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How to assess an online school

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Social Skills and discipline

ABOUT OUR STUDENTS
Who uses an online school?

PARENTS as Education Partners

ABOUT OUR TEACHERS

Our Education Philosophy

rose marker HOW TO BOOK
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ABOUT OUR STUDENTS:
WHO USES AN ONLINE SCHOOL?

pic owl   BULLYING SURVIVORS
pic owl   CONFIDENCE ISSUES
pic owl   INDIVIDUALISTS
pic owl   HEALTH OR DISABILITY
 pic owl   INTERNATIONAL FAMILIES
pic owl   SEPARATED FAMILIES
pic owl   HOME EDUCATORS
pic owl   HIGH ACHIEVERS
rose marker BULLYING is at epidemic proportions.

Professor Al Aynsley-Green, he first Children's Commissioner UK, stated that all schools without exception are affected by bullying. Very nearly all children are affected by it.
In his first public announcement Prof. Aynesley-Green said
"I have had hundreds of in-depth conversations with children since accepting this post, and I can tell you that the one thing every child I have met has been affected by, with virtually no exceptions, is bullying." (BBC 13/11/05)
It is not just a matter of nasty words though these can drive victims into serious depression if bad enough and long term enough. Our young people are being flung into hospital, or crisis illness - while paper policies are all that is offered. Children should never be dragged weeping through school gates but that is what is happening.

Families often find a haven for a bullied child or young person with us. An online student sensitised by bullying stays in the safety of the home, meeting other students under effective, supervised conditions. We have no large crowded classes, no overwhelming bustle of adult authority, no complicated regulations such as those found in a big organisation. Recovery and gradual reasserting of social skills need not be forced; instead it takes place at a natural pace.

We have found that it is rare nowadays to need more than a quick nudge to pull a student into better behaviour as we have worked very hard to create a culture of mutual respect. This is laid out in very very clear and specific training, with definite and understandable examples. Gradually we have built up a group sense of good behaviour and self respect.
Our software ensures that almost all activities in the school are on record, so a tricky incident can be accurately checked.
Firm friendly guidance is given - fast, where discourtesy occurs, to nip potential bullying behaviour at its root. Guidance can be clearly set out in a written report to the student involved, and if necessary, their family. We include actual quotes of what was said from the school records.
We may sometimes need to counsel a student directly by phone as well.
The question arises whether a bullied child is being overprotected at First College UK? We do not think so. The student is dealing with most of the complexity of normal human relationships, just under controlled conditions, such as a school should be.
We do not see it as appropriate to force young people to endure the hardships comparable to army boot camp or prison. What this treatment of "toughening up" does is it actually contributes to bullying culture by forcing everyone to join it by becoming tough. Instead we train in self confidence and personal strength, so that our students can not only face the real world but actively spread a better kind of behaviour in it.
We have had a lot of feedback from parents that their child has greatly benefited in personal strength by attending First College UK.

rose marker CONFIDENCE is the golden key of learning.

Without confidence the brain runs on very little fuel, stuttering and straining to cope. With confidence filling the tank, learning zooms away with apparently little effort.
First College wants students to be happy just for their own sake. But we NEED happy, confident students as well because otherwise learning is an uphill grind, painful and slow for all concerned.
Our kindly and constant reinforcement of self respect allows a Student to slow down, take things gently, unlearn fears and barriers from past experiences For those just naturally unsure of themselves, they learn to build clearer, stronger ways of communication.
We strongly encourage and specifically train students to ask for help.
First College teachers' mainstay is positive encouragement and acceptance. That does not mean firm discipline cannot be instantly used where required. But kindness and patience are the first tools of choice.

rose marker DISABILITY, HEALTH OR PERSONAL DIFFICULTIES

Physical or personal challenges can all make physical attendance at school a huge struggle, using up effort that is needed for the actual studying.
Online education involves no tiring journeys, no lugging of books and equipment, no huge crowds of strangers.
First College in particular restricts classes to small, personalised groups: normally 10-12, sometimes 15 maximum.
New students go through a careful introductory period during which time teachers and the family, including the student, discuss and agree appropriate plans together.
We take pains to be available by phone, email and instant messenger, to discuss what is needed. Very often patience, kindness and being down to earth is enough without getting a situation into complicated fuss.
Depression is surprisingly common among young people as they navigate the massive changes of growing up. We are accustomed to this and willingly discuss our experience with families concerned. Some of the most effective remedies are quite old fashioned such as firm programs of exercise, or gradually staged activities. We have had considerable success with various conditions such as ME and other fatigue syndromes, Asperger's, high level autism, dyslexia, and numeric dyslexia. Generally speaking we leave special techniques and labels to the experts. Families are admirably resourceful at finding tips and methods from fellow families. Our part is to apply the normal patience any young person needs as an individual. Humanity, flexibility, patience and encouragement are the essentials that no clever techniques can replace.

rose marker INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTS/ EXPATS

With increasing globalisation there are many families who live abroad who want their children to have a British style of education. There are also families who need to move frequently due to work or family reasons. To families like these, online education is an obvious practical solution. Wherever you are, log on to the net, and school is right there (except American timezones)
Where exams are a priority, the British Council assists to find an examination centre.

rose marker SEPARATED FAMILIES can arise two ways. A partner may need to work so far away the family cannot be together daily. Or the couple as parents may need to separate in order to maintain a healthy family life.
Such situations usually shut the "away" parent off from the daily needs of their child, which damages the whole family. Where the family is happy to involve both partners our online student Report means either partner can check what is happening to their child whenever they wish, to get detailed information. They can see everything laid out on one page, and contribute that vital parental push support to their child.
This aspect of our services also acts to include grandparents or other close relatives, which is very welcome to some of our families.

rose marker HIGH ACHIEVERS can often feel inadequately supported and stretched in large classes where other students are struggling to cover the basics. Sometimes achiever frustration shows up as "bad behaviour" because they are bored. These students need small classes, a personal relationship with teachers, and plenty of time to pursue in-depth study that this type of student not only enjoys, but needs.
Frequently there are issues of perfectionism to be addressed which generate anxiety, or slow work or argumentativeness.
First College is always delighted to meet the needs of an intellectually demanding student. We respect argument and independent minds, and we are willing to adapt study to anxiety and slow thorough work.

rose marker PHILOSOPHICAL, SOCIAL or RELIGIOUS LIFESTYLES First College trains students to respect and understand differences so they will be able to cope with an increasingly diverse society. It is not for a school to interfere with the authority of a family in its own personal beliefs aside from very basic safety concerns and practicalities of getting work done.
Strong commitments to a particular philosophy of life, a religion, or to a politic of liberation, can be carefully woven into a dynamic education where the child or young person from a "different" background is seen as a welcome asset to the school. We actively enjoy this.

rose marker HOME EDUCATORS generally provide a highly efficient education. Some home educators never want any help from our kind of project. Others find that the child's needs change over time, especially around 11 -13.
This is the natural time for a child to need a bit more independence outside the family. They can benefit from external structure, provided it's sensible, so they can see the point of it, and it's not too fussy and overwhelming.
A day by day learning community provides fresh mental stimulation. In more traditional societies young people have their own "house" where they can share their distinctive point of view. But this is best not restricted to a single year group, because that stimulates aggression. Home educators know how greatly young people benefit from mixed age socialisation.
Some home educators welcome the feeling of having an experienced team of partners in us, to talk things over because we learn a lot from other parents we can pass on. Not forgetting that we too were originally home educators and our son is now a teacher in the school.
In the mid teens some families very much welcome a thorough support programme for exams.
However we would never wish to imply that young people cannot be fully home educated. It's the family's choice, always.

Girl at work


IMPORTANT NOTE
While First College can absorb and support all these groups of students, and other more specialised situations too, a student needs to be a comfortable keyboard user, though formal typist training is not necessary.
We also ask families to accept that though the emphasis in First College is on fun, exploring the classic joy of learning, with a deeply kind approach to all students, we can and do require a practical level of discipline. A student who ignores kindly and repeated guidance can be instantly closed out of school via the software, for the protection of the others. That would be followed up by more individual guidance..
The site is being newly designed (May 2011).
This side menu will soon have links to lots of updated pages with details on each subject we teach.

rose marker LIST OF SUBJECTS
* IGCSE subjects

* ENGLISH
* MATHS
* Geography
* History
* Literature
Storytelling
Philosophy

Sciences
* Biology
* Physics
* Chemistry

* French
* Spanish

EXTRAS
About Religion
Private Tutorials


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First College UK is a family business. It was created to educate our son, who gained his exams, then went on to become a teacher in the school. As well as the family there are four other teachers making a team of seven in all. See ABOUT OUR TEACHERS.