Future Learners

About Future Learners

Welcome to Future Learners. Join us, as we embark on a journey to empower students, parents, and educators, as we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of education, schooling and what it takes to grow and succeed in today’s world. This podcast is brought to you by Euka future learning. Australia’s largest online, full-time education provider for K-12 students seeking a flexible, relevant & meaningful education. Visit euka.edu.au for more.

Publisher

Euka Future Learning

Category

education · education · kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

4 Dec 2023

Latest episode

26 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

56 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Oct 2026

   Homeschooling a Child with ADHD: With the ADHD Foundation Australia | 057

   Many parents first see the signs of ADHD when their child starts school or moves into high school. A child who held it together all day falls apart at home, mornings become a struggle, or the teacher raises concerns about focus. Ellen Brown talks with Dympna Brbich and Lindy Hadges from ADHD Foundation Australia (https://adhdfoundation.org.au/) about what ADHD is, what they hear on the Foundation’s helpline, and where to start with a diagnosis. Lindy, who homeschooled her five children, believes homeschooling is ideal for children with ADHD, because learning can be shorter, lower pressure, and built around movement and your child’s interests. Meet Dympna and Lindy Dympna is the chair and founding director of ADHD Foundation Australia. The Foundation started in 2017 with a single phone line in New South Wales and now runs a national helpline (https://adhdfoundation.org.au/helpline) that handles more than 10,000 enquiries a year. It receives no government funding and is run entirely by volunteers. Lindy is a director of the Foundation and also a psychotherapist with over 16 years of clinical experience. She homeschooled her five children for 30 years and spent 12 years in Media Relations for the Home Education Association (HEA), where she worked on their helpline and heard from many parents of children with ADHD who wanted to know whether school was the right place for them. Key discussion points ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition. Lindy compares it to diabetes: a real, physical condition with no shame attached. ADHD often runs in families. Dympna says it’s common for a parent to be diagnosed after their child. Starting school and starting high school are when many parents call the helpline. Children who coped in primary school may struggle in high school. Many children with ADHD mask their difficulties all day. The exhaustion often shows once they get home. Play to your child’s strengths. Lindy believes this is how a child with ADHD builds confidence. Movement helps learning. Lindy says sitting still and listening is often the least effective way for a child with ADHD to learn. Stick to evidence-based advice while you wait for a diagnosis. Dympna has heard from parents who spent large sums on advice that didn’t help. What is ADHD? Lindy still hears outdated myths about ADHD that date back to the 1980s: that it means naughty boys climbing on rooftops, or that a child just needs more discipline. Dympna describes it as a neurodevelopmental condition that can be hereditary and seldom travels alone, often sitting alongside anxiety or depression. It also looks different from one child to the next. Dympna explains there are hyperactive, inattentive, and combined presentations, and while some people manage with counselling or coaching, others need medical support. Lindy explains the science behind it. Dopamine, which she calls “our motivation hormone” rather than a feel-good hormone, is low in the ADHD brain, and so is noradrenaline. That makes it harder to get started on a task, stay focused, and finish it. Over time, it can affect a child’s self-esteem as they compare themselves with their peers. If your pancreas is low on insulin and you can’t process sugars, that’s a problem. Well, if your prefrontal cortex is low on dopamine and noradrenaline, important transmitters for focus and executive function, then that’s a very real problem and there’s no shame in that. There’s no shame in diabetes, no shame in ADHD. — Lindy Hadges, Director, ADHD Foundation Australia Why ADHD can seem to appear in the teenage years Parents often tell Ellen their child could concentrate on Lego for hours when they were younger and now can’t get out the door by 9 am. Lindy points to hormones, which interact with dopamine and noradrenaline. The same link is behind the record number of women in their fifties now being diagnosed, and she says the hormonal changes of the teenage years can have a similar effect. What parents notice when school isn’t working Dympna hears from parents whose child is calm and delightful one day and melts down over the smallest thing the next. Some children don’t want to go to school, some are lonely in the classroom, and many are bullied, which she says can mean anything from being ignored to physical harm. Transitions are especially hard. Starting school or moving into high school can feel like climbing a mountain, and trouble sleeping, which is common with ADHD, makes it harder. Ellen notes that school refusal, bullying, and ADHD are often talked about as separate issues, when for many children they overlap. Episode 45 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/school-refusal-in-2026-what-is-it-and-how-to-help-your-child-045/) looks more closely at school refusal, and our article on the signs a child is silently struggling at school (https://euka.edu.au/all-resources/7-signs-your-child-is-silently-struggling-at-school-and-what-you-can-actually-do-about-it/) covers what else to watch for. What is ADHD masking? Dympna explains masking as a coping mechanism. A child hides their behaviour, difficulties, and study habits so they don’t seem different from everyone else. It’s common in children with ADHD, but it isn’t unique to them: a child without ADHD who is struggling with a subject like maths or spelling may mask that too. Keeping that up all day takes a lot of energy. When the mask comes off at home, a child is often exhausted and might lash out at siblings, scream, or refuse to do what they’re told. Lindy calls it the “brain girdle” coming off after a day of holding everything in. Episode 54 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/raising-mentally-healthy-kids-psychologist-054/), with psychologist Lisa Boland, covers this after-school collapse in more detail. Can homeschooling help a child with ADHD? Lindy believes homeschooling is ideal for children with ADHD. In her view, the ADHD brain reaches capacity quickly, which makes 9 am to 3 pm, five days a week, a tough gig. At home, a child can play in the garden, ride their bike, or read a favourite book, then return to schoolwork with less pressure. She knows it isn’t possible for every family, especially single parents or families that need two incomes. For children in school, she would like to see more room for brain breaks, such as time in a quiet corner with Lego or hands-on materials. Ellen shares the story of a Euka student with ADHD who is starting university in software technologies. Learning at home helped him see his ADHD as a strength, because he could focus completely on the subjects he loved for short bursts, take breaks when he needed them, and move quickly through the subjects he was less interested in. Episode 23 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/homeschooling-with-dyslexia-asd-and-adhd-a-mothers-inspirational-journey/) follows one mother homeschooling children with dyslexia, ASD, and ADHD. How to homeschool a child with ADHD Find your child’s passions and teach through them Lindy recommends taking time to observe your child and work out what they love. Children with ADHD often have strong passions because of hyperfocus, and building on their strengths helps their confidence. If your child dislikes maths and loves acting, she suggests teaching maths through acting and coming back to the textbook later. She draws on the story of Michelangelo looking at a block of marble to work out what was inside it. Homeschooling parents have time to do the same with their children, and Lindy believes a child can learn every subject through their strengths. Keep them moving while they learn Lindy explains that children with ADHD tend to learn best through movement, then visually, with listening being the least effective. She suggests practising times tables on the trampoline, talking with your child while they ride their bike, and giving them Lego, drawing, or play-dough while you read aloud. Try to keep lessons short. Our guide to the seven learning styles (https://euka.edu.au/all-resources/the-7-learning-styles-understanding-how-your-homeschooler-learns/) explains the different ways children take in information. Adapt the lesson to your child Ellen encourages parents to treat the Euka program as a starting point. Every lesson has a hands-on component, and if it asks for a poster of a volcano and your child doesn’t enjoy that, make a volcano with Mentos and Coca-Cola instead. Her own family made rap songs with spelling words and drew hopscotch in chalk. Being open to what your child really enjoys and feeling confident enough to make changes… so that you make the learning the child’s, rather than trying to make the child adapt to the learning. — Ellen Brown, Co-founder and Head of Education By high school, Ellen’s three youngest knew how they liked to learn, which subjects they wanted more of, and which ones to move through more quickly. For more ideas, see 8 Tips for Homeschooling a Child with ADHD (https://euka.edu.au/all-resources/8-tips-for-homeschooling-with-adhd/). What support is there while you wait for an ADHD diagnosis? Dympna says children usually aren’t diagnosed before the age of seven, but many parents notice differences at around three, which makes the years in between especially hard. Paediatricians are heavily booked, and while the public health system is the most affordable option, it can take time. In the meantime, the Foundation focuses on helping parents understand and support their child (https://adhdfoundation.org.au/adhd-parents-and-caregivers), and a neurodevelopmental psychologist may help identify what a young child needs. Dympna is pleased that more families are looking for evidence-based information rather than hearsay. Many parents have told the helpline they spent thousands of dollars on other people’s advice and achieved nothing. How do you get an ADHD diagnosis for your child? Lindy is a strong advocate for formal diagnosis, because she believes “information is power.” For a child, she describes the usual path: see your GP for a referral, see a paediatrician, and go through the diagnosis process. In some states, GPs can now oversee ongoing care. One of Lindy’s clients went from paying $450 a quarter for a psychiatrist check-up to $70 with their GP. Dympna adds that these changes are rolling out state by state and aren’t in place in most states yet. In Western Australia, around 100 GPs have been trained to diagnose children from the age of seven. The Foundation has also started supporting GPs directly. Its psychologist completes an ADHD screening (https://adhdfoundation.org.au/screening) and, with the parent’s agreement, provides the GP with a report of up to 16 pages covering areas such as executive functioning. You’ll need a GP referral to receive the Medicare rebate. The Foundation also offers counselling (https://adhdfoundation.org.au/counselling) for parents, because hearing that their child is different can be hard to process. Dympna’s suggested first step is to complete the enquiry form on the Foundation’s website (https://adhdfoundation.org.au/helpline) so the right person can call you back. You can also call the National ADHD Helpline on 1300 39 39 19. Why this episode matters This episode gives parents a clearer picture of what ADHD is, what it can look like at school and at home, and the practical first steps towards support and a diagnosis. Lindy’s advice to parents whose child is struggling at school is not to keep pushing on for another three, four, or five years. She suggests looking into homeschooling, reaching out to the Foundation, seeking a formal diagnosis, and getting onto it earlier rather than later. Dympna’s closing words are for the parent who had an awful morning and is wondering whether they’re failing their child. You’re not failing, you’re parenting a child whose brain works differently, and you’re doing your best with the information you have. Your child doesn’t need perfection, they need you. — Dympna Brbich, Chair and Founding Director, ADHD Foundation Australia Start the free homeschooling course If youare figuring out what homeschooling could look like for your family, our Complete Guide to Confident Homeschooling covers registering legally in your state, choosing and structuring a program, building a daily rhythm, supporting a child who learns differently, and knowing your child is progressing. Nine short video modules, about two and a half hours, hosted by Brett and Ellen. Free and self-paced. Start the free homeschooling course (https://euka.edu.au/course). Questions answered in this episode What is ADHD? + ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that can be hereditary. Lindy explains that the ADHD brain is low in dopamine and noradrenaline, which affects motivation and focus. Dympna adds that it can present as hyperactive, inattentive, or combined, and often comes with anxiety or depression. Why does ADHD sometimes seem to show up in high school? + Lindy points to the hormonal changes of puberty, which interact with the brain chemicals involved in ADHD. High school also brings more deadlines and a different classroom for each subject, which Dympna says is when many children who coped in primary school start to struggle. What does ADHD masking look like in children? + Masking is when a child works hard at school to hide anything that makes them seem different. Parents usually see the cost after school: meltdowns, lashing out at siblings, or refusing to cooperate. Is homeschooling good for a child with ADHD? + Lindy believes it’s ideal because a child can learn with less pressure, take breaks to move, and spend more time on what interests them. She also recognises that families needing two incomes, and many single parents, can’t always make it work. How do I teach a child with ADHD at home? + Build lessons around your child’s interests, keep them short, and let your child move. Ellen also encourages parents to treat each lesson’s activity as a suggestion and change it if another approach suits their child better. What can I do while I wait for my child’s ADHD assessment? + Learn as much as you can from evidence-based sources. Dympna recommends the ADHD Foundation’s helpline as a first point of contact. For younger children, a psychologist who specialises in child development may help you work out what your child needs. Can a GP diagnose ADHD in a child? + It depends on where you live. GP-led diagnosis and care is being introduced state by state, and Western Australia already has trained GPs who can diagnose children aged seven and over. Elsewhere, your GP will usually refer your child to a paediatrician. About the host and guests Ellen Brown is Euka’s co-founder and Head of Education. She is a qualified teacher, a mother of five, and has homeschooled for 12 years. Dympna Brbich (chair and founding director) and Lindy Hadges (director) are part of ADHD Foundation Australia (https://adhdfoundation.org.au/), a volunteer-run charity that offers a national ADHD helpline, screening, and counselling. This article is general information, not medical advice. 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Elsewhere, your GP will usually refer your child to a paediatrician.” } } ] } ] } The post Homeschooling a Child with ADHD: With the ADHD Foundation Australia | 057 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/homeschooling-a-child-with-adhd-057/) appeared first on Euka (https://euka.edu.au).

2. 

   16 Oct 2026

   Planning Your Homeschool Week: How Many Days, Hours and Lessons You Need | 056

   How long does a homeschooling day take? In the Euka program, Ellen estimates lessons for Foundation to Grade 2 take about an hour a day, building to about two hours by Grades 9 and 10. Practice activities, such as games, experiments, and art projects, take additional time and vary based on the volume you complete and how in-depth you go. You also choose how many days a week you homeschool. You can move lessons around sport, social days, and appointments, so you can fit a week’s lessons into fewer days or spread them across the whole week. If you’re unsure how to structure your homeschool week, how much time to set aside for lessons, or how many practice activities to fit in, Brett Campbell and Ellen Brown walk through it from Foundation to Grade 12. Key discussion points Plan around the time you really have. Brett suggests working out how many days and hours your family can realistically give to homeschooling first, so your plan doesn’t stretch you too thin. You choose how many days a week to homeschool. You can move lessons around other commitments, as long as the core subjects are covered across the week. Lesson time builds through the grades. Expect about an hour of lessons a day in Foundation to Grade 2 and around two hours by Grades 9 and 10, with practice activities requiring extra time. Choose a few practice activities each week. Doing a practice activity in every subject every day would be too much. Brett suggests an absolute minimum of a couple a week, and Ellen finds one creative activity a day works well. Everyday life is part of the learning. A bike ride, team sport or ballet class can be the practical part of a PE lesson, and a museum trip can bring a history topic to life. School terms are a guide. Follow them, set your own timeline, or move ahead faster. Tips for planning your homeschool week. Brett and Ellen share their top tips for planning your homeschooling week. How to start planning your homeschooling day Work out how much time you have Before making a homeschooling plan, Brett suggests working out how many days and hours your family can realistically dedicate to it, and who will guide your child’s progress. Younger children will often need a parent beside them. Many senior students work independently and contact Euka’s team when they need help. If one hour a day is what you have, start there and build the plan around it. Brett recommends being realistic so you don’t stretch yourself too thin. If you’re scraping time together around appointments and swimming lessons, he says you’re setting the day up for failure before it starts. Check your child’s level in each subject Ellen’s first step is working out which grade level suits your child. A child leaving Grade 4 might be ready for Grade 5 in most subjects and still need support in maths, especially if they missed key concepts at school. A Personalised Learning Plan (https://help.euka.edu.au/en/articles/17085969-personalise-the-level-of-english-maths-or-science-for-your-student) lets you set English, Maths or Science at a different grade level from the rest of the program. If you aren’t sure where your child sits, Brett says to start anyway and adjust as you go. Take advice from other families lightly Ellen compares starting homeschooling to having a first baby: everyone has a story and plenty of advice. She recommends joining homeschooling groups, while remembering that what works for another family’s child may not suit yours. So, you know, smile and nod and take the gems where they come. But start by looking at your own family and realise that that might work for one but not for another. — Ellen Brown, Co-founder and Head of Education Episode 51 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/homeschooling-support-for-families-51/) covers where to find support when you are starting out. Do you have to homeschool every day? No. Brett says families can choose how many days a week they homeschool. As one example, Ellen’s family usually kept at least one or two days a week for social activities and outings. Ellen recommends a Maths and an English lesson each day when you can, because short daily lessons help children build on what they learned the day before. In her family, if a social day was coming up, they might move Friday’s lessons to Thursday and do two of each, so Maths and English were still covered across the week. Everyday activities can be part of the learning too. If your child goes for a bike ride, plays a weekly team sport or does ballet, Ellen says that can be the practical part of that week’s PE lesson. Your child can still read the Learn section and complete the Apply section. How many hours a day does homeschooling take? Ellen shares the lesson times below as a rough guide for the Euka program, and adds that every child is different. Practice activities take additional time beyond the lessons. Our article How Many Hours a Day Should You Spend Homeschooling? (https://euka.edu.au/all-resources/how-many-hours-a-day-should-you-spend-homeschooling/) goes into more detail. Foundation to Grade 2: about an hour of lessons Children do Maths, English and one other subject each day, with lessons designed to take around 20 minutes each. Ellen says that matches most young children’s attention span. There’s no bell at home, so a child absorbed in a project can keep going. You will usually read the lesson together at this age. Brett says a 20-minute lesson can take him an hour, because he likes to stop and explore new words with his daughter. On other days, they might do three short English lessons in a row. For Brett, understanding matters more than the number of lessons done. If your child can’t answer any of the short questions at the end of a lesson, go back over it. Grades 3 to 6: about an hour and a half of lessons The daily mix is still Maths, English and one other subject, with lessons designed to take about 30 minutes each. Each lesson has a Learn section with a read-aloud option, a Practise activity and an Apply section. Episode 41 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/meet-the-upgraded-euka-learning-experience-41/) walks through how Euka lessons are set up. Grades 7 and 8: one and a half to two hours of lessons In high school, history, geography and business become separate subjects, so the program can look bigger. Ellen says a typical day includes Maths, English, and two other subjects, and the time spent on each can vary. If your child can’t stand a subject, she says not to let it be a roadblock: go through the Learn section, move to the Apply section and move on. A child who works through the Learn section and finishes the Apply section in a subject they aren’t keen on has done really well. Grades 9 and 10: about two hours of lessons Students do Maths, English, one core subject and one elective each day. Your child chooses their electives with you, ideally something they’re interested in. Brett says you’ll probably find them leaning towards that subject a lot more and wanting to do a lot more of its practical activities, and that’s totally fine. Grades 11 and 12: one subject block a day Senior students choose five subjects plus English, on either the University Pathway or the Assessment-Free Pathway. Ellen says most do English and one other subject each day, though seniors set their own timetable. Episode 46 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/starting-homeschooling-mid-year-in-grade-11-or-12-senior-pathways-available-at-euka-046/) covers the senior pathways. Do you have to do every practice activity? Not every day. Many practice activities are designed to get children deeply involved, so Ellen says trying to get three done could take all day. Brett suggests choosing at least a couple across the week, and Ellen finds one creative activity a day can help. Families can also adapt them. Ellen’s son turned a Grade 6 gold rush poster into a rap song the family still remembers. If you swap a practice activity for something else, Brett recommends noting what was done in the Reflect section, so there’s a record to back it up. His one caution: depending on your child’s personality, skipping can become a habit, so keep an eye on how many get done each week. Homeschooling children in different grades Ellen had three children in three grades and wasn’t going to run three art activities in one day. Each child did their own Learn section, then they all did the one practice activity that suited most of them. When a baby or younger sibling needs you mid-lesson, Brett keeps backup activities ready, such as handwriting practice or drawing. He found it helped his daughter learn to work independently for short stretches. Assignments for children who like longer projects Each subject has an assignment each term that can run across the whole term, which Ellen suggests for children who aren’t into daily practice activities or who learn best by working on a bigger project. Assignments can be used as work samples, and with Premium Reporting (https://euka.edu.au/homeschooling/reporting/) you can upload them to help with government reporting. Episode 34 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/what-you-need-to-know-about-registration-and-reporting-when-homeschooling/) explains registration and reporting. Can you set your own homeschooling timeline? Yes. Euka’s program is set out in four terms because that is how most parents think about the school year. Brett says some families follow the school terms, while others keep their own timeline or put in extra hours to move ahead. Travelling families might take a week off, then work for two. Episode 40 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/the-world-is-your-classroom-travel-schooling-with-the-slow-road-040/) follows one family learning on the road. Tips for planning your homeschooling week Look ahead. Ellen suggests taking half an hour to look over the week’s lessons and gather what you need for the practice activities. Write the plan down. Brett uses Google Calendar, while others prefer a wall planner or a whiteboard. He says his family completes the planned week about 80% of the time. Involve your child. Ellen asks high schoolers to block out what they love first, like bike rides, hikes and time with friends, then fit lessons and assignments around them. Save favourites for later. Brett puts the subjects his daughter enjoys most at the end of the day. Starting with favourites, he says, makes momentum drop off once the harder subjects arrive. Start fresh when you need to. Even after many years of homeschooling, Ellen found a new routine usually lasted about three days before she had to adapt it. But you know what’s exciting? There’s always another week, the start of a new week, there’s a start of a new day, start of a new term. — Ellen Brown, Co-founder and Head of Education For more ideas, see Creating a Homeschool Schedule that Works (https://euka.edu.au/all-resources/creating-a-homeschool-schedule-that-works/). Each grade also has a Parent Handbook (https://help.euka.edu.au/en/articles/15700002-euka-parent-handbooks) with day-to-day guidance. Why this episode matters This episode gives parents a realistic picture of a homeschooling day at each stage, from about an hour of lessons in the early years to one subject block a day in the senior years, plus practice activities. It also shows how much room there is to be flexible, choose your days, pick your practice activities and change the plan from one week to the next. Brett closes with a reflection on parenting itself, and the pressure parents can put on themselves. Being a parent is unbelievably hard. You get the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And sometimes you’re like, am I failing as a parent? Am I doing this wrong? This is not good enough. I’m not meeting expectations. Like, go easy on yourself. It’s hard enough as it is. — Brett Campbell, Co-founder and CEO Start the free homeschooling course If you are working out what homeschooling could look like for your family, our Complete Guide to Confident Homeschooling covers registering legally in your state, choosing and structuring a program, building a daily rhythm, supporting a child who learns differently, and knowing your child is progressing. Nine short video modules, about two and a half hours, hosted by Brett and Ellen. Free and self-paced. Start the free homeschooling course (https://euka.edu.au/course). Questions answered in this episode How many hours a day should you homeschool? + Ellen’s rough guide for lessons in the Euka program is about an hour a day for Foundation to Grade 2, an hour and a half for Grades 3 to 6, and up to two hours for Grades 7 to 10. Practice activities take additional time, and every child is different. Do you have to homeschool five days a week? + No. Families choose how many days a week they homeschool and can move lessons around sport, social days and appointments. Ellen recommends covering Maths and English across the week. Do I have to do every practice activity? + Not every day. Doing every subject’s practice activity each day would be too much. Brett recommends an absolute minimum of a couple a week, and Ellen finds one creative activity a day works well. Can sport be part of a PE lesson? + Yes. Ellen says a bike ride, weekly team sport or ballet class can be the practical part of that week’s PE lesson. Your child can still read the Learn section and complete the Apply section. What if my child is behind in one subject? + A Personalised Learning Plan lets you set English, Maths or Science at a different grade level. If you are unsure, Brett suggests starting and adjusting as you go. Do I have to follow the school terms when homeschooling? + No. Euka’s program is set out in four terms as a guide. Families can follow the school terms, set their own timeline, or move ahead faster. About the hosts Brett Campbell is Euka’s co-founder and CEO. Ellen Brown is Euka’s co-founder and Head of Education. She is a qualified teacher, a mother of five and a long-time homeschooler. 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Your child can still read the Learn section and complete the Apply section.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “What if my child is behind in one subject?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “A Personalised Learning Plan lets you set English, Maths or Science at a different grade level. If you are unsure, Brett suggests starting and adjusting as you go.” } }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Do I have to follow the school terms when homeschooling?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “No. Euka’s program is set out in four terms as a guide. Families can follow the school terms, set their own timeline, or move ahead faster.” } } ] } ] } The post Planning Your Homeschool Week: How Many Days, Hours and Lessons You Need | 056 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/planning-your-homeschool-week-056/) appeared first on Euka (https://euka.edu.au).

3. 

   1 Oct 2026

   NAPLAN Results 2026: Is Screen Time to Blame? | 055

   The 2026 NAPLAN results showed one in three Australian students below the literacy and numeracy benchmarks. This quickly turned the conversation to screens. A petition for device-free primary schools (https://www.change.org/p/australian-parents-and-teachers-demand-less-screen-time-in-classrooms) gathered more than 25,000 signatures in two weeks, and the Federal Education Minister said Australian kids may need a digital detox. In this episode, Brett Campbell and Ellen Brown unpack the results and the digital detox debate that has arisen from them. The research so far stops short of linking classroom screens to the NAPLAN decline, and they agree that what a child does on a screen matters more than time spent on devices. They also cover AI in education, the screen habits children build outside school hours, and how homeschooling families decide how much of the learning day happens on a device. Key discussion points One in three students are below the benchmarks in literacy and numeracy. Reading slipped in Grades 5, 7 and 9. Numeracy improved slightly in those grades. Research to date has found no direct link between classroom screens and the NAPLAN decline. The wider evidence is mixed. Ellen would like NAPLAN back on paper while the technology catches up, so the results can be trusted. Brett questions how long pen and paper will stay relevant, given how rarely adults use them. Children need digital literacy skills, and they build them on a screen. Researching, creating documents and using online tools prepare children for work. Entertainment and passive scrolling do very little to build digital literacy. What happens on devices between 3 pm and 9 am sits outside a school’s control. Brett sees those hours as where parents have the most influence, including through the habits they model. Ellen sees AI as a tool children need to understand, so they can recognise it and use it well. Homeschooling lets parents set the screen balance. In a Euka lesson, children read on screen with a read-aloud option, do a hands-on activity offline, such as testing a chemical reaction in the kitchen, and answer the Apply questions online or on a printed activity sheet. What did the 2026 NAPLAN results show? ACARA tested about 1.2 million students in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9. As ABC News reported (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-05/naplan-results-national-tragedy-literacy-numeracy-skill-gaps/106991058), one in three sat below the literacy and numeracy benchmarks, unchanged from the previous year, and one in ten need additional support to catch up. Reading went backwards in Grades 5, 7 and 9, with students in the strong or exceeding bands falling from 68.2% to 66.3%, according to The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/04/naplan-results-2026-reading-writing-australian-school-standards). Numeracy improved slightly in Grades 5, 7 and 9, with 29,000 more students in the exceeding category than in 2023. Grade 3 students recorded their lowest numeracy scores since the current reporting scale began in 2023. Ellen notes that negative movement tends to make the news, and the numeracy gains received far less coverage. When reading education news, she suggests pausing to look closely at what the numbers say before reacting. Are screens to blame for falling NAPLAN results? No evidence currently directly ties computer use or screen time to the NAPLAN decline. The wider research is mixed. Paper supports reading comprehension. A meta-analysis of 54 studies (https://www.uv.es/lasalgon/papers/Delgado%202018%20dont%20throw%20away%20your%20printed%20books.pdf) found readers understood informational texts better on paper than on screen. More screen time was linked to better cognitive processing. An eight-year Finnish study (https://sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260815064803.htm) found children with more screen time showed better cognitive processing as teenagers. How often technology is used matters. The OECD (https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2015/09/students-computers-and-learning_g1g57f3a/9789264239555-en.pdf) found students who used computers moderately at school outperformed those who rarely used them, while very frequent users did worse. Classroom behaviour is part of the picture too. In the latest PISA results (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-08/australia-records-worst-ever-reading-and-maths-results-pisa/107101504), 41 per cent of Australian students reported noise and disorder in their classrooms, against an OECD average of 31 per cent. Can banning screens quickly fix literacy results? Brett describes what he calls the pendulum effect. When a problem makes headlines, the pressure to be seen doing something can swing policy from one extreme to the other. He sees literacy as a problem that takes years to shift, with several causes to look at. Are Australian schools banning devices? The petition, run by the Heads Up Alliance, reached 25,000 signatures in its first two weeks and had over 30,000 at the time of publishing. It asks for device-free primary schools, including homework, handwriting restored as a core priority, an end to routine one-to-one laptops in high school, EdTech independently proven before use, and no generative AI in school learning. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare wrote that “when I was a kid there was a computer room at school. Now they are everywhere,” adding that “there is a good argument our kids need a digital detox,” as The Guardian reported (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/24/australian-schools-digital-detox-jason-clare). The same report notes Castlemaine Secondary College in regional Victoria has scrapped bring-your-own-device for Grade 7, with 98 per cent parent support. From 2027, Victorian government schools (https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/digital-learning/policy) will phase out bring-your-own-device in primary and cap device use at 90 minutes a day for Grades 3 to 6. In WA (https://thewest.com.au/news/education/printed-books-and-handwriting-make-a-comeback-as-some-wa-schools-cut-back-on-device-use-c-22647595), Hale School has moved homework back to pen and paper, and Presbyterian Ladies’ College now keeps iPads at school for Grades 1 to 6. Should NAPLAN go back to pen and paper? NSW Education Minister Prue Car has said pen and paper may be a good way forward (https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/9324111/push-for-pen-and-paper-tests-as-literacy-results-dive/) for NAPLAN. Ellen agrees, and her reasoning is about the data. NAPLAN was fully digitised in 2022, except for Grade 3 writing and some students with special needs, and a technical glitch on the first day of this year’s testing raised concerns about the data’s accuracy. Ellen describes schools where students lost their connection partway through a test. If governments are going to make big changes based on these results, she says, the results need to be right, and a paper test would give a like-for-like comparison with earlier years. She adds that writing by hand slows a child down in a way that helps them think through an answer. Brett offers another perspective. Adults rarely write by hand anymore, and technology is moving quickly. He suggests the test could keep moving forward with better technology, such as built-in screen breaks, with only some parts, like writing a story, done on paper. Ellen adds that most students already spend much of the school day with textbooks, pens and paper, and many are getting too little digital literacy teaching. That fits ACARA testing (https://theconversation.com/some-parents-want-to-see-primary-schools-go-device-free-there-could-be-unintended-consequences-289884) showing Australian students’ digital literacy is declining. How much screen time is too much for children? For Ellen, the answer depends on what a child is doing on the screen. Using technology to research, build a spreadsheet, save and organise files or create a digital product builds skills children will need for work and for their future. An hour of scrolling or entertainment is very different. She also notes that growing up surrounded by technology is a separate thing from being technologically literate. Her approach is to decide which digital skills children need, set aside deliberate time to build them, and limit screen time for entertainment. If schools leave those skills out, Ellen says, parents can’t be expected to fill the gap at home. She is concerned that if children aren’t taught those skills, they won’t be prepared or know how to use computers when they graduate. She compares it to her own generation leaving school wishing they had learned about tax and money. “Not all screen time is equal, so use screen time for learning. Let’s take what’s useful. But if you want a digital detox on that passive consumption of digital tools, then I think go right ahead. That would be a fantastic idea.” — Ellen Brown How can parents encourage healthy screen habits at home? Brett points out that the hours between leaving school and arriving the next morning sit outside anything a school decides. “A lot of parents don’t really like me saying this, but I say it anyway. Parents must take personal responsibility for what’s happening to their child from a device perspective, from 3 pm to 9 am.” — Brett Campbell Modelling matters too. A child who sees a parent reach for their phone every time they stand up is likely to adopt the same habit. Brett also encourages parents to check what their children are watching and ask themselves whether it is making them smarter. Episode 29 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/should-children-under-16-be-banned-from-using-social-media/) looks at the under-16 social media ban. A simple digital detox challenge for families Brett closes with a challenge for parents and students. Pick a two-hour window when you would normally be on your phone, outside learning time, and put it away. Bedtime works well. For bonus points, leave the phone in the kitchen overnight and notice how you feel. He suggests it is a useful way to understand what a digital detox asks of a child. Should children use AI for learning? New York City has introduced a one-year ban on student-facing AI tools (https://www.k12dive.com/news/new-york-city-pauses-ai-use-for-elementary-middle-school-students/829496/) from Pre-K through Grade 8, and the petition here in Australia calls for no generative AI in school learning at all. Ellen sees AI as another tool for learning. Children are moving into a world where AI is part of almost everything, she says, often without people realising it. “Knowledge is power, and it’s important for kids to understand what AI is and how to use it well, otherwise they’ll be a victim to it.” — Ellen Brown Does homeschooling require a lot of screen time? Ellen walks through how a Euka lesson works. Children read the lesson on screen, with a read-aloud option for those who need reading support. Then comes the practical part, done away from the device. A child who has read about chemical reactions might try one in the kitchen. In the Apply section, children use what they have learned. They can work online with self-marking questions that give instant feedback, or download the activity sheet and complete it on paper. Parents decide the balance. Some children read the lesson and log off; others do more online. Ellen’s point is that parents can decide and learning can be tailored to each child. Why this episode matters This episode separates two conversations that have become tangled: what the NAPLAN results show, and how children use screens. For families, a useful question is how a child spends their screen time and who decides. Homeschooling puts that decision with parents. Start the free homeschooling course If you are working out what homeschooling could look like for your family, our Complete Guide to Confident Homeschooling covers registering legally in your state, choosing and structuring a program, building a daily rhythm, supporting a child who learns differently, and knowing your child is progressing. Nine short video modules, about two and a half hours, hosted by Brett and Ellen. Free and self-paced. Start the free homeschooling course (https://euka.edu.au/course). Questions answered in this episode What did the 2026 NAPLAN results show? + About 1.2 million students in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 were tested, and one in three sat below the literacy and numeracy benchmarks. Reading fell in Grades 5, 7 and 9. Numeracy improved slightly in those grades, while Grade 3 numeracy was the lowest since 2023. Are screens to blame for the drop in NAPLAN results? + Research to date has found no direct link between classroom screens and the decline. The wider evidence is mixed, and other factors are part of the picture, including classroom disruption. Why do some people want NAPLAN back on pen and paper? + Ellen’s reason is accuracy. NAPLAN has been almost fully online since 2022, a technical glitch disrupted the first day of this year’s testing, and some students lost their connection mid-test. A paper test would allow a fair comparison with earlier years before governments make big decisions based on the results. What is the digital detox petition asking for? + The Heads Up Alliance petition asks for device-free primary schools including homework, handwriting restored as a core priority, an end to routine one-to-one laptops in high school, EdTech independently proven before use, and no generative AI in school learning. How much screen time is too much for children? + It depends on what a child is doing. Ellen sees researching, creating and using online tools as valuable time that builds digital skills children need. Passive scrolling and entertainment are where she sees the case for a digital detox. Should children use AI for learning? + Ellen sees AI as a tool children need to understand, so they can recognise it and use it well. Can my child do an online homeschool program without spending all day on a screen? + With Euka, yes. Children read the lesson on screen, then complete a practical activity away from the device. For the Apply section, they can answer online for instant feedback or download the activity sheet and work on paper. Parents decide the balance. How can I start a digital detox at home? + Brett suggests starting small. Choose a two-hour window when you would normally use your phone (bedtime is a good one) and go without it. For an extra step, leave your phone in the kitchen overnight. About the hosts Brett Campbell is Euka’s co-founder and CEO. Ellen Brown is Euka’s co-founder and Head of Education. She is a qualified teacher, a mother of five, and has homeschooled for 12 years. Future Learners is the podcast for parents and students learning to thrive with homeschooling in Australia. The post NAPLAN Results 2026: Is Screen Time to Blame? | 055 (https://euka.edu.au/all-episodes/naplan-2026-digital-detox-debate-055/) appeared first on Euka (https://euka.edu.au).

Reach and audience

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YouTube views

218,128

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

32 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 60 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

56

Social presence

0

YouTube

82

Engagement

77

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