Philip’s story
Philip transitioned from boarding school to home education in Botswana with Wolsey Hall Oxford when his boarding school in South Africa switched to home study and he became frustrated with the pace of learning. He sat his GCSE Levels last summer and achieved the following grades:
Mathematics – A*
Further Mathematics – A
English Language – A
English Literature – A*
French – A*
Physics – A*
Chemistry – A*
Biology – A*
Why we chose Wolsey Hall Oxford
“I started with Wolsey Hall in early December 2020 and wrote my last exams in June 2021. I had spent the majority of the year with my boarding school in South Africa but Covid had brought me home. I was getting very bored with the online learning system they used so my mum decided to do something about it.”
“One of my mum’s clients had used Wolsey Hall and gave us some really positive feedback. We did our own research too. The flexibility of it all made a lot of sense to me and I liked the idea of being able to fit in the work in a timeframe that I decided on. Since I was at home already it made sense to try and homeschool as the schools around us in Botswana didn’t appeal.”
“I loved home education in Botswana and thought it was fantastic. The freedom and independence it gave me was so nice and I loved coming up with my timetable and daily routine. It worked for me and I could get so much more work done. The hardest thing was probably getting into the routine and making sure that I was motivated enough to get all the work complete and on time but other than that it went super smoothly.”
Organising my work
“Canvas was such a pleasure to use and so organised. It made working so much easier and effective. The assignments on Canvas work really well as you have them all and can get really comprehensive feedback on the annotated assignment. The Tutors were always very quick to respond and helpful. It was really nice to get to know the Tutors but particularly my French speaking Tutor, Claire Gooch. It was nice to build up a relationship with her throughout the course and it became a really comfortable learning environment on the calls.”
Flexible timetable
“Homeschooling in Botswana was great for me and my hobbies. I had deadlines with the assignments but other than that I was free to schedule around doing my own thing which was fantastic. It meant I could go to the gym in the afternoons and run or swim in the mornings before school. Going out was a lot easier too as you could move your day around really easily. I did a lot more windsurfing, rowing and cycling during my time with Wolsey Hall Oxford and doing a load of running challenges. I recently finished my long challenge of 21s for 21 in which I ran a half-marathon – 21km – every month for 2021. Wolsey Hall made this easier.”
