Record rise in people home schooling in Hawke's Bay

The Erasmus family are turning their living room into a classroom. Photo / Warren Buckland

The Erasmus family will transform their living room into a classroom this year as they join a growing number of parents in Hawke's Bay deciding to home school.

Anneke Erasmus says the decision to home school her eldest daughter - at their rural home on a sheep and beef farm in Hawke's Bay - came down to a range of factors mainly related to Covid.

She said that included having a learning environment which was not at risk of being interrupted even if schools were forced into temporary closures this year due to Covid.

Figures from the Ministry of Education have revealed a record number of parents are turning to home schooling in Hawke's Bay in what is becoming a growing trend.

November and December marked record months for the region - with 31 applications and 42 applications respectively - for parents and caregivers wanting to home school their children.

Last year also marked an overall high in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne with 155 home school applications lodged with the Ministry of Education compared to 77 applications in 2020, 68 in 2019, 61 in 2018, and 63 in 2017.

Nationwide, less than 1 per cent of the school-aged population (0.9 per cent) were home schooled last year but that number could increase this year.

However, an education expert says while there is a clear increase in people applying to home school in the region, it is still a relatively small proportion of the population.

The Erasmus family are gearing up for their first year home schooling this year. Photo / Warren Buckland

Anneke said her youngest daughter Esmè, 4, was not yet school-aged but her eldest daughter Lianè, 7, was excited about being home schooled for the first time this year, after attending Havelock North Primary School in 2021.

She said one of the main reasons in opting to home school was to provide an environment with less talk about Covid coming and more "happy talk".

Anneke claimed it also provided stability for her daughter, as they would not have to change learning environments even if other schools had to shut temporarily this year due to Covid.

"And it's even really difficult at the moment for parents who are like myself, unvaccinated, to participate in school events."

She said she did not agree with education mandates, which had added to her and her partner's decision.

Anneke said the application process with the Ministry of Education took about a month for her to complete, with the help of a teacher friend, and she was approved in December.

"[The process] is quite complex. They do ask quite a lot of questions, they want to make sure that you are able to teach your child according to the standards that are required of them.

"They want to know what sort of plans you have, how you are going to set out your normal [school] day or schedule, and how much of a school curriculum you can implement from home," she said.

"You can choose a curriculum based on what your family values are, and how you want to structure it, so I've chosen a Christian curriculum and I feel it really aligns with who we are."

Anneke Erasmus with daughters Esmè, 4, and Lianè, 7, doing their school work. Photo / Warren Buckland

She said she would be more apprehensive about teaching her daughter if it was not for a lot of help and support from friends who were also home schooling.

Auckland University leadership consultant, who provides advice and support for principals, and former Hastings Intermediate School principal Perry Rush said there were potentially two main reasons behind the increase in home schooling.

"There may be a response here of parents saying actually 'I feel more comfortable while we are in the guts of this pandemic having my young person at home and learning remotely'," he said.

"The other potential is for there to have been some families or parents who have not been supportive of having their young person or themselves vaccinated."

He said while it was certainly an increase in applications, and home schooling had long been a legitimate option for families, it was a relatively small proportion of the school-aged population.

"I don't think the numbers appear to be significant. It is certainly an increase but that is not unexpected."

He said schools in New Zealand were doing a lot to provide a safe environment against Covid for children.

"We have done well as a nation in terms of our vaccination response.

"We have the paediatric vaccinations that some parents are picking up, we have a mandate in the teaching profession that means that all teaching professionals from the start of this year are double vaccinated, so I think we have done everything we have been asked to do in order to keep ourselves safe."

He said ensuring children were regularly accessing face to face learning opportunities was important and the education sector was setting up well to learn to live with Covid.