We are staying at my mum’s house, and it so happens that the former headmaster of my primary school works in a church down the road. He retired in 1999; his name is Mr Millard.

I went to visit him yesterday. It was divine providence that he happened to be in the building. He was locking up and preparing to go, so it’s just as well that I caught him. There is something extraordinarily strange about talking to the principal of your old school. He used to be the guy in charge, the big kahuna, the chief. And now you speak to him as an equal. Sometimes in life, you encounter a person that you haven’t met for over two decades, and you talk to them, magically compressing many years into a small conversation.

I wondered with him about whether life is harder now for children. I had always feared that it is only the cynical of us who say that things are so complicated now, and they were much better when we were kids. Mr Millard doesn’t strike me as the cynical type at all. He agreed with me. It’s somewhat a relief to know that you can look fondly upon the olden days and not automatically classify as a cynic.

He said life now as a child is very much harder, continuing that school these days is more about filling in forms and sticking to milestones rather than teaching and imagining and inspiring young children. He certainly didn’t say that school is terrible, just that these other factors seem to detract from what should be an excellent start to a child’s educational life.

One of the things I wondered with him was how a principal sets the tone and pace, but it is the talent, dedication and passion of the teachers that filling the structure. For example, my primary school put on many shows, which I think would rival some of the high school stage productions that I see in the world today. But those primary school musicals were really the result of one particular teacher’s dedication and passion for her craft. I must admit that I didn’t always get along with that teacher, but all the same, I think she was one of the defining factors of that school, making it what it was. Talking with Mr Millard made me realise that.

Are you that person who changes the world around you? Or are you just there for the ride?

As we reflect on the journey ahead, it is still intimidating to think about the educational decision we have made for this year, our children and the family in general.

I can say with confidence that when I type things in on a keyboard, the results are very very different from the times when I put pen to paper. In the news today was a study showing that children spend 20 minutes more per day looking at screens than television.

I think this year will be a lot about pens, paper and writing when it comes to even the children and me. We hope to explore their creative side and look at the things that really define us as humans, those factors which sadly I fear I neglected by mainstream primary school.

That is why we have made our decision, and we are going to execute on it as best we can.