NOT many parents would take on the challenge of home educating their children, but Mick Bullock and partner Sylv Hughes felt they had no choice.

They took their son, Simon Bullock, out of school at the age of 12 because he suffers from panic attacks.

Some days he would only last an hour at Rickstones School, Witham, before he had an attack and his dad would have to collect him.

Unemployed Mr Bullock, 47, said: “We would rather have left him at school but he was shaking and felt terrible, so we had to get him out.”

Keen photographer Simon, 13, now has lessons at home. But they do not involve studying Shakespeare’s plays or working out sums from a maths textbook.

Mr Bullock, who receives a carer’s allowance for looking after his family, said: “There’s no set work really and taking photos is a kind of education.”

Unemployed Ms Hughes, 40, who is on disability benefit for a back problem, said: “We do life things like shopping.

“Simon will work out what he needs for a week’s food. Cooking is maths and science.

“If he wants to buy something off the internet he will look for the cheapest and work out how much he will save.”

The couple, who live in Honeysuckle Way, Witham, admit English is a tricky subject because Simon does not like writing.

Mr Bullock continued: “I make him write out birthday and Christmas cards which is some kind of writing.

“For English, he also reads things on the internet and in magazines. He doesn’t read a whole book.”

Despite the unconventional lessons, Mr Bullock said: “You can learn just as well outside school.

“There’s no way Simon could go back now because I don’t think he could face it.”

Ms Hughes, who admitted she had trouble holding down a job (one year she had 30 different jobs), believed more could be learned outside school.

The couple are now in the process of finding Simon a tutor because they said they were not up to teaching him at GCSE level. They also hope that one day Simon, who receives disability benefits because of his panic attacks, will land his dream job as a photographer.

The promising youngster has already won a handful of rosettes and a trophy in a regional art competition in Devon.

Simon said: “I quite often carry my camera around.

“I like waiting for that moment when something interesting happens. I was really happy to win all those prizes, although it was a bit of a shock as well.”

Simon’s parents’ only concern is he is not mixing with other youngsters – a problem exacerbated by the fact he refuses to leave the house without one of them.

Simon’s parents are appealing to other families who home educate their children to get in touch.

E-mail nina.morgan@nqe.com and your e-mail will be forwarded to Mr Bullock.