How online school unlocks opportunities for model and surfer Cairo

In any given month, he might be riding the waves at elite surf camps or travelling overseas for photoshoots. With more than a decade of experience, he’s building an impressively broad portfolio and keeping up with his academic goals too.

However, that wasn’t always possible before he joined King’s InterHigh. To find out more, we talked to Cairo and his parents about the challenges of balancing a busy career with traditional schooling and how things have changed since their search for the right school.

Cairo’s early career start

Cairo’s exciting journey began before he’d even set foot in a classroom. Starting his modelling career at just two years old, he soon picked up work with brands around the world. Then, by the age of six, he’d already discovered his true passion: surfing.

Even as a toddler, Cairo had always been drawn to the ocean. Of course, at such a young age, his parents weren’t confident about letting him surf until he’d built up his swimming abilities. When the family moved to Tenerife, however, everything changed. The moment a surfing instructor and family friend of Cairo’s introduced him to the waves, he was hooked.

His parents were both struck by his natural talents in the water, and within just a few weeks, Cairo had already progressed to using a hardboard. By age nine, he was putting his skills to the test in competition on both the Spanish and English circuits.

Cairo’s combination of natural talent, determination, and practice had set him on a path to a bright future, but he still had to balance his growing career with his education.

Why traditional education didn’t work

As Cairo continued to flourish in both modelling and surfing, his parents continued to navigate an education system that wasn’t designed for his needs. Given his busy schedule, Cairo frequently needed to take time away from school, but getting permission papers signed wasn’t always easy.

“Every single time there was any opportunity for him, it felt like a fight,” explains mum Sarah. Whether he had a modelling assignment that required travel or a surfing competition that clashed with school hours, the family constantly had to advocate for Cairo’s unique circumstances.

In particular, the unpredictable nature of surfing made it the biggest challenge. Unlike in most sports, surf competitions depend entirely on wave conditions rather than on fixed timelines. Surfers often get just two days’ notice before a competition, which meant Cairo needed the flexibility to travel at short notice. “Sometimes we got teachers who were angels who understood and wanted what was best for the kids, and sometimes we didn’t,” says Sarah. “It was the luck of the draw.”

Even when Cairo could get the time he needed to compete, he’d still have mountains of leaning to catch up on afterwards. Ultimately, his parents found themselves taking full responsibility for his education, to “make sure that he was ahead of the game.”

Joining King’s InterHigh

Thankfully, for elite athletes like Cairo, the four walls of a traditional classroom aren’t the only way to get an education. When his parents discovered King’s InterHigh through one of our fellow surfing students, everything changed for the better.

Since Cairo joined us this January, the relief has been palpable for the entire family. Overnight, the constant school negotiations and education stresses were gone. In complete contrast to the barriers they’d faced, Cairo was now learning in an environment with support, understanding, and flexibility for his path.

Unlocking new opportunities with online school

For children like Cairo, flexibility can be the difference between nurturing talent and watching opportunities slip away. That’s why one of the best parts of learning at King’s InterHigh is just how much further he can go as a surfer.

With bricks-and-mortar education, Cairo’s school schedule was the key deciding factor for any new opportunity. If he couldn’t get his time off approved or his lessons clashed with training timetables, he’d simply have to turn down those jobs or activities. At King’s InterHigh, on the other hand, timetables are flexible, and every live lesson is also recorded for 24/7 viewing. In turn, students are free to balance their education and their passions at their pace, without sacrificing either.

As an example, Sarah says, “Cairo can now train at the right time to have an actual trainer present, which was never possible before because the trainers cannot adapt to normal school hours.” Likewise, he’s also been able to finally train alongside elite, high-level groups. These are the kinds of opportunities that surfers like Cairo need to take their skills and career to the next level, and they wouldn’t be possible without his newfound flexibility

The same goes for travel, which is essential for surfers who want to catch the best waves and meet the criteria for national teams. This year alone, Cairo already completed several weeks of travel for modelling assignments and training camps.

He’s been to Morocco for high-performance surf training with professionals far beyond his age, and this summer, he’s also representing the Canary Islands at national surf camps. Thanks to the accessibility of online learning, he can simply watch his lessons whenever he has free time or even take his laptop with him to contests.

Why education comes first for Cairo

Alongside the flexibility, Cairo’s parents say one of the biggest advantages of online school is the ability to get an excellent education from anywhere. Despite everything he’s achieved, the family has never wavered on one fundamental principle: “Education comes first.” Explaining her stance, Sarah says, “We won’t accept him falling behind in education regardless of what his opportunities are. He has to be able to do it all.”

Cairo knows the importance of education just as well, with ambitions to become a marine biologist one day. In their island community, however, local education hasn’t always met the family’s standards. “The way of learning is still very much about copying everything from a book,” says Cairo as an example. “If you miss one phrase, you miss out on something important.”

In contrast, his move to the English curriculum has opened up new academic possibilities. Contrary to any initial worries he had about catching up, Cairo has been thriving academically and is now learning several years ahead of his previous education. Any new change in environment comes with a learning curve, but Cairo’s parents say he’s adapted quickly to online learning and has even become more proactive with reaching out for help and feedback.

His school experience outside the classroom, meanwhile, has been just as enjoyable. While most of his friends come from the surfing circuit (including a fellow King’s InterHigh student he surfs with), Cairo says he never feels isolated in his lessons and gets on “really well” with his online classmates. All of this comes at an instrumental time for the Year 9 student, who will be starting his IGCSEs with King’s InterHigh this September.

A future without compromise

“I think that if we don’t look for and push for what is best for our children as individuals, then we’re failing as parents,” explains Sarah, who is fiercely committed to supporting her son in all of his ambitions. Looking back on their past school experiences, that’s why Sarah says that online learning has taken away one of their biggest pressures, making sure they can pave a pathway to Cairo’s success.

Naturally, she doesn’t blame Cairo’s old schools for the difficulties they faced. After all, she says, “if you’re an educator, the last thing you want to do is something incorrect or unfair.” On the flip side, however, Sarah believes that many local traditional schools face “a mixture between the stigma and the unknown… and we were never going to be the ones who could educate an entire school board.”

Ultimately, in Sarah’s view, nothing is more important than finding an education that truly works for your child. For her son, and so many athletes like him, we’re delighted to have been the solution. Now, Cairo is able to seize every opportunity that comes his way, and he’s loving every second of it. All the while, he can work towards his future academic goals too; one day, he hopes to work with orcas and dolphins in Scandinavia, even in spite of the freezing climate!

And, in the future, Cairo’s parents hope to see their 10-year-old daughter join King’s InterHigh too. Excited for the new future their children can have with online learning, Sarah says, “We’re forever grateful.”