What do you want for your child’s future?

I don’t think this question is asked enough and I have no idea why.

It is a very important question.

Many of you worry so much about which schools you want your child to go to. Which is great. But what do you truly want for your child’s future?

This will be different for everyone. Your opinion and your belief is the only one that matters. No one else’s. Not mine. Not anyones. You’d better believe that people will give you their opinions (even if you don’t ask them for it!)

 They should worry about their own children and not ours.

So, what do you want for your child’s future?

When I think about this question for my own son, I stop and reflect on my own childhood. I stop and reflect on my own learning experience. I stop and reflect on how I feel about the education I received growing up. I stop and reflect on how difficult my life was after I graduated. I stop and reflect on how hard I had to work to make very little money for years and years (in my opinion).  I stop and think. For 15 years I went to school. For 4 years I went to University. For 1 year I studied for my PGCE. That’s a lot of years. Was it worth it? In my opinion, it was not.

Does that mean I’m against school and I’m against education?

Absolutely not. That’s why I do what I do. But I do believe that what is right for one child will not necessarily be right for another child. I also believe that as children, we do not have the capacity and true understanding to appreciate what is happening to us. We are put in school. We accept it. We follow that routine for years and years and years. We accept it. I remember always thinking, ‘I’m sure this will all be worth it.’ And it never was.

That’s my opinion. Would my life have been different if I had gone to a St. Paul’s or to a Henrietta Barnet? Of course it would have been. Would I still have had difficulties? Of course I would have. But the best education opens the best doors. Ultimately, I’ve created my own doors, and I am very happy where I am now. I am the Director of an incredible business, and I support hundreds of children (including my own) every single year with their learning, and I support them to have the best possible education.

So what do I want for my son?

I want more doors to be opened for him than were opened for me.

I want him to be highly intelligent.

I want him to be able to stand up for himself in a calm, kind and confident manner.

I want him to be financially free to be able to decide for himself when he wants to work and when he does not.

I want him to be able to support his family – financially, emotionally and spiritually.

I want him to be caring, healthy and strong.

I want him to be free to travel the world and not have to worry about money.

I do want him to work hard but I also want him to fully experience life.

I know my mother did the best for me with her circumstances and I am so grateful for all that she was able to provide for me. She truly is an exceptionally strong woman.

 I will also do my best to provide my son with the best education and the best learning experience so that he can have options in the future. I know how amazing and talented he is. It is down to myself and his father to ensure that we do everything in our power to support him to be the best that he can be.