A ‘Child Missing Education’ (CME) is a child of compulsory school age who is not a registered pupil at a school and is not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school (e.g., home educated or receiving paid-for tuition).
The CME inbox is always busy, receiving not only communications from Sutton Schools relating to on and off rolling, but also all CME related enquiries from schools and local authorities nationwide. It is the role of the CME Officers to make sure that schools have complied with their statutory duties and to quickly identify any children and young people at risk.
In order to safeguard the children and young people, enquiries are prioritised according to risk. The most complex cases are brought to the CME POD, a panel of professionals amongst Cognus, for further discussion with Cognus colleagues to establish routes of enquiries not already tried, often involving cross-team working and external agencies.
‘This academic year (25/26), in the first half term alone, we had 50 CME referrals come in’ – Louise Blay, Inclusion Co-ordinator.
Below are two case studies which highlight the excellent work that has been taking place recently:
Child A was initially referred to the Elective Home Education team from another borough, stating that the family were moving into Sutton and were going to be electively home educating. When no contact was received from the family and they could not be located at the address given, Child A was referred to CME. The team worked tirelessly on this case, using a variety of different agencies to try and locate the child. This included; checking the NHS records, using the Department for Education’s School2School system, liaising with schools’ police in addition to housing and benefits, and contacting other boroughs. Eventually, a request in through the Home Office, the CME team having recently been approved for Border Control checks, which confirmed that Child A was living abroad and therefore the case could be closed to CME.
Another example of the excellent multi-agency and cross team working that is completed by the CME team was evident in the case of Child B, who moved into Sutton from another country. Child B has a disability, and the family was reluctant to apply for schools as they were not sure which could meet her needs. The CME team were able to explain the process around school applications, and the family felt confident to apply. The child was referred to the Vulnerable Pupil’s Panel and, with the medical evidence available, mainstream school was thought not to be suitable. A plan was therefore put in place across various education, health and social care teams to ensure that the right schools were sought, and that support was provided in the interim. Initially, Sutton’s Tuition and Reintegration Service completed a visit to find out more information and undertake an assessment, and a further referral was put into the children with disabilities social care team. Following this, Sutton’s Information, Advice and Support Service began to support the family with an Education, Health, Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) request, as it became evident that the child would need an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) to gain a specialist placement in a school. School nursing and an educational psychologist also completed a visit and assessments to support the application, gather further details and put any other referrals in that are needed. Although still in process, a plan is in place, and a specialist school is providing outreach in the interim while a permanent place is sourced.
These cases highlight the importance of professional curiosity and multi-agency working needed to ensure children are receiving a suitable education.
For more information, please refer to:
Children Missing Education – Cognus
Bitesize Safeguarding Training Videos and Accompanying Slides – Cognus (bitesize training on CME and Professional Curiosity)