SA Homeschool Withdrawal Letter Template: What to Write to Your Principal

When you've decided to home educate, you should notify the school in writing before the proposed change in attendance. In South Australia this creates a record of your intention while you apply for the Department's home education exemption. The child remains enrolled at the school if the exemption is approved, but is exempt from attending for the approved period. Getting the letter right matters, and knowing what rights the principal does and doesn't have matters even more.

The Two Documents You're Actually Managing

Parents often conflate the withdrawal letter with the exemption application to the Department for Education. They are separate things:

1. Notification to the school/principal — You are informing the school that you intend to home educate and identifying the proposed attendance change. This is an administrative step. The letter creates a paper trail, but it does not itself cancel the enrolment or make absences lawful.

2. Application for exemption from compulsory school attendance — This goes to the Education Director (not the principal) and requires your educational programme and supporting documentation. This is the approval you actually need to legally home educate.

You need both, and in most cases you submit them around the same time. But they go to different people with different purposes.

What Your Notification Letter to the Principal Should Include

Keep it professional and brief. You don't need to justify your decision. You don't need to list your curriculum plans or explain your reasons at length. The letter should contain:

• Your child's full name, date of birth, and year level
• The date from which they will no longer be attending school
• A clear statement that you are withdrawing your child for the purpose of home education
• Your contact details

Some families add: "This withdrawal is for home educating purposes only." This phrasing — recommended by the Home Education Association (HEA) — is worth including because it clarifies to the school's records system that the withdrawal is deliberate and purposeful, rather than a relocation or transfer that might trigger different follow-up.

Example letter structure:

Dear [Principal's name],

I am writing to notify you that [child's full name], currently enrolled in [Year level] at [school name], intends to cease attending from [date] while we pursue home education.

We are pursuing home education under the Education and Children's Services Act 2019. This request is for home educating purposes only; please keep the enrolment in place while the exemption process is completed.

We are in the process of applying for an exemption from compulsory school attendance from the Department for Education. Please confirm receipt of this notification at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely, [Your name and contact details]

That is the core content of the notification. Nothing more is required in the letter itself.

The Principal's Role — and Their Limits

Here is what many families don't know going in: the principal cannot approve or deny your right to home educate. That decision belongs exclusively to the Education Director.

The principal can:

• Receive and acknowledge your withdrawal notification
• Record the notification and manage the existing enrolment and attendance records
• Grant a short-term exemption (up to four weeks) as a bridging measure while your formal exemption application is processed
• Provide school records or documentation you request

The principal cannot:

• Require you to attend meetings before they process the withdrawal
• Demand a detailed curriculum plan from you
• Withhold processing of the withdrawal pending their "approval"
• Tell you that home education is not permitted or that you need their sign-off

The four-week temporary exemption a principal can grant is a practical provision — it allows the child to be absent while the formal application is being processed, without a gap in attendance authorisation if the principal grants it. If you need to act quickly, ask the principal to record the interim exemption in writing.

How to Submit the Letter

Deliver it in a way that creates a clear record. Options in order of preference:

1. Email with read receipt to the principal's official school email address. Keep the sent message.
2. Registered mail to the school's postal address. Keep the tracking receipt.
3. Hand-delivered with a signed acknowledgment. Bring two copies — one for them, one for you with their signature and date.

Avoid verbal-only notification. Even if the principal seems receptive, the letter protects you if anything is disputed later.

After the Letter: What Comes Next

Sending the notification letter to the principal is one piece of a larger process:

• Your exemption application goes to the Department for Education. This requires a full educational programme covering the eight ACARA learning areas, three distinct, measurable learning goals, and documentation about your child and your planned approach.
• You will not receive a Department decision overnight. The process typically takes 4–5 weeks from submission.
• If granted, the principal's four-week temporary exemption provides the legal cover during that gap.
• Once the Department grants the exemption, your child is legally exempt from attending the enrolled school for the stated exemption period.

The South Australia Legal Withdrawal Blueprint contains a complete withdrawal letter template, the exemption application checklist, educational programme templates for each year band, and a step-by-step guide to the full process — so you have everything in one place rather than assembling it yourself.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Oversharing in the letter. Parents sometimes include long explanations for their decision or details about their chosen curriculum. This isn't necessary and can create complications if anything in the letter is later reviewed or queried. State your intent clearly and stop.

Not following up on acknowledgment. Schools sometimes lose letters or delay updating rolls. If you haven't heard back within a week, follow up in writing.

Stopping attendance before the exemption is covered. The correct sequence is: notify the school, apply for exemption, and obtain either the Department's approval or the principal's four-week bridging exemption. Stopping attendance before the exemption is granted (without the bridging exemption) can create a technical truancy issue.

Confusing the notification letter with the exemption application. Some parents send an email to the principal thinking they have completed the registration process. The Department for Education application is a separate submission with its own requirements.

The notification itself is simple. The full transition process — from withdrawal notification through to an approved home education exemption — requires more preparation, but the letter to the principal is the step you take first.

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