South Australia acknowledges and respects Aboriginal peoples as the state's first peoples and nations, and recognises Aboriginal peoples as traditional owners and occupants of land and waters in South Australia.
South Australia
In South Australia, you can apply to home educate your child as an educational option. When applying to home educate, you accept overall responsibility for your child’s education. This responsibility includes providing a high quality education that will enable your child to achieve their potential and to develop their capacity. The Department for Education acknowledges that parents who home educate are willing to commit the necessary time, energy and resources to support their child’s education.
In SA, registration for home education is an exemption from school attendance for the purposes of home education. Children of compulsory school age are required to be enrolled in a school and then exempted from attending for the purpose of home education.
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Enrol in a school - you can email or drop into the main office & request a school enrollment form. If your local school is being difficult then simply email or phone another school.
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Fill out school enrolment form (at this point you don't need to mention homeschooling if you don't wish to). When filling out the form add at the top & at the end *for home educating purposes only.
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To access the link to the online application form, email your name, address and contact number to Education.HomeEducation@sa.gov.au.
Applications typically take 2-4 weeks to process. Principals can grant temporary exemptions up to a month. The exemption is reviewed annually and includes a home visit to discuss the child’s education.
Note: In SA, signatures of both biological parents are required for exemption for the purposes of homeschooling. If exemption from school attendance is requested for the purposes of traveling, only a single signature is required.
The HEA Registration Support Team is available to help answer questions you may have in regards to state registration, or offer support if you need. Email support@hea.edu.au . While we hope you will consider membership with us, the HEA supports Australian home educators regardless of membership.
The HEA also has a phone Helpline with experienced home educators who can assist you with any general home education questions you may have, particularly 'how to get started'. 1300 72 99 91
In SA you can apply to home educate your child during their compulsory school years (6 to 17 years).
When applying to home educate, you accept overall responsibility for your child’s education and must provide:
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a suitable education program that meets the goals of the Australian Curriculum (or similar), including strategies and tools to monitor your child’s progress
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appropriate resources to support your program
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a suitable learning environment and
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opportunities for your child’s social interaction.
Guide to home education
The guide to home education in South Australia explains the process and requirements for home education.
This guide has been developed for families considering home education and provides information on:
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the conditions and criteria for home education
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alternative education options and exemptions
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completing the online application
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renewing a home education exemption
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resources and services available to you
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your roles and responsibilities and our roles and responsibilities.
If you have any questions, email the Department for Education's
Home Education unit at Education.HomeEducation@sa.gov.au
Applying to home educate
To access the link to the online application form, email your name,
address and contact number to Education.HomeEducation@sa.gov.au
SA Home Education Registration Overview
Your Learning Plan
The department does not mandate a particular learning approach or set of resources, however the learning program you choose will need to address all 8 learning areas as defined by the Australian Curriculum. It will also need to demonstrate planning for a 12-month period.
You can find the 8 Key Learning Areas can be found at Australian Curriculum website
In your application to home educate, you will need to provide a list of specific topics, learning activities, skills, projects, and/or unit studies that will be a focus on each learning area.
This will be guided by the Australian Curriculum, contents of educational resources, formal or informal learning activities, a child’s interest, planned excursions and/or educational workshops.
This may be entered as a statement or through the use of dot points, for example, an entry in technologies may include:
James will design and create a vegetable patch to gain an understanding of practical food production.
Proposed learning activities may integrate across several curriculum areas and you may use a common theme or topic to provide learning for several children of varying ages, adjusting the pace or content accordingly.