About homeschooling
in
home-schooling in nsw
is on the rise!
Since the covid pandemic, NESA has seen a jump of 30% in the home-schooling applications coming through, is it time for you to join the many other families opting for home education?
Figures reported at NSW budget estimates reveal 8981 children were registered for home schooling as of October 31 2021, a 28 per cent increase on the 7032 registered at the end of 2020 and its still growing!
Top 15 commonly asked home-school registration questions for NSW.
01.
What age can i start homeschooling my child in NSW?
Children can start Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn 5, on or before 31 July that year. By law, all children must be in compulsory schooling
( or homeschool )by their 6th birthday,
02.
Can i homeschool my child part time and have them partime enrolled in a school?
No unfortunately NSW does not allow this.
03.
When can I pull my child out of formal school and start home-schooling ?
Your child must attend school until you receive you NSW home-school registration certificate,( this can sometimes take up to 3 months from start of your application -usually much less) - if you stop sending your child to school , questions will be asked and you may get in trouble. some home-schooling parents have been able to get certificate from their doctor for the child for ( anxiety ) reasons, some schools may be understanding and grant you a period of exemption from attendance. The best bet is to speak with your school principle and let them know what's going on.
07
Do I have to do a formal learning style when I home-school?
No absolutely not, you do not need to do a " school like " at home, it is up to you as the parent to decide what education style you choose to educate your child at home using.Some include reggio emilia, classical, waldorf stiener, unschooling (natural learning ) , charlotte mason
as long as you cover the required subjects, NSW education let you chose any style, that suits your family.
08
Can i travel in NSW and homeschool?
No, you have to have a permanent place for home-schooling, BUT many home-schooling parents do not tell the education department they are travelling, and just go. As long as you keep your learning records
09
Do I have to go through the home-school registration process, can i secretly home-school instead?
If your child has ever been enrolled in a " school" before they will be on a system with the education department, so if they stop going to school, red flags will be alerted. That being said , many home schoolers so called " fly under the radar , if there child has never attended a school, or if they move states. If you get caught, all that will happen is they will make you apply for home-school registration
04
Do i get paid to home-school in NSW?
No you do not, but if you receive Centrelink benefits and have a homeschool registration certificate, you are exempted from looking for work each year you hold a home-school certificate. You are still eligible for creative kid vouchers, sport vouchers and other vouchers issued by government- just as you would if your child was at school.
05
How much does home-schooling cost?
Home- schooling if free to start, you do not need to buy any pre made lesson or currculum, you can create your own learning plans, using free resources at home ( thats what i did ) - if not there is lots of budget friendly home-schooling currculum you can buy out there, just make sure its tailored for the nsw currculum. Also there is costs - if say you have a printer and want to print of worksheets for your child - then there's ink , craft materials, books costs ect
06
What subjects must a child learn in NSW? -
year K-6 must learn
English
Mathematics
Science and Technology
HSIE – Geography and/or History
PDHPE
Creative Arts
year 7-10 must learn
English
Mathematics
Science
HSIE – Geography, History and/or another HSIE syllabus
Students must also study two subjects,
selected by the parent, each from
a different key learning area from the following list:
PDHPE ,Creative Arts ,Languages Technology
In your home-schooling learning plan , you have to explain how you will cover ALL the subjects , no exemption
10
What if my child has a disability?
Some children with disability may require adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment so that they can access the syllabus outcomes and/or content. If adjustments do not provide sufficient access for the child, a Life Skills course may be appropriate. Advice and programming support for children with disability can be found in each syllabus and on the NESA website.
11
How do i keep learning records for my homeschool registration requirments?
How you keep the records is up to you, there is no one way, some families use planners, some timetable sheets, some buy homeschool learning record keeping kits, others keep plastic sleeve folders to store " hardcopy work" like worksheets,coloring writing, some use photos as evidence, some create a blog and some use online apps.some use a combination of 2 or more. We personally use, diary planner, photo album and plastic sleeve folders for our unschooling method.
12
How do I write a learning plan?
Check out our how to write a homeschool registration learning plan articles
Other great NSW home- school registration help sites are :
13
Will there be house visits from the NSW education department?
Yes when you apply to become a registered home-school , NESA send a Authorised education person to your home for a visit, to go over you learning plan and registration with you, your child must be sighted at this visit and your learning space. NOTE: currently house visits are temporally suspended due to ongoing covid, as of 2022 with no end date conformed - instead a interview will be over facetime/ webcam - your child and learning space will also need to be sited on this interview.
14
How long does registration last? Do i need to reapply again?
Registration usually lasts ( for new applicants 3,6,12 months for first applicants ( but since covid temporarily changes are made currently from 2022 - first time applicants get approved for longer 12months for start, and 24 months for renewal.
Once your period of registration is coming to a end you MUST reapply and do the same all over again - , create a new learning plan , have the interview to go over your plan and show your evidence of your previous home-schooling samples.
15
Can a home-schooling child - get their hsc, go onto university or get a higher degree?
Absolutely, infact alot of home-schooling children start university and tafe courses much earlier then those who go through school check out this fantastic article at myhomeschool here
