Online school brings UK roadshow to Edinburgh
Britain’s fastest-growing online school is bringing its UK roadshow to Edinburgh.
Minerva’s Virtual Academy (MVA) will be heading to the city on March 13 after two highly successful events in London and Exeter.
The tour aims to unite hundreds of families and teachers while raising awareness of the challenges in education that online learning can help address.
Problems include a crisis in SEND provision with many local education authorities struggling to meet their statutory obligations and facing bankruptcy due to the significant costs involved in specialist provision.
The MVA team, including headteacher Suzanne Lindley and founder Hugh Viney, will also be visiting Birmingham on March 5th and Manchester on March 6th.
Mr Viney said today he was determined to keep flying the flag for alternative school settings amid growing concerns and awareness that one size simply does not fit all.
And he pledged that he would continue raising that awareness by calling for leaders in education to meet with him and find out what his school is already achieving and how it could do more.
The school he founded four years ago has grown from just four pupils to 1,000 as more and more families look for alternative solutions after years of their children being unable to access education in a traditional setting. Many of whom were not only failing to reach their full potential but missing out on the basics of a secondary education.
The reasons for joining MVA are varied and include elite athletes who need much more flexibility, but many are children who have SEND needs or struggle with their mental health and find a physical setting has a negative impact on their health and wellbeing.
For them, online school has been a game-changer. Since it started, MVA has been at the forefront of not only providing this life-affirming alternative but ensuring it is a sector of education parents can trust. It is Department for Education accredited and has received a glowing report in an Ofsted inspection.
Inspectors stated that “wellbeing is at the heart of everything” at MVA, adding that parents, pupils and staff felt valued, cared for and supported.
“Online schooling is making the difference for so many families,” said Mr Viney.
“We have grown rapidly because I believe while these problems have existed long before the pandemic it wasn’t until lockdown that we got an opportunity to see that online schooling really works as a better alternative for some children.
“Now it is about continuing to change those perceptions and to bring our families together to show this is not something they are battling alone and recognition is coming.”
Mr Viney said with 1,000 pupils now enrolled it was time to create a nationwide tour, so families could come and meet in person, talk about their experiences and to have their say on what they wanted from their school in the future.
Over 100 parents, students and staff joined MVA in London while more than 50 joined the event in Exeter.
A report by the Public Accounts Committee in January highlighted a postcode lottery that found too many families struggling to access SEN provision with particularly poor performances in the South, South West and East of England.
It said the unviable system would result in a lost generation of children if urgent reform was not implemented to try and fix it.
“This report called for urgent action with too many families being failed and more than half of the councils in the UK in danger of bankruptcy within 15 months,” added Mr Viney.
“It is interesting that we had such a positive response from families in Exeter, an area highlighted in the report as having a particularly poor record in helping those families in crisis.
“There are many heartbreaking but also inspiring stories being told at these roadshows of how online has been the answer for a lot of children and their parents who have faced an uphill battle to access the right education for their child for too long. This roadshow tour shows that we want to listen and we want to use any successes we have had to share that vital information with other families and other schools so that stops happening and families can get the help they need when they need it.
“We just hope the people who can support those trying to make a difference also take the time to listen and see what works so they can get it right for this generation of children now and many more to come.”
A parent attending the Exeter event said they were “ever so grateful to MVA”.
“I don't feel as isolated myself now,” they added while asking to remain anonymous. “Coming to the roadshow in Exeter was the first time I'd met other families with children learning online in person. It really felt like the community that we haven't had for years. I came home feeling like I'd attended a family wedding!
“I truly wish that the education system was kinder and more inclusive to pupils like my son, and we hadn't had all the years of basically evidencing his suffering to become eligible for funding, but as my son now says, 'it was an awful journey to get here, but I'm so happy with where I am now.”