this is a REALLY LONG post......
just sayin'.....
just sayin'.....
Today is the end of an era.....
it's been a long time coming and yet feels like it is here in a heartbeat....
it's Isaac's last day at school today and that just feels extremely odd.....
it makes me feel quite old and nostalgic if I am honest.....
over the next four weeks he has his final school exams to take
and a Leavers Ball to enjoy but there will be no more classes and no more homework....
hopefully there will be some revision though!
it's been a long time coming and yet feels like it is here in a heartbeat....
it's Isaac's last day at school today and that just feels extremely odd.....
it makes me feel quite old and nostalgic if I am honest.....
over the next four weeks he has his final school exams to take
and a Leavers Ball to enjoy but there will be no more classes and no more homework....
hopefully there will be some revision though!
When Isaac was tiny we decided that we would be home educating him; we saw no need for him to 'go to school' when we could provide everything needed at home for him to learn, grow and develop. We came to learn that it was a tricky concept for most people to come to terms with - this 'home education' lark prompted so many questions - most of which centred around that fact that a lot of people believed that somehow our children would be socially disadvantaged because they had not spent 7 hours a day in a classroom with a large group of children the same age as them. I quickly realised that this was the most frequent question I would get asked for the next 12 years or so and actually still get asked today when people find out that Isaac {and Evie} were home educated for most of their lives to this point.
For those who may read this who do not home educate, or have never thought of home education as a viable option for them, let me assuage your concerns and tell you that, from my experience, children will not become socially inept because they are educated 'at home'. I put the words 'at home' in quotation marks because much of our education did not happen in our home. We spent many hours with friends in outdoor spaces, on days out to various local museums, parks, libraries, play spaces, National Trust properties, mountains, local community colleges, theatres...... let's just say that we had to make sure we scheduled in time to be at home as there were so many opportunities for us to be elsewhere.
And since when has education been limited to a time or place? In my humble opinion it can, and does, happen anywhere and at any time! I started to read to Isaac in the first few months of his life and not a day would go by when we wouldn't read books together {I actually continued to read aloud to Isaac and Evie nearly every afternoon until they were pre-teens!}. In the very early years, it was me reading aloud to him, finding favourite stories that we would read again and again {and again, until I was almost ready to 'loose' that book but could never bring myself to do so} and then, it seemed overnight, Isaac could read by himself and that opened up a whole new world for him.... he was an avid, voracious and expansive reader who would pick up anything and read it....... I loved that about him...... books were his 'thing'..... well, books and lego! He spent hours reading and building and playing. One of his favourite things to do was to spend time in the garden {we were blessed with, in inner city terms at least, a large garden and this was the most amazing learning space for our kids} where he would use the left over pipes and guttering {it was an older house that needed complete renovation when we moved in so there was always lots of building supplies lying around} and he was fascinating by moving water {he called it 'uddy water'}. He would spend hours building the most intricate of water systems out of whatever he could find and then spend just as long pouring water into the top end and watching as it moved through the maze of pipes and gutters and came out at the bottom end. We always thought he would end up being an engineer because he loved working out the way things worked and why they worked and how they worked......
Education is a lifelong journey..... it doesn't start at 8.50 and finish when the final bell of the day rings. It is something that is organic and continuous..... happening at all times and in all places. There are very few periods in life where we are not learning something and Brian and I were truly convinced that, as long as we allowed his questions and explorations, he would thrive.
We did try taking him along to a nursery for two afternoon sessions a week but he was not a happy camper and really didn't want to stay.... he kept telling me that they wanted him to play but he wanted to read books, they wanted him to paint or do something messy and he didn't like to get messy..... a couple of years later I did take him, along with Evie, to a local community college where we all did pottery classes and, guess what?..... he still didn't enjoy getting messy {it's just 'not his thing'} but he did make some fantastic ceramic pieces which we still love to this day. I completely get that pre-school or nursery need to have structures in place because of the logistics of having the amount of children who are in each class {and also because they are given Government targets to fulfil} but it just didn't suit us as a family and certainly didn't suit Isaac as an individual. He wanted to be home with me and his little sister, exploring the garden, reading his books and having after lunch quiet time in his room {which continued for many years in our house!} and I was happy to facilitate this. Some people may think that I was being dictated to by my 3/4 year old..... I certainly don't believe that I was..... I was listening to him, to what he enjoyed {and didn't enjoy} and I was trusting my own instincts that told me he would be happier at home and would thrive just the same - in all ways. Brian and I were very comfortable to allow him to pursue the things he enjoyed and which seemed to be teaching him so much about the world around him. He still interacted with other children {of all ages} at church, in the local cub scout group, at our home ed gatherings and within other friendship groups so he wasn't isolated in any way but he was able to join in when he wanted and to withdraw when he was 'full up' with being with others. It's funny that Brian has worked in schools/education for Isaac's entire life and has often made the observation that children can be isolated at school or unhappy at school or disengaged at school - they are who they are regardless of where their education takes place. Being home educated does not make them 'awkward' or 'introverted' - they would probably have those characteristics/personality traits wherever their education took place - school probably makes it more difficult for them to be 'who they really are'. Going to school does not necessarily make you more 'social' or more 'well balanced', in fact I believe that it can have the opposite effect and being home educated does not make you an introvert or socially inept - again it can have the opposite effect. Children's personalities are complex things and we can't have a 'one-size-fits-all' system and think that it is the right thing for everyone. Now I'm not knocking school..... for some it is their only choice and for others, looking back, it was a blissful place of friendship and enjoyment but for many it is not the right 'fit'. However, people don't feel they have a choice about the education of their child because they either are not aware of the choices or because they can't financially make a different choice. School is, by default, the place that the majority of children end up and, if I am honest, I'm not sure it's always the right place.....
Isaac had his first taste of school when we made our first move to Australia. Brian was appointed as head of faculty at a school in Ballarat, Victoria with the specific goal of introducing a qualification in Philosophy at VCE level {A level in the UK}. Isaac was keen by this stage {he was 9 years old} to 'have a go' and see what school was like so we enrolled him into a grade 4 class and he began to attend school for the first time. There were things he enjoyed - especially spending time with his class teacher who understood him in a way that many other teachers would not have. He also enjoyed the classroom library and helping others with their maths problems! It was, overall, a positive year but we knew that home education was a better option and he was happy to have had the experience of school but to be back home at the end of the year. He was home educated again for the next 4 and a half years {two more in Australia and two and a half back in the UK} and then, on our return to Australia {this time to Perth on the west coast} he began attending school by his own choice again {he was nearly 15 at this point}. He enjoyed 7 months in school in Perth and then had 9 more months at home {as we returned to the UK} before making the decision to attend school full time in the UK from September 2015 {as he turned 16}. During his 9 months at home we decided together that he should take a couple of iGCSE exams as he knew he would be starting school in year 11 and would have just one year to complete a set of qualifications which he hadn't specifically studied for and which would normally be taken over 2 years. So we prepared at home for English Language and Maths exams pulling in a little help from teacher friends so that he felt as prepared as possible for what were his very first exams..... ever! He smashed them and began year 11 with eight more subjects to study, some of which he'd never studied before {Business & Economics, Design Technology and Religious Studies} and some he had enjoyed at home but had never studied the UK curriculum for {Information Computer Technology, Physics and Chemistry}. He picked up Additional Maths and English Literature during this year too and just had to 'catch up' the bits he had missed..... the school were fab at giving him a specialised timetable so that he could prepare as much as possible and, for one subject {RS}, he just read the text book and asked Brian for help as he couldn't join a class for that one.
He began sixth form on a level footing with the rest of his year - starting right at the beginning of the courses and has spent the last two years learning and pursuing his interests {and being a teenager which means spending more time on the computer and social media than this mum and dad would ideally have liked!!} but he is now nearly at the end of his time at school {but not nearly at the end of his education!} He took one A level last year in Maths and over the next 4 weeks will continue his exams in Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry; will have a big end of year party with his cohort {known formally as the Leavers Ball} and will {officially} leave Dean Close School.
So what's next? Well, he applied to a number of Universities along with the majority of the rest of his cohort and received offers from Bristol, Bath, Exeter and Cardiff to read Maths....... but he has decided that the full-time University route is not for him {much to the surprise of a number of his teachers!!}
Last summer he arranged his own work experience at GE Aviation here in Cheltenham and loved it. Alongside his University applications he applied for apprenticeships with GE Aviation, the MOD in Bristol and Dyson - all engineering degree apprenticeships which would give him the opportunity to earn a degree {paid for by the company}, earn a wage and learn more about something which has always interested him {remember me saying that we always thought he would be an engineer??} He went through a rigorous assessment and interview process and was offered a placement with GE Aviation beginning in September 2018 which he has accepted {he also got through to the MOD interview stage but knew that GE was really where he wanted to be so declined to proceed any further}. He said to me yesterday that he is really excited about beginning his apprenticeship - that makes me so happy - he has followed his heart!
I'm so proud of my boy for pursuing his passion, for staying true to what he wanted to do even though most of those around him were trying to persuade him to go a different route and for being his own person...... it's what we raised him for.
