Fourteen-year-old swimmer Aimee Monks discovered her love for her sport at five years old. She started competing at seven and her training and competition commitments have steadily increased. Homeschooling has proven the perfect fit for obtaining a good education around her busy schedule.
Aimee has achieved much already, winning 192 medals and trophies to date. She’s been granted an International Swimming Certificate by Swim England and won two Gold Medals at the Dubai Short Course Open Swimming Championships in 2017. She won four Gold and two Silver medals at the England Schools Swimming Open in 2019. But all these commitments meant mainstream schooling was becoming hard to maintain.
Swimmer Aimee describes a day in her life.
“Aimee attended a good independent school. But it became an increasing struggle to juggle early morning and late night training around school” explains Aimee’s dad Neil. “Departing for long journeys on a Friday night and returning late Sunday night from competitions around the UK also took its toll. This, combined with increasing school fees, led to our decision to home educate.”
“We had not considered homeschooling before and had so many pre-conceived ideas. It was a huge leap of faith to give up a known education system for the totally unknown. We had thought that the total emphasis was on the parent to educate their children. How wrong we were! Combined with the Tutor feedback and encouragement, we have been able to supplement Aimee’s routine with our own input.
Since beginning homeschooling Aimee has learnt to manage her time effectively and without distractions. This means that she has covered more ground more quickly than if she was in a conventional school environment. She has also learned to become far more independent, taking responsibility and control for researching topics and meeting deadlines.
“As parents, we have learned far more about her educational progress and are far more positively involved than at any time previously,” continues Neil. “Aimee has become more used to working in a structured way on her own which should help when faced with exams. She is competitive so tries to stay ahead of her deadlines wherever possible.
“Aimee enjoys Spanish and as she becomes more proficient in the language she will hopefully attempt to speak more when we’re in Spain. She is now considering taking IGCSE German as a Second Language. She also enjoys English Language and being creative in her work (letters, stories and observations).”
“My plans for the future are to progress on to A levels and university,” says Aimee. “I prefer more creative subjects and am thinking about Architectural Design, Journalism or a Translator in some capacity. Sports-wise, I would like to progress to National and British Championships and ultimately represent my country in swimming.”
If you’re thinking of enrolling your child at Wolsey Hall Oxford and you’d like to know more about what we do or how to enrol, please get in touch. We’re ready to enrol new students throughout the academic year.
