Six years ago, a change in circumstances for a family member meant Alex became a carer for his two nephews, aged two-and-a-half and seven months, essentially overnight. The boys had some early traumatic experiences and didn’t always find school an easy place to be.
Homeschooling proved to be the positive change they needed. He spent the majority of the school day helping the boys and would catch up on his own work in the evenings and at the weekend.
"That allowed me to just have that time just really see like, how are my kids growing? How are they learning? And just to be able to see what does school really look like to them? Like being with them on the iPads to see like, what are they learning about? Like, what, what words are they struggling to spell? Or, you know, what are they like, how do they go about trying to learn times tables, and all those things, that when you've got the rest of life around you, you just don't really notice? And just like even other things, like how do they concentrate on the work? How do they approach it? How do they feel anxious about it? Do they feel calm? Do they feel confident, and are they really stressed out by the experience of trying to be in school ?"
Reflecting on 2020, he says there are a few things that will forever stick with him.
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