Children as young as four are being trained how to shoot rifles at a school in Sussex run by conspiracy theorists.
Hope Sussex, which has barred Ofsted from inspecting, offers reception aged-children lessons in shooting and martial arts alongside maths, English and science.
Images published by Hope’s founder Matthew Single – who opened the establishment with his wife Sadie – show youngsters clutching air rifles and aiming at targets near Netherfield village in East Sussex.
Another photo shows Mr Single, 54, wearing a T-shirt embellished with the words, ‘I identify as a conspiracy theorist – my pronouns are told/you/so’.
More than 40 families attend Hope each week, according to recent company filings.
Pupils have been tasked with making necklaces out of bullet casings and creating their own nunchuks.
Hope Sussex was reportedly founded by a group of anti-vaccine activists and former members of the far Right in 2021.
It denies that it is a school, instead referring to itself as an ‘autonomous community’ that helps home-educating parents.
A young child is seen holding a gun during a lesson with Hope Sussex
Children have also been tasked with making their own nunchuks (pictured)
Hope’s founder Matthew Single wearing a T-shirt branded with the words ‘I identify as a conspiracy theorist’
Ofsted believes it is running as a school, but was forced to close its investigation into the establishment due to current legislation.
The inspectorate currently does not have the legal right to force its way onto the grounds of what it suspects is an illegal school.
It last visited Hope Sussex in 2022, when inspectors were stopped from entering by Mr Single and a second member of staff, The Times first reported.
A new bill, titled the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, is going through parliament and proposes to hand the inspectorate more authority.
Mr Single and his wife are former members of the British National Party.
They urge parents to remove their children from state education and send them to their site for education. However, they reportedly tell the council that the youngsters are being homeschooled.
Mrs Single, a former state primary teacher, previously said that her history lessons include ‘some of the fallacies and lies that have taken place’, including conspiracy theories that have been widely disproven by historians.
Meanwhile Mr Single is an admirer of president Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un.
He said he believes the ‘awake community’ is ‘at war’ with the state – reportedly encouraging people to ‘take the fight to them’.
Another young child holds a large rifle during a lesson with the establishment, which denies it is a school
A child shoots at targets with an archery bow during one of the institution’s lessons
In one post, titled ‘They are coming for our children’, he wrote: ‘We must be prepared to step outside of the comfort zone of simply protesting and demonstrating with placards and megaphones – we have our army in the field, now we must press forward with greater, more specific action.’
He told The Times that the comments were made with the intention of ‘applying political pressure on the Government’.
He also claimed that the archery and air-weapon shooting lessons prioritised ‘safety at all times’.
Ofsted declined to comment when approached by the Daily Mail and Hope Sussex has been contacted for comment.
