At a site in Brechfa, South Wales, where there were around 15 to 20 children last year, the TSC went on site to assist parents who wanted to set up a school. We spent some of the money we had on training the parents to carry the school on. Just an hour or a couple of hours a day. He recalls the amount of time spent going to assemblies, lining up and taking registers in schools and thinks kids at the Travellers' School may well spend longer actually carrying out 'tasks' than they do at school. Few people consider educating their children out of school.
Most parents assume their kids have got to go to school.
Education is compulsory but schooling isn't. Parents can simply write to a school informing them that they intend to educate their child out of school. Prosecutions only occur in instances where children are registered at a school from which they are continually marked absent. Howard also suggests keeping a simple diary. Fiona co-ordinates the TSC's support for home education.