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Home ed

Find advice from other parents on our Homeschool forum. You may also find our round up of the best online learning resources useful.

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Original poster

Interhigh & other online schools - comments & experiences please

113 replies

beingamumgivesyougreyhair · 01/05/2018 21:27

Hi everyone,
Have you had a bad experience with an online school?
Interhigh seems to be the most promoted online school on the internet, and here in these forums, especially among some regulars.
But having been caught out before I'm more interested in being forewarned and forearmed of things that you usually only find out the hard way or when it's too late.
We are definitely on board with the whole concept of online schooling and the obvious benefits that it provides over bricks n mortar traditional schooling but there are more online schools springing up all the time and it is getting harder read between the lines and make an informed choice when they all sound the same.
If you have / are attending any of the internet schools with live lessons, your comments and experiences will be much appreciated.

OP posts:

Justturned50 · 27/09/2018 20:27

Following this as looking at online schooling for DS14. How are the new format lecture style classes going?

tikinay · 17/05/2019 13:49

Hi Mum's, I am going down the online school route and am seesawing between Inter High and Myonlineschooling. What are the pros and cons of them. Someone mentioned a bad experience with Inter High. What was that? Thanks for your help.

Sellotapenglitter · 17/09/2019 17:23

I know this an old discussion but if anyone is about, and uses an online school could you tell me if the system they use is simple and easy to follow as using one now that is just not straightforward so looking to move.

dontpanicmrmainwaring · 18/09/2019 11:48

which one are you with? we `re with myonlineschooling.

dontpanicmrmainwaring · 18/09/2019 11:49

talk to me whats the problem/s? which one are you with now? x

Sellotapenglitter · 18/09/2019 12:40

I won't name it but their way of accessing the 'school' and software they use is too complicated and my child is unable to operate it independently. Is my onlineschooling fairly simple?

norfolkskies · 18/09/2019 13:54

MOS uses powerschool and adobe connect. Is that the same as you? Im assuming youre not MOS!

norfolkskies · 18/09/2019 13:57

what do you do/ use to get to class?

for us its click on powerschool icon (faved on chrome). ds enters powerschool (unified classroom, same thing). class pages icon, picks the class and selects. logs on adobe connect. ds has his password for unified class saved on it. just has to type password on adobe connect. thats it

norfolkskies · 18/09/2019 13:57

we use a laptop

norfolkskies · 18/09/2019 13:59

the teachers at MOS are great! ds is doing really well there.

norfolkskies · 18/09/2019 14:00

his smallest class is 2. biggest is 12.

norfolkskies · 18/09/2019 14:02

i was looking at interhigh before MOS. BUT interhigh wants money before I could even take a look. Termly fees etc, contract.

MOS is 30 days notice leave any time. no contract. Try before you buy into it. we pay monthly. smaller classes. no big lecture style like interhigh does. good admin support.

norfolkskies · 18/09/2019 14:04

you can name the school on here. we`re annoymous on here!

ELR · 18/09/2019 20:50

We have just enrolled dd at Interhigh for 3 A levels, she had her first classes today. She enjoyed it and found it quite simple to operate, so far at least. We have been pretty impressed so far.

norfolkskies · 19/09/2019 07:34

ELR does interhigh use power school/ unified classroom and adobe connect as the classroom out of interest?

ELR · 19/09/2019 17:04

It uses adobe connect but unsure on the others. DD doesn't know either, sorry.

norfolkskies · 19/09/2019 18:18

if the chat box gets full, adobe doesn`t like it! teacher has to clear it then lol.

Pleasedontdothat · 20/09/2019 15:57

Dd started doing 3 A-levels at Interhigh earlier this month. She’s really enjoying it so far - she likes her teachers, gets on well with the others in her group and likes the fact that the classes are recorded so doesn’t get anxious that she might miss things/can go back over a section afterwards if she needs to. She’s very happy not to be commuting and in general her anxiety levels have plummeted, so all very positive so far.

norfolkskies · 21/09/2019 17:19

MOS are all recorded as well. It worked out very well when I needed to refresh myself on maths to help ds with his homework. I love online school now!

scoobydoo1971 · 21/09/2019 22:41

Due to a medical condition, my son could not attend local secondary schools (they are rubbish anyway). I did research various online schools for him to start at 11. In the end, we picked myonlineschooling. The fees are flexible so you only have to give 28 days notice of quitting, and class sizes are small. I believe other online providers expect annual commitment. It was cheaper than other providers, and offered flexibility in the subjects picked. I am very impressed by the lessons and the homework. It is not enough for him as he is academically able. Therefore, I supplement with extra lessons offline. However, I have pulled my daughter aged 8 out of primary school as she is very unhappy and has SEN. I am starting her with the same provider in 2 weeks. I find them easy to contact, and they send copies of the lessons and homework by email. Again, I will be working with her at home to supplement online lessons, but it is good to have the opportunity for her to be in a virtual classroom environment with other children. It works for us, and my kids are much happier than they were in regular school. We do daytrips out to museums, nature parks and community talks, and they both attend coding club. They are not so tired these days, and love learning online. It is not for all children though, and I think it is important that an adult is at home when they are doing lessons (younger children anyway).

norfolkskies · 22/09/2019 07:37

I agree it doesnt suit every child so I think its very important to do a trial class. DS has always had issues with being kept on task/ focussing attention on the lesson at school. So I play the role of class TA and I sit with him. Its working well.

Compared to when it was him doing mainstream with him having meltdowns and stuff I cant begin to compare!

norfolkskies · 22/09/2019 07:48

dh is a secondary teacher so he knows what level ds should be taught/ pace of a class etc. He`s happy with MOS on that. No different to a standard non streamed class where ds was at mainstream. But as pp says with home ed you can supplement yourself/ pad topics out etc. As I really know now exactly what topics ds is doing unlike mainstream I can add on / reinforce class, by discussion, trips whatever!

norfolkskies · 22/09/2019 07:51

In geography we re doing coasts. We live near it! so were able to use local places we know to talk about erosion, spits formation, defences.......

norfolkskies · 22/09/2019 08:04

in history its the slave trade. Im thinking about the international slavery museum in Liverpool at 1/2 term? were moving house soon near derby, so itll not be too far away! In mainstream he never talked about school......I wouldnt have known the topics he was really doing!

cardamoncoffee · 25/10/2019 16:38

Great thread, following with interest. That's very worrying about the expansion in Interhigh!

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