More pupils are having school lessons over the internet

Home Top

'The more people you kill, the more you're in the limelight': College gunman, 26, was 'filled with hate,' lived with his mother and asked if his victims were Christian in rampage that left at least ten dead
'He wasn't going to stand and watch something horrific happen': The hero Army veteran who was shot five times as he 'charged at Oregon college shooter'
'He told Christians they would meet God - then shot them in the head': Survival story of girl who played dead
Sheriff praises two hero cops who ran straight in to college without back-up and killed gunman - as dramatic 911 audio captures their calls for help
$Train Hero Discusses UCC Shooting\nBy ellentube team · 4 hours ago\nEllen talked to an international hero on a somber and surprising day.$ Train hero Alek Skarlatos is a student at mass shooting college and ran out of DWTS rehearsals in panic to check his friends were OK
Mourners sing Amazing Grace at candlelight vigil held for the ten victims of the Oregon college shooting
'People like him have nothing to live for': College gunman praised Vester Flanagan, shared a Sandy Hook documentary three days before shooting spree and glorified the IRA online
'Shocked, I'm shocked: Father of Oregon gunman speaks outside his California home after bloody rampage that left at least nine dead
'Our thoughts and prayers are not enough': Obama calls for tougher gun laws in his FIFTEENTH speech as a President mourning a mass shooting
Oregon college gunman was armed with an assault rifle and THREE pistols that he could have bought legally
FBI investigating if Oregon shooter posted warning message online hours before massacre and said: 'Don't go to school tomorrow if you are in the northwest'
I saw my teacher shot in the head: Traumatized survivors tell of 'utter panic' during college shooting as heroic teachers evacuated students and others hid inside their classrooms
'Here's the first bite of my churro; here's the second!' The hilarious moment baseball announcers turn their commentary to sorority sisters taking selfies at the game
BREAKING NEWS: Passenger plane carrying 10 people including three children is missing over Indonesia
Six U.S. servicemen dead in military transport plane crash in Afghanistan that the Taliban is taking credit for
Jim Carrey 'meets with sister of late girlfriend Cathriona White' at the house where her body was found in a suspected suicide
Manhattan real estate tycoon accused of dragging his girlfriend around by the nipples and sexually abusing her
Vatican says Pope's encounter with Kim Davis was not 'a form of support of her position' on same sex marriage
The REAL Jesse James and his killer Robert Ford: Photograph owned by family who kept outlaw safe in 1870s verified by experts
Two dead in East Coast flooding as flash flood fills a mother's car and heavy winds cause a tree to fall on two cars on an interstate
Pictured: Two Israeli parents shot dead by Palestinian gunman while driving with their four children hours after Netanyahu said he was prepared to resume peace talks
Russia finally blitzes ISIS: At least 12 jihadis killed after Moscow strikes targets near Raqqa - as fanatics hit back with 'Death to Putin' tweet and image of burning Kremlin
White House urges Russia to focus airstrikes on ISIS amid fears it is carrying out 'indiscriminate' attacks on Syrian rebel forces
Russia moves thermobaric warheads that INCINERATE targets into Ukraine while world's attention is on Syria

Annette Sylvester's kids Tabitha, 14, and Reuben, 9, attend school online
Pupils can't see their teachers and never meet their classmates
Number of families taking children out of traditional schools is rising

Published: 18:46 EST, 30 September 2015 | Updated: 20:53 EST, 30 September 2015

View
comments

The clock says 8.45am and in schools all over Britain, tens of thousands of Year Five pupils are getting ready to settle down for a long day in class. Reuben Sylvester is an exception. At the dining room table of his family's Cotswolds home, and still dressed in his pyjamas, he is logging on to cyber-school.

In this virtual classroom, the teacher does not take a register. Instead, Reuben is marked 'present' when he logs on with his password.

During a lesson, the nine-year-old can't see his teacher. In fact, he has never even met any of his five classmates face to face.

Annette Sylvester and her daughter Tabitha, 14, from Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. Tabitha has been attending virtual school for nearly three years and is due to sit nine GCSEs

When Reuben wants to put up his hand, he presses an icon on his screen, which is used like a classroom blackboard. His latest homework - a project about his home and family - was uploaded as a Powerpoint presentation.

At first, it may seem like an extreme step to educate a healthy, happy child away from other youngsters his age. But Reuben's mother Annette, a 38-year-old company director, is one of a growing number of parents taking their children out of bricks-and-mortar schools to educate them on-line.

There are about five private e-schools in the UK, offering the National Curriculum in core subjects at primary and secondary level.

So is this a worrying glimpse of the future when playground games, school assemblies and sports are obsolete - and pupils do not learn alongside children their own age?

Or should we welcome this as an escape for parents from the manic scramble for decent schools? Is this, in fact, a radical way to avoid the overcrowding and behavioural problems which have left UK schools languishing a long way down global education league tables?

Whatever the answer, the number of families taking children out of traditional schools is rising relentlessly.

Latest estimates put the number of home-schooled pupils - educated by their parents or cyber-schools - at 40,000, reflecting a chronic dissatisfaction with the present system.

Reuben's mother Annette made the switch three years ago when she took her older child, Tabitha, 14, out of the comprehensive near their home in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.

Tabitha sometimes goes to her school, called InterHigh, in the comfort of her pyjamas

Annette had been 'shocked' by the standards of education and behaviour after the family returned home from living in New Zealand - even though the school was rated outstanding.

She says: 'Although classed as a rural school, it was still massive with over 1,000 children and classes often had more than 30 pupils.

'Tabitha is very focused and wants to learn, but the teachers just didn't have time for her. She also heard the most appalling language.'

While researching home-schooling on the internet, she came across an alternative to teaching her daughter herself. InterHigh is an e-school with more than 40 online teachers based around the country, with headquarters in Powys.

COSTLY LESSON

The average cost of putting a child through a 14-year private education in the UK stands at £286,000

'I had done an Open University law course so I was looking for an equivalent for children. When I found it, I saw there was no need to commute, no uniform, and Tabitha, who is ahead for her age, could work in small classes at her own pace. It was the answer I was looking for.'

When Reuben turned nine - the minimum age cyber-schools take pupils - Annette, who is separated, took him out of his primary class. She signed him up to Net School, that teaches the National Curriculum, for about £500 a term.

Reuben, who started in September, gets lessons in English, Maths, Science, History, Geography and RE. Classes start at 9am and usually finish before noon, leaving the rest of the day for homework or play.

Removing children from conventional schools is surprisingly easy. Legally, education is compulsory up until the age of 16, but school is not.

Removing children from conventional schools is surprisingly easy. Legally, education is compulsory up until the age of 16, but school is not

According to the Education Act 1966, parents who teach children at home don't have to do anything more than give them 'a suitable education' for their age and ability. Even the number of hours is not laid down.

All parents have to do is to ask their child's school to take them off the register and inform the local authority. Inspectors can make checks on the way children are educated but parents do not have to agree to them. Most parents, it seems, are left to get on with it. Annette says she has never been contacted by her council.

Although online schools vary, they have several factors in common. Children use headsets and microphones plugged into their computers to hear and speak to the teacher.

They also have on-screen text boxes to send messages to staff or fellow pupils. Class sizes are usually small, from eight to 20, and fees rise to about £2,400 a year for secondary teaching.

Because teachers can immediately log off any children who are misbehaving, it is also claimed there are fewer distractions. This means pupils get more work done, making for a shorter school day, sometimes of no more than three or four hours.

Mary Hindle, 45, a care worker from Eastbourne, Sussex, removed daughter Rosie, 14, from mainstream education last year due to overcrowding.

Annette with son Reuben, aged nine. He began attending cyber school this September

Packed classrooms have become one of the biggest concerns for parents. Due to rising birth rates, one in eight primary school pupils are taught in classes bigger than the Government's statutory maximum of 30, according to the school census.

Rosie's classroom is now a small spare room at home and her teachers are 280 miles away at Briteschool in Manchester. She logs on for 23 hours of lessons a week with four teachers who are getting her ready to take seven International General Certificate of Education (IGSCE) exams.

Mary often has to leave Rosie to go to work, but still maintains that her daughter is getting a better education.

'At her old school, Rosie found it impossible to concentrate. She got very little back about homework. If it was marked, it was just a tick, nothing else. She was miserable. She was going for As and when she got a B Grade, was mortified.

Mary Hindle, from Hailsham, East Sussex, pulled her daughter Rosie, 14, from mainstream school last year

'Now she can talk to the teacher constantly on-screen, ask questions and she gets lots of feedback.'

For Rosie, time away from the rough-and-tumble of school life suits her. She says: 'Being home-schooled on the internet definitely wouldn't be for everyone because a lot of people like to talk to their friends at break time.

'At my old school, I used to get about ten minutes of learning in a whole lesson. Once the teacher spent the entire time arguing with a boy who refused to leave when he was ordered out because he was being disruptive.

'I don't miss anything about school, though I may go back to conventional education for Sixth Form.'

'I never feel lonely because my friends are logged on, too. But I'm quite happy to be with my animals or play the piano instead.'

There are no regulations governing the setting up of online schools. Staff do not need to be qualified, although companies are more likely to attract parents if teachers have good qualifications

This may sound isolating, but for many parents this lack of social interaction is just what they seek.

Research by OnePoll last month found half of UK children aged seven to 18 have been bullied - mostly in the playground, but also in the classroom. And a report by The Children's Society found bullying is making English children the unhappiest in the world. One mother who transferred her child into e-school because of bullying is Lisa Dickinson, 45, an illustrator from Tyne and Wear.

Lisa took son John, 16, out of his comprehensive in Year Seven when he was hospitalised with a head injury after a fight with a classmate. She says: 'John was seriously depressed afterwards as he felt the school failed to take it seriously.

'Going to a cyber-school meant he got a new start without bullying.'

'It gave him a breathing space. After two years he was ready to go back to mainstream schooling and get a broader education in subjects like music and art that aren't easy to teach over the internet.'

For parent educator and former head teacher Noel Janis-Norton, e-schools do help some families.

Noel, author of the forthcoming book Calmer, Easier, Happier Screen Time, says: 'The 'shock horror' reaction people have to online education is that children are not getting enough socialisation.

'In fact, parents who educate their children at home are very aware of this and ensure they spend time with other children by doing lots of after-school activities.'

Noel also believes a child can get just as good an education at an online school, and in fewer hours.

'There's so much time wasted in the classroom with teachers repeating and reminding, trying to get pupils to do what they're supposed to do. We want children to concentrate, yet we put them in classrooms with too many children, too much noise, one-size-fits-all lessons and too often a teacher who is unable to control the class.'

Education expert Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood, says some parents are being driven away from traditional schooling by 'the regimented, test-driven culture of schools, the large classes and issues with discipline'.

However, she worries primary age children, may still lose out on vital social skills. 'It's not simply about being good at language and being able to be polite with grown-ups,' she says. 'It's being able to read body language and learning how to deal with other people yourself.'

And what about the quality of education the children receive?

Companies like Briteschool do admit that when children do a lot of class work on computer, it can put them at a disadvantage when taking exams on paper.

Some subjects also do not lend themselves to online teaching, such as chemistry where children can't have access to the same equipment and chemicals they can under supervision in a school lab. Children may also miss out on PE lessons, a major concern, considering rising levels of obesity.

There are no regulations governing the setting up of online schools. Staff do not need to be qualified, although companies are more likely to attract parents if teachers have good qualifications.

Teachers usually work from home. Some language teachers may live abroad and get up in the middle of the night to take classes that fit in with UK hours.

Britain's biggest internet school InterHigh was set up by science teacher Paul Daniell and wife Jacqueline in 2005 after he spotted a gap in the market.

The school now runs out of a converted cottage in rural Wales and charges basic fees of £2,340 a year for Years Seven to 11, and slightly more at AS and A-level. It now has 430 pupils enrolled, aged between 10 and 19, and claims to have educated 1,500 pupils in all.

As well as a head of pastoral care, InterHigh lists more than 45 teachers on its website, giving lessons in subjects ranging from Science to Spanish, Psychology to Maths.

E-school pupils are able to sit exams by applying as external candidates to local schools. However, it is not easy to verify results as the schools depend on pupils notifying them of their grades. InterHigh says that in 2014, 79 per cent of its pupils got A* to C grades at GCSE, compared to the national average of 69 per cent.

InterHigh only teaches secondary school children, but science teacher Dom Knowles, 51, decided to enter the market in 2006 and teach children from the age of nine up. His company Briteschool, based in his home, now has 25 students, taught by about seven teachers.

Education psychologist Lori Day has watched the rise of cyber-schools in the U.S., which teach at least 250,000 pupils.

However the e-school explosion in America has attracted controversy over poor results and the risk of children dropping out of the education system altogether and becoming socially isolated. This is why Lori believes growth of such schools in the UK needs careful monitoring. She also advises parents to be careful that such an education does not prevent children with problems from fitting in even further.

'Kids who are depressed or anxious can feel an initial relief at not having to go in to school.

'But long term, I worry about their increased isolation. They could end up avoiding finding ways to function again in the world and become permanently shut-in.'

But for sociable Reuben, his mother Annette is convinced e-schooling is the best option.

She also believes it is giving daughter Tabitha the chance to learn without distractions.

The flexibility will also allow the teen to take her GSCEs a year early, she believes.

Annette says: 'Schools should be a place where children are looked after and feel safe, but to me they don't feel like that any more.

'Schools are no longer about children. They have become about the system. That's why I'm so glad there are alternatives out there.'

Taming The Tiger Parent: How To Put Your Child's Well-being First In A Competitive World, by Tanith Carey is published by LittleBrown, price £8.99.