THEAC Chair Quarterly Newsletter - Autumn 2025
THEAC Quarterly Newsletter
As the leaves slowly turn to a distinct orange/red glow signifying that Autumn has embraced us, the days are very quickly closing in on us and the nights have already deposited a few dew drops across the grass and the cars. The change of seasons seems to creep up faster and faster every time! As we race towards April and the close of term 1 (for those following the term year), take some time to stop and enjoy the beautiful blue Autumn skies before the grey clouds replace the blue and sun’s rays lose their radiant heat once more.
The change of season reflects a good time to stop and reflect on the year’s learning so far. For some families, the days run fairly smoothly and the learning flows. For others it is more difficult. The days can be quite bumpy and one day to the next feels like it’s not the same which can cause feelings of doubt and confusion. It’s Ok. We have all experienced those times, even the most experienced home educating families have days where it all goes wrong. Home educating can be difficult at times. It can be even more difficult for families with children who have diverse learning needs or who have become resistant to the ‘formal’ type of learning.
My advice to those families struggling is that you are not alone. Reach out to your local home education group or to the OER. There is always someone else who has experienced what you are experiencing and can be an ear to listen and provide pathways to get you back on track. Sometimes just having a conversation with people who understand and who have been there can take the load off your shoulders and help you feel refreshed and reenergised.
It is quite common for programs to be working really well and then, suddenly for some unknown reason, the child stops engaging or shows signs they want to learn in a different way. It can be quite difficult as an educator to suddenly jump ship and change the way we have done things and embrace new ideas and new ways. It is perfectly OK to change your program part way through your registration year. In fact, it shows good evaluation of the program. There is little point trying to continue with a program that the child simply isn’t enjoying. It will just become stressful for both you and them. Take some time out to observe your child. Identify their strengths and find a way to engage them through these. Concentrate on those strengths and gradually introduce other areas of learning back into the program. There is no right or wrong way to home educate, that’s the beauty of home education. It is what you make it and it recognises that every child can have different needs and different interests. It is up to us as home educators to cater for these needs and encourage growth and progress through them.
For new educators entering home education. Take some time to find your individual child’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t rush out and purchase a curriculum as generally we find that most of these often expensive purchased curriculums aren’t being used within a few weeks of them being introduced. Be wary of providers telling you that they will do all the hard work for you in terms of writing your HEP/HESP. Only the registered educator/s can write their HEP/HESP. It must be in your own words and must address the 10 standards. This is a legislative requirement. You are the person responsible for designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating your home education program. No provider can do this for you.
Every child learns in a different way. Some work best with a formal structure and curriculum and others learn best by following their interests. For some children who might have been school refusers they might need some time to decompress without any pressure. Given time and space to follow their interests you can build a solid home education program for them. Over time, as they grow and develop, they might change the way in which they engage and learn. Start small and grow. It is much easier to build upon a program than to try and start with an overwhelming expectation of what needs to be done. It is important for you as the educator to continuously research different areas of engagement and document this and the learning that is taking place. Be open to change. Be accepting of change. The program you are delivering will benefit from this and you will develop and grow as both a parent and an educator.
THEAC have been kept busy over the summer months. We continue to support the Registrar in providing advice about new applications and we welcome all the new children and families into the Tasmanian home education community. We currently have 1499 children registered from 927 families. Can you believe that these figures are double what they were in 2017. That is a significant increase.
It is lovely to see the large number of home educating families within the community and also the sheer number of activities and events that are available for our children. A big thank you to all of those individual people around the state who take the time to share ideas, organise events and activities for the home education community. Without you there wouldn’t be as much support for other home educators as, quite often these opportunities provide parents with the chance to talk. Not everyone outside of home education understands how it works or the struggles we can face. Having opportunity to just talk and share is vital to the success of all of our programs.
THEAC have been continued to be concerned over the high number of children entering home education who have diverse learning needs. For those who are acting as carers for their child/ren there is a wonderful service called Care2serve and they exist to provide free supports and services to unpaid family carers. Their number is 1800 422 737. If you are needing help within your role as a carer please consider getting in touch with Care2serve. This organisation exists to provides supports to carers only and not to your children.
THEAC are excited to advise that in conjunction with the OER, we released two new diverse learning needs videos to the home educating community. These are facilitated by Catherine Silcock, a local Speech Pathologist. If you haven’t already viewed these the link is included below.
Please note these are only available for 6 months and need to be viewed by 30 June 2025.
Just a reminder that we also have several videos on the OER website facilitated by Justine Demaine, a behavioural therapist previously located in Hobart. Link is below.
We hope you find these videos useful in your home education journey.
Alison Hopwood from IKOT has also provided the home education community with a discount code for their online webinars. The code is theacdiscount. To access, please go to All Products-Independent kids and adults’ site – link below.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank Martin Hamilton for his years of service to THEAC. Martin will be stepping down from his role in August. Martin’s advice has been invaluable and we thank you for your contribution Martin and wish you all the best in your future home education journey.
This time of year is especially busy for all the staff within the OER and we thank you for your patience while they navigate this peak period. There is now a team of 23 Registration Officers statewide and they all enjoy viewing the diverse variety of programs within the Tasmanian home education community. The Registration Officers are there to help and support you in your home education journey so please make contact with the office if they can assist you in anyway email - registrar@oer.tas.gov.au
Please remember you are not alone. Reach out if you are struggling. If your child is having a bumpy day, change course and forget the plan for the day. Sometimes these days present to give us the opportunity to look at things with a different lens and much learning can come from that! Being flexible is part of being a home educator. Give yourselves a big pat on the back for the marvellous job you do in providing your children with an education. Have a day after your registration visit to celebrate your program and the all the effort you have put into it. The registration visit is about the work you as an educator are doing. Stop and take a day to celebrate the hard work that has gone into the past year. It is a huge achievement and one that should be celebrated. Be proud, you deserve to be.
Take care, enjoy the last of the sunny warm days, I am sure the cooler ones are on the way!
Denise Cox
Chair, THEAC.