • Build contacts with your local home educating community – their word of mouth is vital, and they will have lots of suggestions for shaping your offer

Outreach at a Home Ed group meeting, collaborative collage in response to artwork from the British Folk Art Collection at Compton Verney in Warwickshire

Please get in touch if you would like to explore further.

Links for further information

Summary of results from my museum sector survey

Not Fine in School – School Refusal, School Attendance

Nicky McIntosh, Museum Consultant

I have enjoyed participating in the museum sector since 1998 as both a curator and learning manager mainly in Warwickshire and the West Midlands. I am now a freelance museum consultant specialising in project management and learning engagement. My experience has encompassed school, family and adult learning. Get in touch at [email protected]  or  linkedin.com/in/nicky-m-32430892