"I pulled my children out of Britain's bonkers school system forever - I teach them on holidays around the world"

Lisa Percival took her children Hunter, 10, and Pandora, eight, out of school last year to spend six months world schooling them, where traditional education is replaced with immersive travel and experiential learning. The 37-year-old says she was 'forced' to pull her son, who suffers from emotional-based school avoidance (EBSA), from school in April 2025 after he said he'd rather die than attend.

After the mum-of-two discovered a world schooling Facebook page she then also deregistered her daughter from school in September 2025 so they could visit world school hubs in Portugal, South Goa and Bulgaria. The landlord says she is 'grateful' to be able to balance her job with world schooling, which has 'opened her eyes' to a 'different way of life' that puts less pressure on her kids.

She also slams the 'ridiculous' fines for taking kids out of school, which she believes puts a 'tax on family time' and pushed her to permanently remove her kids from school. Lisa was hit a £60 fine per child in October 2023 for taking her children on holiday to Cyprus during term time.

Taking to Instagram the parent shared footage from their trip to India captioned 'day in the life of a home educating parent'. In the clip you can see Hunter beaming at the camera during a dolphin boat trip with the world school hub, while another shows Pandora taking part in an aerial skills class.

After returning home for a 'reset' in February 2026, Lisa says she home educates her kids who are both 'much happier now' than they were in school. She now vows to never send her kids to mainstream school again and plans to continue travelling to different world school hubs in the future.

Lisa, who lives in Kettering, Northamptonshire, said: "It wasn't my decision and I was totally forced into it. When things were going wrong at school Hunter was having melt downs every single hour and he was so depressed.

"This wasn't a kid just saying 'I don't want to go to school because I want to play on my Xbox today', he couldn't get out of bed. The schools were saying 'if you don't get him in you could get fined and if you don't get him in this could be referred to social services as neglect'. It's just absolutely crazy.

"We didn't know how bad things were until Hunter said he'd rather die than go to school. That was the turning point. I was like 'we really need to do something now'. We were noticing so many issues with the school system. I think it's possibly a combination of unmet needs at school and a terrible environment.

"My son was put in a classroom that didn't even have a window. It was too noisy for him and he couldn't get away from it. The curriculum is also a huge problem. The kids today are not interested in it.

"It's not just the curriculum but the way in which it's taught. This classroom-based learning is not interactive or immersive or experiential. Having a work sheet just doesn't work for a lot of children. More lessons should be optional. The kids need more autonomy even when they're eight or nine."

After deregistering both her kids from school last year the family visited various world school hubs during their travels including a four-week programme in Portugal. She says the full-time programme included day trips and learning about AI and her son had a tutor twice a week to keep up with the UK curriculum. Her trips also included six weeks in Bulgaria and more than two months in India.

Lisa said: "Worldschooling has opened our eyes to new experiences and new ways of living. "What we liked about it was how the rest of the community had the same sort of mindset as us. It was a different way of life. It wasn't school, they were learning about how to use AI and all kinds of stuff the UK couldn't and wouldn't teach.

"It was much less academic and less pressure and more education was focused on the actual child and how they were socially and emotionally. A lot of the curriculum is skill-based. That's the problem with British schools is that's all they care about. They don't really care about the children.

"Our kids are way ahead and we push them far too early. Starting school at four is ridiculous. They need to have a play-based childhood and something that puts the children first and that's the issue with schools. It's so damaging for their wellbeing.

"The fines are the most ridiculous thing ever. It's almost like it's a tax on family time. What's absolutely bonkers is that people like me can deregister and do what the hell we want.

"If I asked my child's school if I can go to India for a month they'd have said no so instead I've deregistered my daughter and she's now been out of school for five months. It doesn't make sense at all.

"I feel grateful that I can balance my job and give my kids the home-schooling opportunity. I feel super lucky. But it wasn't easy and I made sacrifices."

After returning to the UK Lisa now home educates her kids and they attend daily social groups so they still get to meet friends. She hopes to spread awareness about the difference between home schooling, where a child remains enrolled at a school and follows the curriculum and elective home education, where the parent takes full responsibility for their child's education outside of a school setting.

Lisa said: "I've noticed a change in [my kids] and especially in Hunter. Now he wakes up happily and can make his own breakfast, and cooks for himself during the day and he can do basic levels of work. He's so much happier now and I think that's down to us taking the pressure and demands off him and taking him out of school has really helped.

"People in the UK don't like the term home schooling. It's important to spread awareness about the difference. A lot of people get confused. Nothing we do is like school at all. We're educating them and not schooling them."

Now the mum encourages other parents to consider home educating if their child is unhappy at school. Lisa said: "I would encourage parents to be open-minded and research home education in their area if school is not working for them.

"School works well for lots of parents and that's fine and their choice but before they demonise home education or home schooling what I'd say is start researching. I want to change that perception of home education. Even though things are starting to change as people are realising the school system is c**p, there's not enough out there.

"I'd never send my kids back to mainstream school."