Cornwall sees increase in home schooled children

Matt Lewry believes Covid sparked a big upsurge in home education in Cornwall

More children in Cornwall are being home schooled, according to recent statistics.

The number of children being home educated in the county has increased from 1,058 in 2019 to 1,737 in 2023.

Course providers said they believed that the Covid-19 pandemic was partly responsible for the rise.

Official bodies said that children could be educated outside of schools if "certain conditions" were fulfilled.

Ella, from Redruth, is home schooled

Imagine Outdoors in Cornwall works with children and adults and is run by Matt Lewry.

Mr Lewry said: "After Covid, there was a massive recognition that education wasn't supporting every need of every child."

He said he practised "sneaky learning", such as teaching maths through angles of sticks in a fire.

Ella, from Redruth, learns at home and goes to outdoor groups in Newquay.

She said: "We do fun stuff and we go out with our friends."

Schools 'under-resourced'

Carina lives in Lanivet near Bodmin and teaches her 11-year-old son Finley at home after he became anxious about school.

She said: "There's a massive Home Ed movement now in Cornwall. It's really big."

She added that she thought the school system "just wasn't fitting Finley's needs, through probably no fault of the schools.

"I think they're under-resourced, I think their understaffed," she said.

Cornwall Council said on its website that parents and carers had a duty "to ensure that their children receive a suitable full-time education" and this "can be either by regular attendance at school or otherwise".

It added: "The law allows parents/carers to educate their children at home instead of sending them to school, if they fulfil certain conditions."