An elementary school teaches young students how to hunt

The philosophy of an elementary school, where students are taught ... how to hunt and fish

Copy of Main Image x2 4 Hunting, FISHING

Can you imagine nine-year-olds learning to shoot with a machete at school, or how to sell out pheasants and set up camp in the countryside? Could you imagine young children learning in school χνη tracking, or how to skin wild rabbits and find their only food in nature?

Have you ever considered teachers and students walking together in swamps and marshes, "studying" wildlife in its true environment? All this is surreal, isn't it? And yet, these lessons and such experiences are commonplace for Eastbourne Public Primary School children in East Sussex, on the south coast of England.

A bold British teacher teaches survival lessons to elementary school children

Hunting itself and outdoor activities are a big part of the taught "alternative material" of the local primary school! The education of children includes lessons that would "scare" other people in the educational system of the western world! However, the school curriculum helps young students to love it, which is reflected in their performance and the grades they get, in relation to the national average…

School principal Mike Fairclough is a special case of a teacher: he has long blond hair up to his shoulders, wears a black fur coat made of a real bear, "bell" jeans from the 70's and walks in the area, riding a "pig"! The school itself is surrounded by swamps grazed by water buffalo, coexisting with beehives, turkeys, a goat and a flock of sheep, used in practical animal husbandry lessons.

Lessons in the countryside

Most children come from very poor families, and among other things learn at school… how to hunt and fish, light and maintain fires, cook meat and shoot! They also learn to make bows and arrows from the wood they find around them… This may frighten today's overprotective urban parents, but Director Mr. Fairclough is adamant:

- "The most dangerous thing you can do to a child is to put him in a bowl so that he is not exposed to an element of risk and danger", says.

The responsibilities of freedom

But it is not just about fun and games. Mr. Fairclough is no… teacher - clown… On the contrary, he uses this teaching "material" to teach children the values ​​of companionship, discipline, prudence, but also ευ the responsibilities of freedom itself! The school principal believes that lessons in the countryside change children for the better.

- "We take lessons in handling and training hounds, we shoot with rifles, we practice hunting with weasels without killing rabbits, but everything is done in a really responsible way", explains Mr. Fairclough.

Excited children

According to official figures, Mike Fairclough has been credited with turning the school around for the better since taking over the school 12 years ago: the school has the best exam results in the area, while its students' grades are stable. above the national average.

- "If children are happy to come to school, if they are inspired and excited by experiencing the countryside, then this has an impact on the classroom", Mr. Fairclough emphasizes.

The same children are thrilled and excited about their experiences.

- "It's the best school I've ever been to", said on the cameras of the television station one of the boys who participated in the shooting lesson with shotguns.