Why is home education on the rise in London, UK

Samantha Fletcher

We know that home education is higher for neurodiverse community as the education system often doesn’t met their needs but it is interest to see the full range of options more and more parents are doing this.

Parents across England are choosing home education for reasons including lifestyle choices, religious or cultural beliefs, a rejection of an exam-based education or wanting to give their child more support with their educational needs or mental health, according to government data.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewdlp2jqkjo

Sarah Tuberty

The US is experiencing a similar conversation! We have legislation now that discusses the use of funds to pay for public vs private/charter/cyber schools.

I just spoke with a mom of a 12 year old girl who identifies within the Autism Community attending a public school. The mom shared that school has been awful for her daughter, that her daughter's self esteem is plummeting and her work is not progressing- she had a great teacher last year, but this year the school is unable to fund hiring a full-time special education teacher and instead are hiring a series of long-term substitutes.

This is deeply problematic as a large piece of the teaching process is rapport and relationship building with the educators - even more so for people within the disability community. This mom shared with me that they are enrolling their daughter into a cyber school and hoping that this consistency and decrease in negative social interactions with peers will help their daughter flourish.

I wonder what changes would need to happen in the public school spaces that would better address the needs of the student body- I realize that's not an easy question! And likely has a more complicated answer- but I wonder! What action steps can we take now to better support our schools?