We meet the parents who ditched school to give their kids lives without boundaries
As the number of home-educated children soars by sixty-five per cent, we meet the stars of Feral Families - which starts on Thursday at 9pm on Channel 4
NO school, no set bedtime and very few rules.
It might sound bonkers to most but these parents reckon their kids’ lives are better without boundaries.
If their little ones want to dye their hair purple, shave it off completely or juggle with fire, no problem.
And instead of classes, they are running around baking cakes and doing DIY.
There has been a 65 per cent increase in the number of parents taking their children out of school.
Here, KATE JACKSON delves into the lives of three families who feature in new three-part Channel 4 documentary Feral Families, starting on Thursday at 9pm.
'Who cares if she can't read at age five?'
SOME parents might be horrified to see seven-year-old Jessica dying her locks purple.
But Vickie Hairsine, 25, thinks life is too short to worry about hair colour.
Vickie, who runs her own business selling toys and clothes from home, and husband Mike, 35, a former soldier turned HGV driver, took oldest daughter Jessica out of school two years ago.
They plan to do the same with younger children Theo, four, and Delilah, 11 months.
Vickie says: “When Jessica got to Year One, everything changed. She hated school and would sob her heart out.
“At the same time, we had a lot of hospital visits, which turned out to be for arthritis.
“I didn’t want her to be so sad and so worried about school at five. Who cares if she couldn’t read or write at that age?”
Vickie suffered four miscarriages between Theo and Delilah’s arrival and says it made her realise she needs to appreciate every moment with her children.
She adds: “When I told Jessica she didn’t have to go back, her face lit up like it was Christmas morning.
“I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her smile like that. It is the best thing I’ve done in my life.”
Vickie initially bought all the school books and attempted to recreate the classroom at home in Hull.
But she says: “It was too much. I thought we had to be sat down from 9am until 3.30pm every day.
“Then my teacher friends said that because it was one-on-one, it could be more effective in shorter spells.”
Jessica now practises reading and maths by baking a cake or helping read a story to Delilah.
She also learns life skills such as using the washing machine and cooking dinner.
Vickie says: “I’m not against school but kids are under so much pressure.
"There’s a reason mental health problems are getting worse.”
If Jessica refuses to wear a coat in cold weather, Vickie does not argue. Instead she packs a coat in the car and waits for Jessica to decide for herself.
And there is no “naughty step” or shouting.
But Mike adds: “There’s still got to be a level of structure.
“A child needs to understand you’re the parent and they can’t just run free.”
It is an approach the family believe will set their children up for whatever they want to do in life.
Vickie says: “Universities are apparently crying out for people who have been home-educated because they are self-starters and the way they think about the world is completely different, so hopefully if they want to go down that route, they can.”
'Only rule: Up early and be productive'
SEVEN lively children are helping themselves to ice cream at 10.30pm on a Tuesday night – but they do not have to worry about getting up for school.
Instead, hairdresser Gemma Rawnsley, 35, and husband Lewis, 31, a catering manager prefer to let them build planters in their garden in Hebden Bridge, West Yorks, or run around on the moors for their education.
Gemma says: “Every day for them is a kid day – it’s just about being children.
“The only rule is that they must wake up by 7.30am and fill their day with productive activity.
“So Hunter loves science and will occupy himself with chemistry sets, whereas Finlay wants to run a restaurant when he’s older so he’s always experimenting in the kitchen.
“Phoenix hated reading so I didn’t put any pressure on him.
“Then he asked me to read the messages he was getting from his friends on the Xbox and I said I would do it but if he wanted to read them again, he had to come to me for lessons – and he did.”
Gemma, who gained A-levels in English and media studies but found school boring, adds: “It’s really hard work bringing them up this way but they are the most happy, content, well-rounded kids you’ll ever meet.”
'What a better way of life'
ARCHIE PRESLEY is 13 but says it does not matter if he cannot write because “if I need to write anything, I can just speak it into my phone”.
Festival organiser mum Jenna, 38, is not concerned either.
She wants Archie and her two younger sons to have plenty of freedom.
She says: “When Archie was seven, he was really depressed at school and the way they handled it was horrendous.
“He had this block on reading and writing. I decided he needed to see what his natural interests are, like drumming, and build up his confidence.”
Archie now has his own caravan behind the family home in Salisbury, Wilts.
He has lived in it alone for days at a time, cooking for himself and earning his own money – until he got sacked.
Jenna, who believes educating children at home is the way forward, says: “It used to be this subculture of travellers, but it’s not now – it’s normal people realising, ‘Cor, what a better way of life’.”
But Archie’s grandfather Mick, 66, does not agree and has paid for a private tutor to get him up to scratch on the three Rs.
