Brave New World

Drawing on Harrow’s esteemed history as a world class education provider, while embracing innovative teaching techniques, Harrow School Online is leading by example in the distance learning arena. Julia Millen spoke to Principal, Heather Rhodes about nurturing tomorrow’s global talent

Tell us about the Online Learning ‘Designed for Success’ Programme

This programme is geared to Sixth Form pupils and based on that of Harrow School. It’s for students from around the world who are focused on achieving top grades in preparation for entrance into the top tier universities.

Academically, we‘re aiming for the same outcomes as those of Harrow School, but as an online institution, we can capitalise on the advantages of distance learning by offering a much more flexible and personalised education.

The key is to not try and replicate what we do in the classroom. Instead, we teach our pupils the complete ‘A’ level syllabus with a combination of self-study materials and interactive lessons that they can work through at a time and a pace that suits them. Then, we collect a wealth of data on performance in self-study lessons and include LiveLessons® to support learning.

With around ten students per class, there’s a real sense of community and the style of learning is similar to that of a university, where more independent studying is expected; freeing up the teacher’s time for virtual one-to-one appointments with pupils.

How does HSO successfully blend traditional and innovative teaching methods?

Our approach to the core curriculum is quite unusual – it relies on flipped learning and a wealth of carefully authorised self-study materials in a data rich environment, which is far more flexible than a traditional setting.

We then take elements that are based on Harrow School’s ethos to enhance our programme, for example, our house system, whereby pupils meet twice each week to take part in inter-house competitions and build friendships within the group.

We also focus on character education, which is one of the aspects that traditionally, British schools do very well. We teach a skills and mind-set course that covers a range of topics, to enable pupils to become better independent learners and strive to be well-rounded individuals who contribute positively to their communities.

As such, charitable endeavours are really important and all of our pupils are involved in some form of charity. Harrow School offers a variety of extra-curricular clubs and societies and we have reflected this in our online programme.

What themes and content are covered in the Life-Coaching sessions?

Every pupil is assigned a Success Coach, who will support them in planning for their future. The idea is to have someone supporting you with your long-term goals and then putting steps in place to help you work towards them. They’ll work through possible career and university choices, including assisting with the application process.

Focused support throughout the full two years is really important to give pupils a sense of continuity – echoing a physical school, where they’d have incidental discussions with staff and pupils about their future goals.

How do you assist international students with managing their studies from their own homes?

The International reach of our school is one of the aspects I’m most excited about. It’s fantastic having a global community of learners in their own homes, alongside classmates from different continents working in the same way.

There’s an amazing cultural awareness – a global network of friends. Pupils have also set up a ‘study buddy’ scheme to support each other.

This sense of friendship is reflected in the house system, with pupils spending quality time with one another. In terms of staff support, our house tutors hold fortnightly one-to-one tutorials and talk through the academic aspects of the school.

A notable benefit of online schooling, is our data rich environment, enabling us to immediately identify when someone has fallen behind, so we can react quickly to provide additional support.

Are there any new additions to the curriculum in the coming year?

We roll out new courses on a regular basis; we started with STEM subjects, Economics and Spanish and we’re extending that to Psychology in September. The A Levels offered are based on student demand; for example, we’ve recently had requests to include a computer science programme, so we’ll look at developing a syllabus.

Launching a new subject is an in-depth process that involves eight authors and takes about a year, as the material for our interactive self-study lessons has the same amount of rigour, review and input as a classroom-based course would.

I’m also excited about the introduction of our online tutoring and revision courses and prospect of a summer school. Our Year 13 students graduated in July and we had a brilliant face-to-face ceremony at Harrow School.