If I could back to the start of this journey the one thing I would do is pause.

I had this pressure to formulate a plan. I guess I needed that to reassure myself we can do this. I hastily gathered as much information as I could, and signed us up to learning, courses, activities, home ed groups.. anything and everything I could because I thought I had to fill the days.

I think my naive view of the world made me believe I would come under scrutiny. I thought this scrutiny would come from not having an education plan that covered 9-3, five days per week. It’s daunting isn’t it? We went through a process to de-register our child from school. Then, we registered with our local council to indicate we were home schooling. This left me feeling anxious, worried we would be judged as not doing a good enough job. Once you inform the council that you are home educating, you receive a report to complete. This report lets the council know what education provision you are implementing. This varies quite a lot from council to council from my experience. When we lived in Hampshire – the form was lengthy and intense – we were told we may have a home visit or follow up call also. I spent a long time crafting a plan – and a response.

When we moved to Derbyshire in Summer 24, I phoned the team up to let them know we were in the area. The lady I spoke to was so lovely and helpful. She advised I would get some paperwork through and I would need to submit a report – but it was up to me how to present what we were doing. It wasn’t formal and it wasn’t intimidating. They signed us off until she starts year 12 – and this will be back in a college setting.

Back in Year 10 we signed up to a 14-16 year old course in a local college. This was great and worth doing for some face to face contact and company. Plus it gives the parents a little breathing space too (and didn’t cost us anything). Not all colleges offer this but worth asking your local home ed council team or local colleges. We signed up with a virtual school, an exam centre and then I starting thinking ‘but what about the rest of the time’?

It really doesn’t need to be 9-3. You may be reading this thinking – yes I know that. But I didn’t – and I’m writing this to my former self. Ease up! Don’t worry about what everyone else is thinking and do what is right for your child and you. For us, walking the dog everyday – sometimes Evie goes on her own listening to music… she has horse riding lessons, we’ve gone to a gym to do some strength training and we now go walking in The Peak District as we are lucky enough to live there now. Some days Evie is up early and some times she isn’t if she doesn’t need to be. Some days she has a lesson at 5.30pm. On a Monday in Year 11 she only has 2 hours of scheduled lessons. She now has time for really good revision ahead of her exams plus activities to keep her sane and happy. She’s managed to get herself 2 jobs which is great for her self esteem and building a life away from our house. For me, her happiness is worth everything. I cannot wait to shout about the difference we have made to her happiness and her exam grades in the Summer. I’m confident she will excel compared to how she would if she were still in school.