Months of remote learning from home during COVID-19 lockdowns has given permanent homeschooling a dramatic boost.
Homeschooling numbers shifted from steady to stratospheric across New South Wales last year thanks to bouts of lockdown learning. Remote learning gave parents a front row seat to what – and how – their children were learning, plus the chance to try educating at home, risk-free. The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) found that while numbers spiralled by 80 per cent in the five years to 2017, they soared from 5,096 registrations in 2019 to a historic high of 12,359 by 2022 – a 142 per cent increase in just three years.
Reasons behind this classroom exodus ranged from religious to cultural beliefs and a craving for improved flexibility in both curriculum and timetabling. Almost a third of respondents to a NESA survey cited ‘special learning needs’, such as anxiety or autism, as the reason they had moved to homeschooling. A mismatch with teaching staff, school policies, bullying or an academically gifted child were also listed.
While a minority of homeschooling families always intended to opt for this path, the majority enrolled in mainstream schooling before withdrawing, realising it was not serving the needs of their child or delivering the sort of education – or time to pursue passions and family togetherness – that they hoped for.
Annali DeMamiel is a former public school teacher who founded online home education resource, Annie’s Learning Garden. She tells North Shore Living that the ‘questioning began with the masks’. “Teachers and children as young as five were forced to wear masks to school, constantly reminded that their health was in danger,” she says.
“This led to a huge rise in panic attacks, anxiety and depression, deeply affecting the children’s rhythms. Parents began to question if the school system was serving them (appropriately), and if it really was necessary.”
As homeschooling shakes off past stigmas and steps into mainstream, perceptions have shifted and it is ‘far less associated with religious stereotypes,’ says Sally Farrelly, Support Officer for the national, not-for-profit Home Education Authority (HEA). The body runs a helpline aimed at ‘solving educational dilemmas’ for those considering stepping out of the classroom.
“Homeschooling allows for closer family relationships, a more relaxed learning environment, the ability for children to work at their own level and to focus on specific interests,” adds Ms Farrelly. She has been homeschooling her own children since 2005.
To educate a child at home, a parent must register with NESA’s Home Schooling Unit, which provides free registration, and asks for an education plan covering six subjects, from maths to creative arts, along with ongoing goals and progress plans. Approval is usually granted within 90 days.
Chalking up the highest numbers is booming Western Sydney, with 2,874 compared to 353 across the Sydney North area. Education Minister Prue Car suggests that a shortage of strong educational offerings in the ‘rapidly growing outer western suburbs’ could be to blame. “Suburbs like Schofields and The Ponds have exploded over the last decade, but the infrastructure has not been delivered to keep up,” says Minister Car. Labor’s Growth Areas Schools Plan pledges to deliver new and upgraded schools in fast-growing areas, alongside converting 10,000 casual teachers to permanent positions to alleviate Australia’s chronic teacher shortage – with the Department of Education warning that demand for high school teachers will outstrip graduates by over 4,000 by 2025. Children aged 13 to 14 were most likely to be homeschooled, with that number falling from 1,269 to 60 by the age of 18, NESA adds.
Remote learning during COVID-19, seen here with student Emma, caused some parents to reassess the school system.
With red flags continuing to fly for many as regards homeschooled children falling behind peers on an academic or social scale, the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW (BOSTES), argues otherwise. It found that
home educated children scored ‘significantly above’ the overall NSW average in ‘nearly every’ National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test. While not compulsory for homeschooled students, those that did sit the test – carried out in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 – scored ‘70 marks higher’ than the NSW average across reading, grammar, punctuation and numeracy. Scores in writing and spelling were ‘not significantly different’ from average.
Annali DeMamiel says that success at home is unsurprising, as children are ‘focused on their learning goals and celebrated for their uniqueness’. “With our children at home, we can influence them correctly and, as homeschooling is completely free from bullying or inappropriate behaviours, they feel safe,” she adds.
Removing this potential for negative mainstream social interactions, such as bullying or peer pressure, is both a positive and a negative. “We are led to believe that it is essential to send our children to school to socialise, but the playground and classroom are breeding grounds for bullying and exposure to inappropriate social media,” argues Ms DeMamiel.
Critics argue that home-schooled children miss out on social interaction.
However, without the daily playground conflict – and resolution – are homeschooled children denied the ability to cope in the real world? It would appear not, according to the NSW Parliament’s Inquiry into Homeschooling 2014. Students have weekly home-school meet-ups, camping trips, sports clubs, leading the inquiry to include that: “Children who are homeschooled are as socially developed as children who attend school.” Mixed-age interactions outside the segregated school age groups also help to make children ‘less peer dependent and more independent,’ the report added.
It is not a lifestyle that appeals to all, with long-time Crows Nest locals, Shaeeda and husband Binyan, sharing the sentiments of many who ‘breathed a sigh of relief’ when schools reopened post-pandemic. “Our seven-year old daughter needed to get back to school and we needed to get back to work without the demands of trying to teach her – and look after our toddler son,” says the couple, who run a café. “We don’t know anyone who was keen to continue with home education and we felt the same,” adds Shaeeda, saying that it put a ‘strain’ on family relationships and finances.
The financial aspect of homeschooling is an aspect to consider, with one parent often having to cut down on work – or give up altogether – in order to dedicate the time to teaching their child. Such a decision that can hit both short-term disposable income and long-term retirement saving.
Homeschooling carries implications far beyond a child’s education and it is a decision that needs to be made with this family-wide impact in mind. While it is clear that many past perceptions have been wiped off the board as soaring homeschooling shifts the dynamics of education, question marks remain, with socialisation the burning issue. Teacher-turned home educator Annali DeMamiel says it provides so much more for a child: “Homeschooling allows the space for childhood, in a safe, nurturing and protected environment. This is a future that we know in our hearts is right.”
By Catherine Lewis