WEY - First of its kind ‘Virtual School’ awarded government funding to help close the gap in students’ learning

First of its kind ‘Virtual School’ awarded government funding to help close the gap in students’ learning

 

An educational group providing online services worldwide has been granted government funding as part of the Innovate UK programme to create a virtual summer school. The Wey Virtual School is designed to address the immediate needs of parents and students looking for additional education support during the summer period, and in the longer term will help address any missed schooling due to Covid-19.

The school – developed by the award winning Wey Education FOLLOW - will provide key subject area support through various programmes for students aged seven to 18, via an online learning platform which blends ‘live lesson’ delivery with virtual experiences.

Following a successful pilot scheme in China, the organisation has been working alongside the University of South Wales to develop capabilities including AI learning, augmented reality and virtual training agents to build on the innovative work and reach a wider audience via its scalable model.

Beginning this month, the virtual school will offer a wide variety of fun, interactive and engaging learning experiences, from full time study to shorter (one to four weeks) sessions. The four offerings available include:

1. A one month programme of immersive lessons for students aged seven to 16, exploring science and history activities covering four themes including Time Travel, Exploding Science, Superheroes and Animation
2. Revision courses for 14-16-year-olds to help them prepare for postponed iGCSE/GCSE exams in maths, science, English and history
3. A ‘Study Skills’ programme for KS4/5 students, delivered in one or two modules covering a variety of content including digital literacy, communications and collaboration skills
4. A ‘Learning on Demand’ service enabling 14-16-year-olds to study English Language, maths and/or double award science, with the option of studying for one week, a half term, a full term or a complete academic year.

The education packages can also be tailored for schools and Local Authorities providing blended education.

Dr. Sara de Freitas, executive director of education at Wey Education said:

“There are currently more than five million school children in the UK with an additional 263 million globally, who have been unable to access comprehensive schooling over the past few weeks. The sad reality is, despite some year groups returning to school, these interruptions could be ongoing for the next two years. 

“We are delighted to have received this funding from the prestigious Innovate UK Fund, especially with such a such a large volume of high-level competition. The programme is a taste of what the future of learning is all about and we are very excited to be a part of such an innovative project that will support students impacted by Covid-19.” 

Jacqueline Daniell, CEO of Wey Education, said:

“We are very pleased that this initiative has been recognised as an ambitious and innovative solution and that Wey Education will be able to support so many young learners and help provide them with an optimistic future.”

As a leading provider of two highly successful, online learning services, InterHigh and Academy21, the award winning Wey Education has more than 15 years of experience in supporting virtual, remote learners across 120 local authorities, private-candidates, home-schoolers, and British-expatriates living overseas.

For further information on InterHigh and Virtual School please visit: www.interhigh.co.uk