To just say F it and move to Cornwall and homeschool my Dc

[Typingonkeyboard]

Or find a lovely little village school and spend our days living a slow, traditional life

It’s my dream

Has anyone got this, am I being realistic?

What area do you want to move to? Cornwall is a big place. I don’t know where you live now but there’s no big shopping centres or loads to do here!

My dc went to a little village school. Huge field to play on, large forest school areas, surrounded by fields and woods to run free in, small classes, experienced adults with low turnover. Really idyllic and so glad that was their experience.

Didn't have to go to Cornwall though! You could look for a more outdoorsy and village vibe nearer to home?

I live in Cornwall and homeschool.

Downsides are that you are very far away from pretty much everywhere. Tourists descend in the summer so roads and beaches get busy but that’s what happens when you live in a tourism spot and it does bring income. Housing can be expensive. It can be boring in the rubbish weather.

Upsides are that it’s beautiful and there are beaches and walks galore. PE for us is horse riding and surfing. There’s an ok homeschooling network but it can get lonely so you do really have to put the work into finding connections and groups, many of which will require a bit of travelling as Cornwall is quite spread out.

I live in a derbyshire village. It's not rural or picturesque but I really like it - the school is lovely and friendly, we have fields and woodland walkable from the house but can also walk to town. I imagine Cornwall is tricky for the reasons others have said - very expensive and not many jobs. Maybe have look at less tourist-y places, there are plenty of lovely villages around and you dont need an idyllic (expensive) rural cottage to have the kind of life you want

I think it's fine for small children but it's not great for teens tbh.

You have to think about the future as well. I live in a small town in Devon, DH is a teacher and spends his days encouraging kids to work hard so they can leave. It's brutal but life here can be hard if you don't earn much money, very insular, parochial attitudes.

Is Newquay really the idyllic place you are dreaming of? It is a nice tourist town to visit but I don't really see it as any different to any other town - areas of deprivation for example.
Not sure why you think more people in Cornwall homeschool than anywhere else? Is there any data on that?
Also if you need a job then it's really hard to find anything with a decent wage in my opinion. I left teaching and a lot of people recommend the civil service, but with the return to working in an office this seems to therefore restrict opportunities for people living far from big cities where they have offices.

Locals often avoid Newquay. Full of tourists and a vile one way system.

I live rurally in Norfolk, but I would advise you to consider a move really carefully. In Norfolk we have good employment prospects and London is a couple of hours away. In Cornwall, employment prospects are limited and major cities are quite a distance to travel. it is more challenging living in a rural area when your kids are teens. There is no public transport (or not much) and largely they need to be transported everywhere. In short their life experiences might be limited and they may be forced to move for work when they are still quite young.

They got rid of the one way system in Newquay decades ago.

Move to a village by all means, I love village life. But I wouldn't move to Cornwall - it's very far away from anything and there are no jobs. Traffic is horrific in summer and it's depressing in winter IMO.

That shows my age then. I'm sure it was still there 15 years ago.

There are many other places in the UK that can offer this without the cost of Cornwall.

We moved to Cornwall 25 years ago. Its beautiful..the children grew up swimming and surfing but have now had to move away to work - there a few jobs, pay is low, housing scarce and expensive. The beautiful view will not pay your mortgage. Why home school? Yes, people do seem to do it here but the schools are generally good. I think young people either have a lot of ambition (and move away) or little ambition and just coast (dare I say not much drive or ambition in a lot of schools compared with city kids - I used to teach in both). I loved it when the children were small but my advice is don't do it.

We moved to a village in the Cotswolds from London suburbs when kids were young, best decision ever! Beautiful countryside, caring community, extremely safe and just a wonderful place to be!
we do work hard for it.
Re school yes you will probably get more outside space but curriculum is similar everywhere- archaic and completely la
vking in enough focus on creativity

That sounds ideal 😊

I want to move to be near to family too, plus the beach

State schools are funded per pupil and the model assumes classes of 30 or so. You don't magically get smaller classes without losing funding so for example you might get 25 in a class but you'll lose the TA. If classes get too small to manage financially they will tend to merge year groups which isn't always ideal.

Small villages in Cornwall tend to be poor with no jobs. Its a hell of a long way to any city of a meaningful size - Bristol or Southampton are probably the closest and not really commutable from Cornwall. Better off people are likely to be concentrated in public sector - medical/teaching/council type jobs.

Not sure what "traditional lifestyle" means.

If you want an area where money will go further and you might perhaps afford a SAHP for example, your best bet is to look at parts of the uk with the most affordable housing relative to local wages, but not too far from cities with jobs. The midlands for example still has quite a few less expensive areas but jobs in Birmingham & people do commute down to London. Then there are more options up North if you look at commuting to places like Manchester or Leeds for work.

How do you afford it? Sorry if it’s a cheeky question!

I'm sorry op but my kids go to a small village school in Cornwall (because I am Cornish) and the classes are overflowing. They don't play out much either and are always cutting PE. No money. No money down here.

Anywhere near there?

Last time we were in Perranporth the local kids were doing PE lessons on the beach. It did look fun. But I think it would be expensive to live there. Not just cost of property but there are very few "normal" shops- it's all surf shops, pottery/art/knitwear artisanal shops and bakeries that charge £11 for a crab sandwich. Also the locals aren't known for being welcoming to newcomers.

Sure, but my family are there 😬

Cornish here. It's great for young kids. But mine are now at secondary and it's pretty shit. Similar to how it was for me in the 90s and 00s.

We're going to move away as soon as the youngest leaves secondary.

I actually found some used needles recently. Drugs are quite an issue here (as they were in the 00s too!!)

I avoid Perranporth. It's too overwhelming for me 😂

Even the soft play near me partially closes in the winter (near Newquay)

There won't be less children per class just because it's Cornwall!! You'll have to be prepared to drive much further, e.g. to Truro or Plymouth if you want chain shops, restauraunts etc.

Would you not do it again? How far did your kids move? It does make me sad to think of Dd having to move away, but maybe she’ll do that wherever we are…