This is a story I've wanted to share for a while. It's honest, it's raw, and I hope that if you're reading this and you're going through something similar, it helps you feel less alone.
It Started in 2022
In 2022 I made the decision to pull my daughter out of her school. I wasn't happy with how she was being treated and I knew something had to change. My plan was to home educate temporarily while I found a place for her at a new school. A few weeks later I removed her little brother too, so they could start fresh together somewhere new.
Home ed was going really well. And then a place came up at a school we all loved. It felt perfect. We were so excited. How wrong I was.
The Bullying Began
It started with my son. Just four weeks in. He was five years old. Children were picking on how he looked, pulling his backpack off and throwing it around the corridor, taking his hat and stamping on it, punching him in the face, slapping him, pulling his fingers back, and saying the cruellest of words to him. I would drop him off crying and pick him up crying the moment he saw me.
One morning I had a meeting at the school with my son. We talked about how he was feeling. After the meeting they were going to take him to class. As I went to leave he ran towards me. The teachers blocked him. "It will be okay, he'll be fine in a moment, he always is." The classic line.
The screams I heard as I walked away will haunt me forever.
I sat in my car and cried. I called my son's dad in tears saying I can't do this anymore. That was the day I removed him.
A few weeks later he said he'd go back to his original school and try to find new friends. I returned him. But it was as though the other children could sense he'd been a victim, like he was holding up a sign saying "bully me." It started all over again. Year 6 students kicking him and circling him. Being refused a drink of water on the hottest of days. Being refused the toilet. Not being supported in lessons. And then a meeting with the SEN department telling me they thought he had autism and I should get him checked. I'd never had those worries about him, I know that all children learn at different speeds. But I went along with it and a plan was put in place.
Then My Daughter Bonnie
All while this was happening, my daughter Bonnie started being bullied at the school my son had just left. Those mornings she always felt sick, or was too tired, or I'd find her crying in bed. The "I look ugly" comments. The "I don't want to eat, I'm getting fat" comments. She was breaking.
Eventually she told me everything. A group of girls and a boy were picking on her. Calling her names. Making up lies. Laughing about her family. Calling her ugly. Telling her to die in a car crash. Calling her the worst names imaginable. Threats from older siblings. She was slapped. And the school? They sat back. And when they did act, they told all the girls off, including my daughter.
Then came parents' evening. They sat us down and showed us a chart of where all the children were with their learning. They pointed out how far behind Bonnie was the lowest on the chart, while our daughter sat right there listening to every word.
That was it. I couldn't bear any more. Bonnie was getting thinner. She looked worn out, tired, drained. The bullying was relentless and the school wasn't listening. I pulled her out in March 2024. Three weeks later I pulled my son out in April 2024. My babies were home. They were safe. And now we had to figure out what came next.
The Overwhelming Beginning
It was a mess at first, if I'm honest. I was buying things we didn't even need. Watching videos and reading about how home ed "should" look. Following others and feeling completely drained by it. I felt like I wasn't intelligent enough for this. Maybe I couldn't home educate, especially with my own mental health and chronic pain to manage. It all got so overwhelming. Paperwork piling up around me. Notebooks left unfilled. Apps I'd signed up to and never used. Posts in Facebook groups saying "don't let the LA in" and scaring me half to death.
I was trying to do the right thing by following what everyone else was doing. And it wasn't working.
June 2025, I Put My Foot Down
Last June I made a decision. I was done doing it everyone else's way. I left the Facebook groups that only saw one way to home educate. I stopped listening to what home ed "should" look like. And I started doing it our way.
Monday to Friday started to look completely different. We found a routine that worked for us. The children picked subjects they enjoyed. A few lessons on the Doodle app, mostly maths and spelling. Projects on topics they wanted to learn about, Ancient Egypt, dinosaurs. Crafts, art, gardening, baking, shopping, movies, gaming. We set a gentle structure: awake by 9:30am, start at 10:30am, lunch at 12:30pm, finish around 2–3pm. Sometimes we go until 5pm because we're having so much fun. Sometimes we do five days a week. Sometimes three. Each week is different and we love it just as it is.
I even started making report folders to track their work. (The home ed police don't like them, but we love them! 😄)
Where We Are Now
My daughter Bonnie is a whole new child. She lost so much of her confidence during those school years, but she has found herself again. She knows who she is, what she likes, what she doesn't like. She attends dance school once a week and has made new friends. She looks happier and healthier than I have ever seen her. She can now read confidently, and after her Doodle assessment she is above her learning age level in both maths and English and it's still increasing. I am so incredibly proud of her.
My son Archie has found his personality too. He is so funny, so confident, so outspoken, and so quick with answers. He can read and he is an absolute whizz at maths, he loves numbers and it blows my mind how fast he picks things up. He's made an American friend online and some home ed gaming friends. He creates the most incredible things on Minecraft. And recently he has taken up biking, he absolutely loves it. You'll find him out on bike rides and down at the skate park doing jumps, and he is absolutely fearless. I am so proud of how far he has come.
To see how happy they both are makes me happier than I can put into words. They are protected. They are thriving. They are finally free to just be themselves.
Would I Send Them Back?
No. Not ever.
Do I regret removing them?
Never. It is honestly the best decision I have ever made.
If you're a parent sitting on the fence, or going through something similar right now — I see you. You know your children better than anyone. Trust yourself. 💚
Sarah, Home Ed Mum Diary
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