Our co-founder Valeria shares her view of education from a mum of four perspective.
In 2012 I came to the UK following a dream. A dream of giving my children the best education in the world. By that time I already had three of them and gave birth to my fourth the following year in London.
Having obtained a PhD in Law myself, I admired knowledge and strongly valued achievement, discipline and structure. So we bravely launched ourselves into the British education system. My «favourite” year was when our children spread over a wide range of stages in their education journey; from Reception to the first year in the University.
Through experiencing the schooling process as a devoted mother and observing the system as a wider user I noticed that experience varies enormously. A lot depends on the school, on a teacher, on the parents community. I understood that there is much more to education than just academics, and no school could cover all of the aspects that you would have liked your child to go through. I saw that each of my children is very different, even within a family, therefore we needed to have a personal holistic education strategy for each one. Naming that period “saying farewell to illusions”, I discovered the meaning and importance of soft skills, emotional intelligence and the role of mental health.
I began to educate myself in this field: attending school shows and lectures for professional educators, reading specific books, meeting people with education background. I became a class rep for three years in a row for each of my children (and they all went to different schools) trying to really see what is happening form within. A lot of things in one’s education process you can’t really chose: a curriculum, a teacher, a classmate next to you. You can however set goals and milestones, and devise a strategy for how achieve them. Obviously, although many parents forget, you need to involve your children and put them at the centre of it.
A turning point for me was attending an International Festival of Education in Switzerland in 2019- still when a thousand people could gather together in a big concert hall. Professionals from different educational systems (UK, EU and USA) shared best practices and methods, trying to answer one main question: "What is education and how to best deliver it to an individual child?" There is no right answer, as I already suspected with my own children. There is a myriad of paths and opportunities available, and one size does not fit all.
Since then, I decided to turn my passion, learning and experiences in education into helping other parents who are embarking on this significant and crucial journey by informing, simplifying and guiding you through the process. Education for me is a lifelong process and as parents we must prepare our children for it, involve them in it and let them go at some point.
Commentaires