Hybrid school starting in London

[jebthesheep]

Portland Place online
I know there will be many who will be priced out or just horrified at the thought of having children at home for some of the week.
But as a concept, I think this is interesting as part of the mix of options for some families.
If it were to catch on and spread - including maybe to the state system - as an additional option ( personally don’t think that it would be a good idea ever as the only choice for a child)- what do ppl think ?
Is it the only one of its kind in the UK?

I'm not sure 1 day in school is enough. Will people still want this after the pandemic? What are the advantages? Less travel time and lower costs? So presumably more people can access the school who live further away or would struggle with the fees. I can see the advantages to a child unhappy at school, who could switch to here. They are still following a formal lesson timetable but presumably with no PE 4 days per week.

well, yes that is all true - I think it is a niche offering, no point in pretending otherwise. My point is that there are presumably those who fit the niche - children with Arts or sports commitments, those who have been bullied over long periods, SEN etc or just families who would now struggle with the full fees from a private background now having to cut back or not previously in the running but could now aspire to a more intense academic offering. With all them together, wondering if it would add up to enough for a class or two in more populous areas.
With State, Private (if lucky) or HE (if possible) the only things to consider for so many years, New is interesting. I have often wondered why with so much in the world changing and taking advantage of new technologies, opportunities and ways of thinking- education has been stuck in the same place for so long.

I wonder if there is any flexibility in the timetable? My children are primary age and I find the concept of flexi schooling interesting. But if you are still logging on to lessons 9-3 there isn't much flex. But that is always going to be trickier at secondary.

You are right though that it will suit some families. I can also see it working well for those moving between two homes (divorced parents etc) who only need to be close by one day at week. Also children who struggle emotionally with traditional schooling and feel less pressure or are less distracted. They also seem to have very small class sizes. I would expect it would remain very niche though, as most children will prefer the real life contacts with friends.

Has anyone got any views or information on this school for the hybrid section?

DS May thrive on going into school just once or twice a week but I see the days in school will cost even more than the £4K per term online fee.

Feels steep. Would the drama, PE, music, sport etc really be that amazing for all the extra money?

I might be missing the point here but do they not need to be socializing/mixing with others more than just 1 or 2 days a week

There's an implicit assumption there that a) school is the best place to learn social skills... and b) it's the only place to learn social skills.

Yes you are missing the point. Not every school provides the best social environment for children. I wish that were untrue.

What about people who work from home 3 days a week. Do they suddenly unlearn everything they ever knew and fail to interact with society correctly?

@1984Yes , this is a schooling option for the jet set crowd who spending their weekends skiing, south of France etc or in showbiz and constantly on the move.

Is that what you've definitely heard @hockeygrass ?

DS has a diagnosis of Aspergers and been bullied badly over the years. I thought this might be a good option.

Some socialising but not enough to put him in danger again wtih 2 days a week looked reasonable.

But by your message, it looks like this wouldn't be the right option.

Home-schooling is hard work and difficult to get right. Full-time school is mentally damaging for him.

There are no half-way houses it seems. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Isn't this almost identical to online schools that already exist?

@1984Yes I get that people working from home 3 days a week don't lose their social skills but they're adults and have most likely socialised throughout school, previous jobs and possibly university. I just wondered if at a younger age these skills needed to be used on a much more regular basis. I don't think flexible schooling is a bad idea- I think there should be a lot more to children's lives than just going to school and that they possibly do spend too much time there and don't have enough time to explore different interests (I grew up in Scotland and we did a half day on Friday's which I always thought was great because it gave a longer weekend). I just wonder if staring at a computer screen most days is really giving them the most experiences

I think it’s just three days a week. Then two days is drama, pe, sport, music, fun stuff. It seemed like a good compromise.

I love the idea of a Friday afternoon off.

i was bullied at school. I lost a lot of confidence. Schools can also damage you badly. I still can’t stand up in front of a crowd of people without trembling or feeling like I’ll have a panic attack. All thanks to school. I’d rather spare my son the same ordeal I went through and I’m NT not even ND. He’s already had a terrible time. Utterly depressed and rejected at the age 10.

@1984Yes , have you visited? I think you would have to visit and question the pupils at the open day. I know a supplier of a service to the school, the pupils are very wealthy. Alpha Plus own Portland Place, they are a large private education business.

@1984Yes Yes the two days being less academic stuff does sound like a good idea. I'm really sorry to hear about yours and your sons experiences. I think a lot of people (quite possibly myself included) forget how hard growing up can be and how school can be a very overwhelming experience- especially for children today with the world we live in.

My child started at Portland Place last year, now in year 8. She's bright, well adjusted, sociable and very happy, we both are.

I'd thought about Home schooling for some time as I think the education system is antiquated and for the most part, designed to churn out average children. I wanted to give my child a better chance at life than I had and having found myself in the privileged position of full time employment, just before Covid hit.

Having had the experience of 2 years of disruption as Primary school as teachers did their best to adjust and navigate running classes on line, Hybrid school caught my eye as a workable option as my company also adopted hybrid working. Thankfully, they also have a great parents and carers policy that means I can bring my daughter in to work with me a couple days a week. I can have a longer day, she gets on with her work and is also benefitting from seeing first hand what it can be like working in a large organisation - it might help with her choices down the line.

Friendships are great and on the in school day / days, they mix with day school children. She also has after school clubs outside of her school, I think that's important to keep it broad and not just stick with same school clubs, finance allowing of course.

The jury however is still out on weather we'll stay here beyond this year or next, depending on what's going on in the education system by then and I'm still waiting to see how the first on line GCSE candidates get on. For now tho. I feel it's been the best choice for both of us,

Apologies for the very long post
but I feel very passionately about PPS and the need for more schools to be ‘modernised’ in a similar way.

My youngest daughter is in year 10 at PPS after starting mid-way through year 9 . She arrived at PPS very shaken after a dreadful time at a totally unsupportive private school in Esher.

She started very well at her old school , then lockdown came again.. When school was re-opened she was bullied and then ostracised by peers. The school said they ‘could not get involved’. At the same time her elder sister was struggling with her recent diagnosis of Asperger’s.

My youngest felt her world had collapsed both in school and outside. What she needed was understanding, support and a safe environment. She did not get this. Her anxiety was through the roof .When things got tough for her it felt like the school really just couldn’t be bothered. She went from a bubbly, chatty girl to someone who looked crushed and anxious.Then school avoidance started. The pastoral care offered was extremely poor, the support was negligible…….apart from one very overworked and lovely mental health lady at the school who ‘got it’.The final straw was her hiding in a toilet as she had forgotten homework as she was so scared of the telling a teacher. Staff searched for her , when she was found, she was shouted at.

This was the straw that broke the camels back. We wondered what if we had a school where all the staff ‘got it’ ? We wanted the ethos was to be based on the child’s well being, not solely their academic results. We did not feel there was any value in forcing our daughter into the Esher school where she was utterly miserable and made to feel like a burden.

We were recommended PPS hybrid school by a very good friend who had a similarly bad experience at another school with their daughter. We are so grateful they suggested PPS to us.

PPS hybrid school has been transformative. It is a school that is totally inclusive,
where there is patience, care, understanding and empathy , not just for the children but also for the parents ! The communication between staff and parents is fantastic . Every child is embraced and given the time and space to develop and grow. Individuality and Neuro-diversity is understood , celebrated and supported. Anxiety is not treated as an unresolvable problem. The children emulate and reflect this ethos in their compassion to each other. PPS Hybrid allowed her to re-build, re-gain self-esteeem and strength.

PPS feels like a modern school for a new era. The world has changed and our schools need to change also. How many of us enjoy a few quiet days working from home, not wearing a suit? So many schools are lagging behind the new world our children find themselves in. The ‘sausage factory approach ‘ just does not work anymore for so many of our kids, yet so many schools still feel ‘victorian’ in their outlook.
Experience and education comes in so many ways.Many hybrid kids have the time to be incredibly creative and are incredibly artistic , musical or mini tech whizzes!
Most schools are about conformity and then they kids are released into the world and then asked to ‘think outside the box’ or be a ‘disrupter! I think an ‘alternative’ school gives the children the opportunity to see that achievement can be attained by different routes.

Many of these kids will go onto work in a hybrid environment or even log onto their jobs from another country. They do a lot of their socialising online, mixed with seeing family, old friends and through local clubs. Every single friendship does not have to be through school. Would you socialise with no one but your work colleagues?

At hybrid school they learn to motivate themselves and mange their work independently, an excellent lesson for their futures. (I do not get involved in her work while she is at home or while she is being taught online, she does this all herself.) Hybrid now offer 2 days a week which as been brilliant and has cemented her wish to go full time. Many of her peers happily choose to stay hybrid but our little one is ready to stretch her wings..

We could not be more pleased.

I would be very, very nervous about trying something like this, but obviously feedback from parents who've actually tried it must be informative to at least some degree.

It really is worth it. As a parent, I can tell you that my child has never felt happier. It is a private school education for reduced fee and on our terms.

No, it’s nothing like other online schools - which we also looked at. The students are not just watching videos and teaching themselves. They are in live lessons with a classroom teacher dedicated to them. They get parents evenings, reports and truly excellent pastoral care. And one or two days per week, they get to go in and experience practical subjects (PE, Art, DT, Drama etc) and socialise with their friends. We could not be happier!

This sounds amazing and if it had existed when my children were younger I would have absolutely gone got out. I am teacher and schools just aren’t fit for purpose - this is so much more with what is healthy and b shouted to modern working.

I work in an independent school, and I am skeptical about parents who've been offered the world at this school. Something like 78% of the costs of running a school are pay roll. And having done online teaching during the pandemic, you need a much lower pupil to staff ratio to make it work well. It's far more time consuming for teachers as well- a good teacher can communicate so much in 40 seconds face to face, and you can just tell whether the child "gets it" in a way that you can't through a screen. You can also tell who's struggling, who's miserable, who's anxious, who's fallen out with who etc etc.

So while I can see that this approach can work well for some children, I don't think it can be done on a budget. If my school were to go hybrid, they would have to raise fees significantly. Or, more likely, they would over burden the staff, and make unrealistic promises to the parents....

This model is already being used in the US, albeit in school for half the week (3 days iirc).

The individual I heard speak suggested it worked well - I’m unsure how practical subjects worked, presumably they could be done on the ‘in school’ days.

My daughter actually attends this hybrid school and I can hand on heart say it’s been amazing. She is now two school years ahead academically, much much happier, social is not a problem as she goes to after school sports clubs.

Not everyone does. Do you need to socialise or mix with others that much? I work from home and actually don't want to socialise and mix with others that often at all,

I home educated my child until year 2, and although she's only just going in, the socialisation we did was enough I believe, in home ed groups, activities. Perhaps it's a calmer lifestyle but that's not intrinsically a bad thing.

Agreed, infact my daughter was going to state school and was not great on socialising, since joining the hybrid school, her socialising has massively improved, and her confidence has boomed, maybe becouse one day a week is less intense for her, or maybe like all the other students she is just a lot happier, I don’t know. I know all the kids in her class really love Portland place hybrid school.
They socialise online with each other it’s just done on a screen. I find it a much healthier enviroment than her previous state school, and education wise it is 10000x times better as they are not trying to attend 30 odd children with different needs.

I understand your concerns and shared them to some extent, but really I don't feel like this is the mentality of the hybrid demographic at all - and as well the day school.

The hybrid fees are lower than secondary day school fees, making it somewhat more affordable for those who can have someone at home most of the week.

Personally, we are getting help with fees from grandparents, and I'm sure we aren't the only one. Others I know have taken out new mortages to pay for what they think is the best education for their children who weren't fitting in the normal options.