WHO WE ARE
Why Lions Exists
Lions didn't begin as a business idea. It began out of something we kept noticing as parents: bright, curious children coming home from school anxious, exhausted or disconnected from learning. We wanted to understand why, and create something better!
The more we looked into it, the clearer the answer became. It wasn’t the children who were the problem. It was the environment. Classrooms built for compliance, not curiosity. Social dynamics that rewarded fitting in over standing out. A system designed for the average, which meant it served almost no one particularly well.
For children with anxiety, for sensitive souls, for the neurodivergent, the gifted, the unconventional thinker — traditional school wasn’t just unhelpful. It was actively getting in the way.
What began as a small community of homeschooling families around Sydney, NSW, has grown into a thriving online hub supporting families across Australia’s. What has never changed is the reason we started: every child deserves to feel safe, seen, and genuinely cared for — because that’s when learning actually begins.
"When a child feels anxious, stressed, or unsafe, their nervous system shuts down. And when the nervous system shuts down, no real learning happens. We built Lions to change that."
We Are Not a School.
And That's Exactly the Point.
Lions Homeschool Hub is a supportive learning community for homeschooling families — not a registered school. Your child remains registered as a homeschooling student with your state authority (we can help you with that process), and you remain responsible for their education as their parent or guardian.
What we provide is the expert support, the community, the qualified educators, the structure, and the safe environment that makes your homeschooling journey genuinely work — without the bureaucracy, the rigid timetables, or the one-size-fits-all approach that causes so many children to struggle in the first place.
Think of us as your homeschooling team. We’re in your corner — and your child’s.
We support families across Australia's East Coast and the Northern Territory with live, interactive online sessions Monday to Friday, 9:00am–12:15pm (NSW time).
The Beliefs That
Shape Everything We Do
When a child joins Lions, they don't just enrol in a program. They enter into an agreement — with us, with their peers, and with themselves. Every student and family commits to three things, and so do we.
Lions is built on a set of convictions that guide every decision we make — from how we structure a morning session to who we welcome into our community.
- Safety comes before learning. A child cannot access curiosity, creativity or understanding while their nervous system is in a state of stress or fear. We create safety first — always.
- Every child is naturally curious. Disengagement is never a character flaw. It is always a signal that something in the environment isn’t working. Our job is to fix the environment.
- Relationships are the curriculum. Children learn from people they trust. Before we teach anything, we invest in knowing each child — who they are, what lights them up, what they’re carrying.
- Learning should feel like living. Passion, play, real-world skills, and deep conversation are not extras. They are the point.
- Community matters as much as content. Homeschooling should never mean isolation — for children or for parents. We build genuine belonging on both sides.
- The whole child, not just the academic one. Emotional regulation, self-awareness, compassion, critical thinking, physical wellbeing — these are not separate from education. They are education.
OUR VALUES
The Three Things
We Ask of Everyone at Lions
We Always Treat Each Other With Respect
No bullying. No exclusion. No unkindness. Every person in this community — child and adult — is treated with the dignity they deserve. Full stop.
We Go the Extra Mile
We don’t do the minimum. We show up fully — in our effort, our care, and our commitment to each other’s growth. We ask this of our educators, and we gently model it for our students.
We Have Each Other's Backs
When someone is struggling, we notice. When someone needs support, we show up. This is what makes Lions a community and not just a program.
These aren't rules. They're a shared commitment. And they're the reason Lions feels different the moment you arrive.
THE TEAM
The People Behind Lions
Lions is built by people who care deeply — about children, about learning, and about doing things differently. Our team brings together decades of experience in education, alongside the lived experience of being homeschooling parents themselves.
Amanda Kane
HEAD EDUCATOR • LITERACY SPECIALIST • READING COACH
Amanda brings 30 years of teaching experience and a depth of heart that is immediately felt by every child she works with. A passionate literacy coach and reading specialist, she holds a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Literacy, and has taught across an extraordinary range of settings — from public and private schools in Sydney, to Atlanta, Georgia, to the Indigenous community of Wujal Wujal on Cape York, in Far North Queensland.
It was her time on Cape York that shaped her most profoundly. Working in community taught her that the quality of a relationship is the foundation of everything — that before a child can learn from you, they need to trust you. That belief sits at the centre of how Amanda teaches at Lions.
Amanda takes a holistic, strengths-based approach — honouring each child’s unique way of thinking and learning, and embedding First Nations perspectives and history into her lessons with genuine respect and care. She believes it takes a village to educate a child, and she shows up as a full member of that village every day.
Outside of Lions, you’ll find Amanda experimenting in the kitchen (she spent years teaching fermented food and real food workshops), at the gym, running or training for Hyrox.
Mark Sorrell
EDUCATOR · MATHEMATICS & SCIENCE SPECIALIST
Mark has spent more than 20 years teaching mathematics and science — in secondary schools across Australia and the UK, in diverse and challenging settings, and at tertiary level training the next generation of teachers. He brings a rare combination: genuine mathematical expertise, and an infectious belief that every single student can experience success with maths.
Mark’s approach goes far beyond correct answers. He wants students to understand why maths works — to see the connections between concepts, to reason through problems, to develop real confidence and the ability to apply what they know to situations they’ve never seen before. He wants them to discover, as he has, that mathematics has a kind of beauty to it when you’re given the chance to really see it.
At Lions, Mark creates maths and science sessions that build deep understanding over time — without the anxiety, the comparison, or the feeling of falling behind that makes so many children believe they “just aren’t a maths person.” At Lions, every child is a maths person. They just haven’t been taught the right way yet.
Zane Ryder
CO-FOUNDER · PARENT
Zane co-founded Lions as a mother first, and a businesswoman second. With three children of her own and a career in website and digital marketing, she brought the vision for what Lions could be into the world — a community where children are cultivated, not just taught. Where curiosity, creativity, confidence and independence are the goals, not just test scores.
Zane’s belief is simple but powerful: if we raise children who are genuinely curious about the world, who make compassionate and informed decisions, and who feel capable of shaping their own lives — we are building a better society for everyone. That’s what drives her.
As a parent within the Lions community herself, Zane understands the journey families are on when they choose homeschooling. She knows the questions, the doubts, and the incredible rewards. She’d love to see Lions grow until every child in Australia has access to this kind of education.
Andre Quin
CO-FOUNDER · PARENT
Andre is the driving force behind Lions — its Director, its co-founder, and a deeply committed parent within the community. Having grown up in Switzerland and studied and worked internationally, Andre brings a broad, cross-cultural perspective to everything he does, from how he thinks about education to the values he believes children need to thrive in the world ahead of them.
Andre’s vision for Lions is uncompromising: he wants to produce children who think for themselves. Not children who repeat what they’ve been told, but children who question, research, reason, and arrive at their own informed conclusions. Children who are emotionally intelligent, compassionate toward diversity, and equipped to navigate a rapidly changing future with confidence and integrity.
In addition to leading Lions, Andre is the CEO of a software company and a non-executive director in the building industry. He is also a passionate teacher of Wing Chun Kung Fu — a discipline whose core values of patience, precision, and respect he sees reflected clearly in how great learning happens.
Andre’s belief: education is the single most powerful tool we have to shape a better future. At Lions, he’s using it with everything he has.
STUDENT VOICES
In Their Own Words
Jaxon
StudentI love Lions! I am learning so much more than I did at school. I love the morning maths. I have made so many friends and I love hanging out with them at the meet ups. Its so cool we go rock climbing every week, its fun and good exercise!
Alexis
StudentLions Education is the funnest school I have ever done. I love homeschooling because every day is a new adventure. Wednesday is Young Entrepreneurs Club where we learn skills we will need in the real world. Every day we have our Magic Mornings. I love learning things that I never would of learnt at a public school. Every day is an incredible learning experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything else.
Dimitry
StudentI have been at Lions for over a year now, and in that time, Lions have taught me things that my old school would never have covered such as how modern day windmills work, the Nuremberg Code and how to be more self-sufficient. The teachers have excellent methods that involve students working together and not just separately. Overall Lions is a great community and is the kind of environment that makes me excited to learn.