Finding spaces to learn on the Surf Coast

YAH BARNES

HOME schooling registration has continued to rise across Victoria, with many families opting for a personal alternative to mainstream education.

Many families, including Esther and Louis Glazebrook, have found the Surf Coast offers a great backdrop to educate their children.

“You learn more organically when you home-school because you’re out in the environment and have time to explore things deeply,” Esther said.

“It was nice to go to the beach, have outdoor play, then come home and do learning in the afternoon – that balance was beautiful.”

 

“Torquay and Bellarine have such an artistic community, and home-schooling gave us the chance to explore that through workshops.”

In term four of 2024, the Glazebrooks decided to home-school their three primary-school-age daughters.

The family spent 2025 learning from home, and have now returned to mainstream education.

“Everyone wasn’t coping at school,” Esther said, “and home schooling felt like the logical first step to help.”

“We had friends who home-schooled here and overseas, and they said it was the best decision for their kids, especially with neurodiversity.”

 

In 2025, 11,691 students were registered for home schooling. A spokesperson for the Department of Education said this amounted to about one per cent of Victoria’s school-aged population.

Associate Professor in the School of Education at Deakin University, Emma Rowe, said the increase in families choosing to home-school their children may be related to a shift towards private education.

“In terms of more parents choosing to home-school… that’s probably related to two different factors, which is the increase of private school tuition fees which is rising faster than inflation… and it might be related to is parents feeling that public schools are underfunded.”

“It’s probably not a surprise that parents and I think taking quite extreme steps… to express their dissatisfaction with educational options where they’re living,” she said

.For Esther, the year gave her girls a chance to learn in a safe environment before returning to the schoolyard which had been challenging in the past.

 

“Home-schooling helped them gain confidence. One of the girls learnt to read more through home-schooling and now loves it,” she said.

“Kids who home-school often learn how to talk to adults comfortably… it’s a life skill you can’t teach in a classroom… I loved seeing their confidence grow to look someone in the eye and hold a conversation.”

“Home-schooling gave them that confidence and resilience that’s now showing up back in school.”

Even though they have returned to school, Esther is grateful for what the year taught them, and is continuing to take each year at a time.

“We’ve learnt to take every year as it comes. This year is school, next year might be different, and that’s OK.”