We see a future where all the adults with a duty of care can work together, responding to the needs of individual children and fostering a more inclusive, compassionate and effective education system.
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Our mission is to support local authorities and schools in enabling access to flexischooling for more children so they learn and thrive.
Did you know...
Headteachers have the discretion to allow children to be educated in school part time and at home or elsewhere part time.
Flexischooling allows schools and families to work together, co-creating arrangements that prioritise robust mental health and better meet the educational needs of children.
All OFSTED comments on flexischooling arrangements have been positive.
Schools retain full funding for children who are flexischooled.
20.7% of UK school children were persistently absent in 2022/23. Part time schooling is already happening.
Why flexischooling?
Flexischooling offers schools and families freedom to better meet the educational and mental health needs of children, particularly those who struggle with the demands of full-time school.
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Flexischooling allows the adults with a duty of care to collaborate in co-creating arrangements that allow children to thrive, not just survive, in education.
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Flexischooling enables families to be more involved in their children's education.
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Flexischooling has proven benefits for many neurodivergent children and those with a SEND profile.
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Flexischooling means children can have more autonomy over what they learn and where they learn it, increasing their educational engagement and overall happiness.
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Flexischooling alleviates pressure on teachers and school leaders by giving them more freedom to make decisions that are truly in the best interests of children - requiring less, not more of school staff.
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Flexischooling introduces lightness and possibility when a child is suffering with school.
Flexischooling: parents can ask for it and headteachers can support it. It’s an available option in the best interests of some children and Finding the Flex can help you to make it happen.
Our story
Founded in 2024, Finding the Flex was established to raise awareness of flexischooling and provide more children with access to this arrangement. Our focus is on bridging the gap between families seeking flexischooling and schools that often lack the information to offer it.
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Led by former secondary school teacher, Sarah Sudea – a parent and coach specialising in school attendance challenges – Finding the Flex combines firsthand teaching experience with an in-depth understanding of the struggles families face when school isn’t working for their children. This includes reconciling the demands of a rigid education system with the need for flexible solutions to meet diverse student needs.
​​Finding the Flex acknowledges the elephant in the room: children and young people increasingly cite school, as the source of their unhappiness. The knock-on effects of this are also felt by school staff, education professionals and parents and carers.
Bolstered by the rise in home education communities and online learning options, flexischooling has never been more accessible or more necessary.
But for it to deliver the promised benefits, it requires knowledge and commitment from families, schools, Multi-Academy Trusts and local authorities.
That’s where Finding the Flex comes in…
Sarah Sudea
BA, MA, PGCE
Our work in the education sector
We devise flexischooling policies for local authorities and multi academy trusts, giving headteachers the backup they need to enable flexischooling in their settings.
We provide schools with practical blueprints to ensure their flexischooling arrangements have the biggest positive impact on children, families and staff.
We offer a range of additional services to professionals including free downloadable resources, advice and webinars.
Our work with families
We provide support to parents and carers who want to find out if flexischooling is right for their families.
We offer free, downloadable resources and signposting to useful online groups
We run webinars offering advice to parents and carers on how best to approach schools to ask for flexischooling
Sarah runs a limited number of family coaching sessions each month.
Advisory Group
The Finding the Flex Advisory Group brings together educators and parents with experience of the challenges and benefits flexischooling brings. All are commited to
Our Vision: improving the wellbeing of families and professionals in widening access to flexischooling.
Our Mission: ensuring equity of access to flexible education and reducing burdens for school staff.
Their role is to guide and strengthen our work with a deep understanding of what needs to change - and what works - to strengthen inclusion in real-world settings.
Emma Quartey
Emma Quartey is an accomplished senior leader in education with 20 years of experience, specializing in safeguarding, special educational needs (SEN), mental health, and curriculum. She has held senior leadership positions at three mainstream secondary schools in inner London, including those of Deputy Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). Throughout her leadership career she has played a key role in shaping curriculum strategy and leading initiatives focused on student welfare and inclusion. Currently, Emma is Head of Education, SENCo, and DSL at the Young Women’s Hub in Lewisham, where she leads on the development of educational provision for vulnerable young women who cannot access mainstream education. Her leadership is driven by a commitment to creating inclusive and supportive environments that improve both academic outcomes and student well-being.
Jessica Davies
Jess is an experienced educator with over a decade of teaching experience, and passion for supporting children's mental health and emotional literacy. In her role as a Flexischool Coordinator, she is dedicated to promoting a flexible, child-centered education, bridging the gap between traditional schooling and personalised learning approaches.
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As the founder of an education business, Jess works alongside professionals who extend support to families beyond the classroom, providing guidance on early years development, different learning approaches, and school transitions. Inspired by her own personal experience as a parent, Jess has deepened her expertise in fostering positive early learning experiences, ensuring that children feel confident and supported throughout their educational journey.
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Through a holistic and child-centered approach, Jess is committed to empowering both students and families, advocating for a more flexible and nurturing education system.
Isobel Pryor-Nitsch
Isobel Pryor-Nitsch is a qualified teacher with a background in the creative arts. She has worked across secondary and post-16 education as an educator, pastoral lead, and learning coach. Her experience also includes roles in educational research, SEND coordination for a local authority, and quality assurance with the Department for Education.
She is completing a Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology at the University of Sheffield, with a specialist research interest in flexischooling and its implications for inclusion, wellbeing, and alternative educational pathways. Her doctoral research explores the lived experiences of families engaged in flexischooling arrangements, with a focus on inclusion, wellbeing, and alternative educational pathways.
James Harris
My commitment is to the children and young people who "go down the gaps" of our education system. I have 35 years of experience in education, including the headship of two secondary schools. I remain a practising teacher (part-time) as that is at the heart of my professional identity - all our strategy and policy arguments must be rooted in experience and practice. I am involved in a number of interesting lines of work relating to inclusion and the ways in which education could or should be different. These include being the founder of the Finding Common Ground Project which provides a free service to help parents and carers communicate effectively with their child's secondary school. I am currently also an assessor for the Inclusion Quality Mark and an associate of nasen and KCA Training, helping to develop trauma-informed practice across the education sector. My skills include a wide understanding of the education sector alongside an ability to think strategically and communicate highly effectively. My particular expertise lies in the development of an inclusive culture and ethos within schools.
Katie Finlayson
A long term, 'first choice' home educator, Katie Finlayson has been involved in local and national peer support for over 15 years, alongside home educating her own four children through to GCSEs. She currently runs a local in-person social meet, and admins a national home educator support group of over 70,000 members, as well as local and subject-based groups for home educators studying for exams. Katie has conducted large scale surveys collecting the experiences of hundreds of home educators which she writes about at the 'Learn What You Live' substack.
She is also a trustee of the Home Educators' Qualifications Association, a member of the OCR EDIB Advisory board, and Chair of Governors at a small rural primary school in Wales which has experience of flexischooling arrangements.
Steve Bladon
I'm a former primary school teacher and headteacher, with 24 years' experience of class teaching and school leadership. I'm passionate about the world of education, passionate about making a difference and passionate about doing things differently in education.
When one of my daughters became consumed with an anxiety disorder and struggled to attend school, I found myself looking at attendance and vulnerability through a different lens.
In my life post-headship, I've begun a mission to both advocate for children's health and to change the way schools think about pivotal issues, such as attendance, anxiety and inclusion.