Danielle Mason: Why Im Pulling My Son from School

Danielle Mason rose to fame as a Page 3 girl before finding love with mixed martial artist Tony Giles - and the pair went on to star in My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding which documented their marriage.

After having two children together - Rudy, 14, and Delilah, 12 - they split up in 2016 and she has since raised them as a single mother.

It is not unusual for the offspring of Travellers to leave mainstream schooling at a young age to be homeschooled or pursue other career avenues. 

In the last decade, around 42 per cent of these children left school with no qualifications at all and only about 25 per cent pass five or more GCSEs.

And Rudy - who has special educational needs and ADHD - is also set to leave the education system before taking his GCSEs after years of struggling with his learning. 

It's not a decision that Danielle - who is the sister of star  - took lightly at all. 

Here, she tells the Daily Mail why she agreed to pull her son out of school and why she believes it will be the best thing for him.

'I am going through this schooling issue at the moment. My son is half Traveller. I had kids with Tony when I was 28. 

'I brought my kids up like how I was brought up - going to school. But for some reason my kids just don't fit in the school system. Everyone says that it is because they have got Gypsy in their blood. My son is on his third school now.

'They do have SEN issues. They both have . And I find schools don't offer a lot of support for Travellers, they don't know a lot about the heritage and the culture. 

'I do butt heads with his dad as he wanted to take him out and at first I thought he should at least get his Maths and English but none of his cousins go to school, he is the only boy in the family that does now. 

'I have a meeting with the school next week to de-register him. I am sick of the school keeping on ringing me about him about his behaviour and it is embarrassing. 

'When me and Tony split up I brought them up on my own. People say "you should still teach them manners", but when you are a single parent it is hard to keep on top of their behaviour at all times. 

'The first senior school he went to he would get suspended all the time. It didn't give him a lot of confidence and he felt like he didn't fit in. 

'His dad would say he was treated that way because of his background. But I kept pursuing him staying in school and I tried him with another school. 

'He is in a good one now but I have got to the point with him that I know it is not for him. It is more hassle putting him in than having him out. 

'They ring me all the time saying they can't meet his needs. His dad doesn't want him in there and he comes home and says "dad says I don't have to". Me and his dad have had a culture clash over it.

'But I do feel happier about it now. I don't think that school is for every child. He is out with his dad learning about landscaping and brickworking. He gets frustrated calling me saying "why will I ever need algebra and RE?" 

'He will have his business when he is 18 doing the manual labour stuff. He is good with his hands and so it is better for him to pull him out. 

'If my kids have a sleepover with Tony he wouldn't be bothered about getting them into school the next day. 

'He sees it that Traveller kids should be out of school at 12. But I am worried if Delilah doesn't go. It is a culture clash when your kids get older and you are co-parenting. 

'It has been challenging co-parenting over the years but we do tend to get on now. And I can see that the schooling thing just isn't working out. 

'I have exhausted every avenue and now he can go with his dad and learn business. 

'I don't want teachers ringing me stressed all the time as it's not fair on him or other students. Enough is enough now. I have had four years of stress.'