The crafty queen with SIX to teach at home
IT’s easy to imagine how people reacted when they heard Deborah Bowers-street was homeschooling her six children — and looking after her five-month-old baby.
‘People are aghast when i tell them i was surprisingly calm,’ says Deborah, 43, the director of a building company who lives in Havant, Hampshire, with her partner simon, 41, an electrician.
Deborah, who also owns Bramble crafts, a business selling crafting templates and software, and had to juggle her own work around homeschooling, admits to having a secret weapon: ‘i taught the children from a young age to make their own meals. They also each have one chore per day.’
Between them the children — mollie, 16, Kinsie, 15, matthew, 13, sophie, 12, Aleana, eight,
Aurora, seven — managed the vacuuming, loading and unloading the dishwasher, washer and tumble drier.
All six children would come downstairs for breakfast at 8am, start schoolwork at 9am and finish at 3pm.
‘i’m very lucky my older four kids are smart, studious and happy to work independently’ says Deborah, also mum to fivemonth-old grace.
mollie is at college studying Alevels in psychology and sociology and a BTec in health and social care, so had assignments to complete, while the other three elder children are at secondary school, with work set online together with live lessons.
in testament to Deborah’s care and finely tuned routine, the children thrived at home.
‘Tasks that take an hour at school were often completed in 20 minutes at home. so matthew took it upon himself to study for a diploma in computer programming to fill the time. meanwhile, sophie initiated her own project learning about Henry Viii.’
While the eldest powered through their lessons, Deborah would teach Aleana and Aurora, often while holding grace.
smooth as it might sound, Deborah admits the first few weeks of the latest school closure proved very stressful. ‘i have a garden office that i often retreated to during the first lockdown to spend time alone, but didn’t feel the need this time — amazingly!’
DIVERS are searching for a British woman missing for five days after apparently falling overboard from a catamaran in the Caribbean in the middle of the night.
Sarm Heslop disappeared from the 47ft Siren Song, which was moored in the US Virgin Islands, in the early hours of Monday.
Local police said the former Flybe air hostess was reported missing by her American boyfriend after he was unable to find her when he woke around 2am.
Ryan Bane, 44, who owns and skippers the boat, called the police and the coastguard after being woken by its anchor alarm, which sounds when a vessel moves too far from its mooring.
The search for Miss Heslop, 41, from Southampton, is centred on an area off the coast of Saint John island’s main port of Cruz Bay where the £500,000 catamaran remains anchored.
A friend of Mr Bane, 44 – who, with Miss Heslop, runs exclusive charters on the boat for wealthy guests paying up to £10,000 a week
– said he was ‘totally distraught’. They added: ‘He is beside himself with grief and worry. He is heartbroken. I know from what he’s said that Ryan and Sarm were very much in love.
‘Sarm had just started running charters with him, helping with the guests.
‘He told me the pair of them went out to dinner before returning to the boat and watching a bit of Netflix. They then went to bed.
‘It is totally uncharacteristic’
But around 2am, Ryan said his anchor alarm went off. He woke and found Sarm wasn’t in bed. He got up and went around the boat but there was no sign of her.’
The friend, who manages bookings for the vessel, added: ‘Ryan joined in the searches. He’s still searching. And other people on the island have formed community searches. But she’s just vanished.’
A close friend of Miss Heslop said there had been no cause for concern before her disappearance.
Vicki Mogridge-Percy told the Mail: ‘She is incredibly levelheaded, smart, savvy and witty. It is totally uncharacteristic of her.’
The youth worker last heard from her friend on Sunday, when she received a WhatsApp message that asked simply: ‘How are you?’
Another UK-based friend of Miss Heslop said her phone, passport and other belongings were left on the boat.
The US police department’s Toby Derima said: ‘Every day that goes by and we don’t have any news is a major concern for us.’
Miss Heslop started dating Mr Bane last year after meeting him in Grenada following a crossAtlantic adventure.
Her Instagram page is full of photos of her in the Caribbean. A post from last March of her in the sea is captioned: ‘Snorkelling and a declaration of love all in one day.’
Originally from Hertfordshire, Miss Heslop is ‘always travelling and darting around’, say friends.
She was a flight attendant for Flybe for around eight years until 2014 before living in Spain and Australia for a few years.
She then returned to the UK and worked in a call centre before taking up the offer to cross the Atlantic with friends two years ago.