Online schools - has anyone done this and which one?

[Backandforthandnow]

For various reasons I am considering online school for my eldest who is currently not in education. She is year 9.

has anyone done this and have any recommendations?

Yes, we looked at Minerva and Kings Interhigh and opted for Minerva in the end as we liked the idea of the weekly mentoring sessions. It was also refreshing to hear teachers talking about anxious students and their possible needs unprompted. Early days for us but it’s going very well - just the social side of things is something we need to think about.

We use Kings Interhigh. They're ok but not stellar. Heard good things about Minerva.

Any online school is better than B and M school for some kids though so definitely no regrets.

Currently sitting outside an exam centre waiting for my year 11 to come out, she's been in online school since year 10 and sitting 9 GCSEs. No regrets (be aware you need to pay for an ferry them to every exam if you go down this route).

@Kta7 Hi, I found your comment when looking for information about online schooling for my daughter. She is absolutely broken by the relentless bullying she has endured at school and now we are so desperate we are considering online schooling. Can you tell me where you are with it (how far through the process you are) and how you are finding it please?
Also, anyone else who has DC in there GCSE years in online school, I would really appreciate any information you could offer please.

My DD is year 11 at Kings Interhigh, doing 9 IGCSEs. She did years 10 and 11 in online school after a bad couple of years in our big local secondary academy.

They do IGCSEs which have parity with GCSEs

@Kta7
From mondegreen
Thank you.

So sorry to hear this, it’s rubbish that moving her rather than the bullies is the best solution 😟

We are only half a term in but are really pleased with how it’s going so far - DD is only in year 7 though so it hasn’t got serious yet. They are a very caring and understanding school and DD is so happy to have made the move, although she misses her small group of friends. Well worth considering, to give you some breathing space for a bit if nothing else.

I’m currently on a KingsInterhigh open day online. I think it looks good with a lot more tailoring to the child.

I do really like the mentoring offered by Minerva too.

I think I am going to sign up to Kings Interhigh for the next half term (starting Monday) as Minerva is not taking new students. Then I can see what we think about GCSEs for September

My 13yo daughter starts with Minerva on Monday. Induction and enrolment has been a great experience so far. I genuinely feel more aware of and connected to her education than I ever did with her state secondary - and she hasn't started properly yet. Approaching with a very open mind but so far, so good.

Hi, how have those that started earlier in the year found it? Would love to hear Minerva or InterHigh experiences.

DD started at Minerva after Easter and by and large it’s still going really well, especially on the academic side of things. She is quite sociable though so really missing the in-person interaction. We have been quite lucky though - she needs a bit of nudging to start the day but then is surprisingly self-sufficient when she gets going. I think some of the more demand-avoidant students and those recovering from a long period of burnout struggle a bit more with accessing the full curriculum. I get the impression the SEN department is supportive.

DD started Minerva 6 weeks ago after being out of school for 18 months. She's not accessing live lessons but is doing the work which is more than we could have hoped for. She is autistic and suffered burnout after mocks. Her previous (private) school were useless and made her feel even worse.

So far I've been very impressed by the support offered by Minerva. I have had meetings with the mentor and the SEN team and they are offering lots of help and are keen to meet DD where she is rather than where they'd like her to be iyswim.

Her year head at Minerva has been great incredibly supportive.

Have you looked at Highgrove Online School? I've read really good things about it.

I work at Highgrove. Most of the staff came from Harrow online. It's a lovely school with a personal touch. I'd definitely recommend it. The pastoral care is amazing with weekly 121 coaching sessions.

I’m currently researching online school for my DD who has been struggling with a medical condition and complete lack of support from her school. She is facing bullying when she is actually at school for being behind and it’s just adding stress to an already stressful situation. I have looked at Minerva which looks perfect, but I am concerned about the cost. I have also been looking at The Online School, which on the surface looks like a good close second. Does anyone have experience of the online school as an alternative to MVA?

I pulled my child out of MVA this year as I wasn’t really happy with some aspects of their provision, but their increasing costs and increasing premium charged to parents who pay monthly was just too much. My child is now with The £2 Tuition Hub.

I’ll tell you what I’m very sceptical about @EllaBrooks: the legitimacy of the very many posts about Highgrove that you have felt compelled to post unprompted on a spate of threads about online schools. Not least this one where you appear to have enrolled a further child in the last few days…

Hi @Deb381 we've a 13yr old DD and also curious about online schools after chatting with Kings (felt thorough though a little soulless) and MVA (felt soulful + supportive yet quite costly). Did you find any more out about 'The Online School' or go with one of them?

My daughter left her physical school (after a couple of difficult patchy years) in y9. We eventually signed her up to KingsInterhigh in y10 and she sat at a desk in my bedroom for 2 yrs, camera off, and studied for 9 gcses. She got them all with v v good grades. It meant that she had some academic choices for y12. Luckily by then, she was determined to try school again and she rejoined last September in y12 and didn't miss a day.

We found kingsinterhigh fine. The teachers have an exceptionally hard job delivering online lessons to cohorts with a multitude of needs (our daughter would never turn her camera on or speak, but the chat function was encouraged and the teachers were always v kind and understanding).

They gave her a lifeline when she needed it. The alternative would have been council-provided english and maths tutoring a couple of hours a week. There seems to be a gap in provision for anxious but academic kids. I don't know why councils aren't setting up their own online schools. Well, I do know, but it's frustrating to see it not being provided.

We paid for y10 but then got the LA to divert our daughter's SEN funding to Kings as she was still enrolled at her physical school. That meant that in y11 we didn't have to pay the £3000 that sitting her igcses online would have cost.

As far as negatives go, she now speaks of the trauma of being separated from her cohort (despite her friendships having already died). So, there may be an social-emotional cost to consider too.

But we don't regret it. We did the right thing for her at the time. Good luck.

Thanks Tomrrowandtomorrowandtommorrow I hear you with social and glad it worked out for your daughter getting through. Did kings have weekly 1 on 1 counsel like a wellbeing session. Also on social aspect fid they offer up online clubs or physical meetup opportunities maybe - I guess either way its not the same as physical school.

They didn't offer counselling as far as i can remember but DD didn't want to engage at that age anyway. Good luck to you with your journey. It's not easy.

KIH offer counselling and also classes in social skills and anxiety support. These are at an additional cost (our LA pay as my dc's EHCP identified these needs). It's not a perfect school but it's much better for my dc than mainstream ever was!