After the Pandemic, a record number of UK families decided that home education was more beneficial than school, especially neurodivergent families. This is often portrayed as a negative last resort here for example, in a BBC article on the rise in home education.
Another side effect of the pandemic, as wages fail to meet the rising costs of living, is that more families like us have had to explore alternatives that take them to different countries, self-employment, or online businesses. We still pay tax inthe UK as we travel back and forth but many families are emmigrating.
Surely, this would call for a Bill that:
- Improves educational resources to encourage families back to the classroom
- Supports families who choose to educate outside of school.
- Improves job opportunities or,
- Supports and educates children and adults to thrive in the new digital economy.
- Encourages individuals to develop new online businesses in the UK.
Unfortunately, parties are unilaterally accepting a bill that strong-arms us back into the 20th century
So… what is the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and why should you care?
On the surface, it sounds great.
- Free breakfasts for all primary-aged children.
- Improved teacher pay and workload protections.
- Better multi-agency collaboration for safeguarding (which is much-needed—Keri and I have both been safeguarding leads and have seen how the system lets kids down).
- Better oversight on private social care providers.
But buried in Section 30, there’s this:
That might sound harmless. But in practice, it removes the parent or guardian as the primary decision maker in determining what’s best for their child’s education.
You can no longer simply say:
- “My child is being bullied.”
- “The curriculum isn’t working for them.”
- “We’re travelling.”
- “We follow a self-directed learning model.”
Because now, you need permission to do what’s best for your child. And local authorities have final say—not you.
Pros of the Bill:
- Better oversight of children at risk, particularly those in care or with safeguarding flags.
- Standardised support for children who might otherwise fall through the cracks.
- Free food and fairer conditions for school staff.
Cons of the Bill:
- Effectively ends the legal freedom to home educate without oversight.
- Disempowers parents from choosing worldschooling, unschooling, or self-led learning.
- Paves the way for penalties if a family chooses to educate differently, even if it’s working well.
- Makes it harder to remove a child from school due to anxiety, bullying, illness, or trauma.
If you joined us because you dream of traveling the world with your family, you need to give this attention…
For some families, traditional school is a great fit and essential for hard-working parents and guardians.
For us, it’s been a blend of worldschooling, home education, and self-led projects. And honestly, it’s worked better than we ever imagined.
We love the moves to improve schools and social care. A core value for us is that everyone should be free to do what’s best for their family.
We’re not here to sway you one way or the other. But we do want to encourage you to look closely at what’s happening and make a conscious decision to act before it’s too late.
Because as more families become digital nomads, financially independent, borderless and debt-free, they also become less dependent on systems (housing markets, rents, credit cards etc) that have long benefited what some call “the establishment.”
We’re not big conspiracy theorists. But this bill does feel like a push to re-institutionalise families back into a system that didn’t serve us, and actually harmed us.
It’s worrying when something so fundamental, like who decides how you choose to be a family, is buried behind polite headlines and free school breakfasts.
A Trojan horse, disguised in school lunches and teacher pay raises or a giftwrapped turd.
Whatever your goals and reasons, you are welcome here.
- You wanted to travel with your family?
- The old “qualify, work, save, retire” model just didn’t work for you anymore.
- You’re looking for more freedom, more connection, more time.
- You’re interested in becoming financially independent?
- You like the idea of having more adventures?
- Or maybe you’re just looking for a way to live life on your terms.
- You’re exploring better alternatives for your loved ones.
We hope our emails and content inspire and enable you to pursue a life that’s fulfilling and meaningful for you and your family.
We’ve been hearing from more and more families worried about proposed changes to UK homeschooling laws. The new Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has already passed its first stage (a Commons review followed by a Lords review) and is set to be passed next month.
This bill has huge implications for worldschoolers, homeschoolers, unschoolers, and even families removing their children from school due to bullying, illness, or mental health concerns.
So what can you do about it?
🪧🧐🕵️♀️ Fight?
If you want to take action, there’s a Change.org petition, and several excellent parent-led organisations are sharing resources and template letters you can send to MPs.
Here’s the link: https://www.change.org/p/oppose-the-implementation-of-the-children-s-wellbeing-and-schools-bill
Flight 🛫🌎
Here’s the good news: You’re still free to leave.
Term-time travel is legal. Homeschooling is thriving in other parts of the world.
And if you’re curious, we’ve just written a post on:
👉 [10 Countries That Support Homeschooling and Worldschooling]
(Complete with entry requirements, homeschool laws, pros and cons, and cost of living.)
Or ignore.🙉🙈🙊
You always have a choice.
But please—make it a conscious one.
Let’s keep raising curious, kind, creative kids who know how to question things.
Let’s keep asking “What’s right for us?”
Let’s stay connected. 💛
Love,
The ALMO family
P.S. If you’ve got questions about the bill, want help finding alternatives, or just want to rant, we’re here. Hit reply in your emails.
Take responsibility for your own education.
And of course, we always encourage everyone to educate themselves on functioning in the new economy. Check out this 10-minute video:
