Homeschooling in Saskatchewan

What you must file

1. No fixed dateYou file

   Notification of a Home-based Education Program (notice of intent)

   At least 30 days before you start a new program. This applies at the beginning or the middle of a school year, and for a September start the notice must be received by August 15 in any event. If your child was registered with this registering authority for the previous school year: by August 15, before instruction starts. Other cases: at least 30 days before your child would be legally required to attend school; within 30 days after your child becomes entitled to attend school in a new school division; or at least 30 days before you withdraw your child from a school. A registering authority may not refuse to register your program because a 30-day requirement was missed, where a reasonable attempt to comply was made.

   How often: annual (first registration)

   Goes to: The registering authority (school division / conseil scolaire)

   Use the Ministry's Notification of a Home-based Education Program form and attach your written education plan. One form covers all the children in your family. The form asks for: the school division you live in and are registering with; the date the program will begin; each child's full name, gender, date of birth and grade level; any school or school division each child was enrolled in during the past 12 months; the name, relationship, phone, email and address of the parent or parents directing the program; the custody arrangement; and signed declarations. Also say which school division services you want. A child who has not previously registered with a Saskatchewan school needs a copy of a birth certificate (or passport, PR card, citizenship certificate or status card) with the first registration. The parent directing the program must lawfully have charge and custody of each child, and with joint custody both parents must agree to the program. Where your home is inside both a public and a separate school division, members of the minority faith (Roman Catholic) register with the separate division and all other families with the public division. Families with French minority-language rights who will teach mainly in French may notify the Conseil scolaire fransaskois instead. If you live in two school divisions during the year, or parents with joint custody live in different divisions, register with only one and tell the other division which one you chose. If you want to use a language other than English or French for up to half of instruction time, ask for the registering authority's approval when you send this notice.

2. August 15You file

   Written Education Plan

   Filed with the notification. Registration is valid only to the end of the school year (June 30).

   Goes to: The registering authority

   One plan per family is enough, but the broad annual goals and the way you assess and record progress must be specific to each child. The plan must state: the reason for and the philosophical approach of your program; the areas of study and learning outcomes for each child for the coming school year, with a minimum of three broad annual goals in each of the four required areas of study (language arts, mathematics, science and social studies); the educational activities, instructional methods and learning resources you expect to use; the means of assessing and recording each child's progress; and the school division services you intend to access. Goals in health, arts and physical education are optional. The plan must not be inconsistent with the Goals of Education for Saskatchewan and must not be inappropriate for your child's age and ability. It does not need a scope and sequence of content. To make a significant change during the year (your philosophical approach, any broad annual goal, or how you assess and record progress), ask the registering authority in writing; the change must be acceptable to it. Written education plan requirements vary by school division, so check with yours.

3. No fixed dateYou file

   Annual student progress report

   Once NEAR THE END OF THE SCHOOL YEAR, at a time set by the parent and acceptable to the registering official. The precise timing is agreed in the Written Education Plan before registration.

   Goes to: The registering authority

   One of three formats, parent's choice: (a) the portfolio of work in sufficient detail for the authority to assess progress; (b) results of a nationally normed standardized achievement test; or (c) results of such a test administered by the parent or another person at the parent's expense, with evidence of that person's qualifications and an interpretation of the results. Send one report for each child. If the registering authority gives you written notice that the report leaves out information agreed in your written education plan, you must provide the information or otherwise fix the problem within 15 days of receiving the notice. If you do not, the registering authority must, within 15 days, tell you in writing that it intends to cancel the program, with reasons, and tell you about the dispute resolution process.

4. August 15You file

   Notice of intent to renew

   By August 15 of each year. Registration is valid only until the end of the school year (June 30); it does not roll over.

   Goes to: The registering authority

   Renew on the same Notification of a Home-based Education Program form. Update your written education plan and the other information from last year's registration, in particular: which children are on the program for the coming school year, the broad annual goals in each of the four areas of study for each child, the annual progress report, and the school division services you want. The registering official must renew the program if you have updated your notice and either last year's annual progress report showed satisfactory progress or you and the official agreed an improvement plan. If you change a major part of the program, such as its philosophical approach, it is treated as a new program. Registrations do not transfer: if you move to a different school division, you must register again there, not simply renew.

5. No fixed dateYou keep

   Portfolio of student work

   Keep a portfolio for each child throughout the year, whichever progress report option you choose, and keep it for at least two calendar years after the end of the calendar year in which the work was created. You do not have to give it to the registering official unless you chose the portfolio as your annual progress report. If a disagreement goes to the dispute resolution process under section 21 of the regulations, you may be required to provide it. If the program ends during the year or is cancelled, give the portfolio for that partial school year to the school your child enrolls in, or to your resident board of education or conseil scolaire if your child does not attend school.

   Goes to: Retained by the parent

   The portfolio must contain a periodic log (a record of the educational activities your child completed in relation to the written education plan) and, for each broad annual goal, one of: a detailed summative record; sufficient samples of work; or a summative record and samples of work. You are not expected to keep a daily attendance register.

6. No fixed dateYou file

   Improvement plan (when the registering authority requires one)

   Within 30 days after you receive the registering authority's written notice that your child has not made satisfactory progress and changes to the program are required, unless the disagreement is referred to the dispute resolution process.

   How often: only when required

   Goes to: The registering authority

   Before asking for one, the registering authority must give you evidence of the lack of satisfactory progress and contact you to discuss it. The official may not require an improvement plan for a child who is achieving, on a nationally normed standardized achievement test, above the level at which the school division would start support for a student in its own schools. The plan should include the particular outcomes it addresses, how and when your child's progress will be assessed, how you will report to and communicate with the official, and how long the plan runs (you set the period, and it must be acceptable to the registering authority). You may develop it with the registering authority or with another person you choose and pay for. While your child is on an improvement plan, the official may require closer monitoring, such as periodic standardized tests, progress reports during the year or more frequent contact. If you do not agree a plan is needed, or you cannot agree on one, either side may refer the disagreement to the dispute resolution process by written notice.

7. No fixed dateYou file

   Written notice to end the program during the school year

   In writing, whenever you decide to end the program during the school year. The registration is cancelled from the end date you give in the notice. To stop at the end of a school year, you simply do not renew.

   How often: only if you end the program during the year

   Goes to: The registering authority

   The notice must include: the name of the parent directing the program; the address and phone number of the home the program is provided from; each child's name, gender and date of birth; the date the program ends; and, for a child of compulsory school age, the plans for the child's continuing education. Consult the registering authority about your child's continuing education. Give the portfolio of work for the partial school year to the school your child enrolls in, or to your resident board of education or conseil scolaire if your child does not attend school. After ending a program, you are not entitled to register a home-based program for that child again until the next school year. The provincial policy manual says that if you move to another school division during the year, you may register with the new division.

8. No fixed dateYou file

   Student records when you do not renew

   When you choose not to renew the program for another school year.

   How often: once, when you stop

   Goes to: The school your child enrolls in, or your resident board of education or conseil scolaire

   Supply the appropriate student records to the school your child enrolls in, or to your resident board of education or conseil scolaire.