A murder trial changed my career – and how I see education

Before the pandemic, around 60,000 children were being home-schooled. By 2024, that had risen to nearly 112,000.

Many vulnerable teenagers never returned to school; authorities lost contact with families who moved during lockdown or whose children turned 16.

I see these young people every day in my role as head of alternative provision at Shooters Hill Sixth Form College. It came about after a 20-year career teaching and managing a performing arts department in FE.