'I had no choice' Many parents feeling forced to home school their children

Julie, a 47-year-old counsellor and mother of two from Northamptonshire, made the drastic decision to take her daughter out of school last June, before the end of year 3.

- Jedidajah Otte

"My child had been struggling with the school environment from the start," Julie said. "She's autistic, has sensory difficulties, finds noise and lights difficult, but is academically clever.

"She found it so hard to navigate relationships with peers and her anxiety was so intense she was mostly mute at school.

"Her attendance started to drop and I was at risk of being fined and potentially having a criminal record because of it, which would have jeopardised my right to work in my field. The GP recommended that she be taken out of school, as she was biting all the inside of her cheeks and rubbing her tongue on her teeth till it bled. I had no choice but to remove her." Julie's daughter, now nine, has been home educated since, which Julie describes as "distressing" due to her lack of knowledge about teaching and home learning, and a lack of support.

A referral to an NHS occupational therapist resulted in her daughter being assessed as not struggling enough to qualify for specialist support, and since she was doing well academically in mainstream education, a special needs school would not be suitable, Julie said.

"We're left with nothing, it's terrible. I don't want to home school my child," she said.

The family finances have taken a big hit, as Julie has had to cut her hours to supervise her daughter.

However, despite this, Julie says there have been positives: "In some ways she’s better now than she’s ever been, and I would say she’s now finding her feet in sociale motional ways. Academically, she’s fine for the moment, and perhaps being able to self-regulate and develop confidence is more important for her future.”