When their two children were three and eight, Chris and Jules Scholey Smith had a radical thought: what if they gave up their corporate jobs, rented out their house, and left the UK to travel the world? Fast-forward six years and they’ve visited more than 40 countries together as a family. They’re currently based in India.
“I think people did think we were slightly crazy, and we didn’t really know how it was going to go,” says Jules. “We also didn’t know what kind of teachers we were going to be while home schooling. But our daughter’s primary school teachers were so encouraging. They thought it was a wonderful idea and that she would learn so much.”
In that time, they’ve seen their children grow into citizens of the world. Erihn, now 14, wants to be a marine biologist. Jacob is nine and likes to play Minecraft with his friends. They’ve been able to meet families from all over the world, going on safari with others in Mexico, having a playdate in Portugal, and building Lego together online. The source of much of that connection has been their online school, King’s InterHigh, which they discovered while in the Himalayas. “It’s been a gamechanger for us,” Chris says. “I don’t know what we would have done if we didn’t have online schooling.”
King’s InterHigh is a leading global online school for children aged seven to 19. It offers a flexible, British education for thousands of students from some 120 countries. Timetables are set across three time zones: the UK, Middle East and south-east Asia.
Without the limitations of a regular school day – classes are shorter and there are lots of breaks to encourage students to get away from their screens – there’s also plenty of time for students to indulge their other interests. That could be visiting a museum, heading to the beach, or taking part in extracurricular activities. There are hundreds of clubs and societies to choose from, from fantasy football and chess to gardening and yoga.
For families who are moving around, the consistency of school and the friendships that develop as a result gives much-needed stability. Tamira and Chris Hutchinson left the UK in 2023 to travel the world for a year, looking to expand their horizons. With their three daughters – Olivia (11), Scarlett (nine) and Bella (five) – they explored Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar. One year quickly turned into two.
Tamira initially intended to home school the girls but found as her workload increased that she couldn’t manage full-time home schooling on her own. She found that King’s InterHigh fitted in perfectly with their travelling lifestyle. “At first we were worried that the girls might miss out on something by stepping away from traditional education, but in fact we watched them flourish.
“Learning alongside other children their age from many different countries and gaining insights from both their peers and the teachers has been fantastic,” she says. A plus has been the global mindset she’s seen the girls develop. “It’s really broadened their perspective and helped them appreciate different cultures even more.”
The qualifications at King’s InterHigh also have global relevance. Aside from core subjects, the school offers 25 IGCSEs, including Arabic, business, film studies, information and communication technology, economics, art, and psychology, as well as City & Guilds accredited courses in subjects such as drama and performance, computer game development and international relations. Students aged over 16 can either study A-levels (there are 22 subjects on offer) or the international baccalaureate (IB) diploma programme.
Maxine Telfer, head of pastoral for IB diploma years, has taught IB at King’s InterHigh for the past two years, after a career teaching at international schools in Beijing, Hong Kong and Prague. The school is the first in the world to offer the programme online. It’s a challenging course, Telfer admits – not least because it culminates in a 4,000-word paper on a self-directed piece of research. That said, it helps to build the independent study skills students will need for university.
“We get students to look at concepts and research from lots of different perspectives and draw on their own experiences and cultures,” she says. “There’s integration between the subjects as well – they might learn something in economics and then psychology, and we’ll link them to talk about behavioural economics.”
That integration is encouraged between students as well, she says. “There’s so much group work and collaboration inside and outside of class. They’re so respectful of each other and keen to find out about other cultures.”
Students use technology such as virtual reality and digital whiteboards, while breakout rooms and in-person field trips also help build teamwork skills.
Online schooling may not suit every child, just as working from home doesn’t suit every adult. But for those families who want their children to see the world and build a truly global mindset, it could be the right fit. “You don’t have to be tech-savvy,” says Jules. “You just need a computer, decent enough wifi and a bit of quiet space.”
Above all, she says: “It’s given us comfort that they’re getting the best education they can while we’re travelling the world as a family.”
Find out more about King’s InterHigh and how its flexible approach to schooling makes a world of difference
