This feature follows in a series of articles on Prince Andrew School. This week we are focusing on the school’s distance learning area.
Prince Andrew School aims to offer its students as varied a curriculum as possible. This is not always possible through conventional classroom teaching due to lack of staff with subject expertise. The isolation of St Helena has always played a part in determining what can and can’t be taught, however, distance learning allows our students to access more subjects at GCSE and above. The school has been utilising distance learning for many years now, running courses through various platforms. With the explosion of online teaching during the UK’s COVID-19 lockdowns, there is now more available online for a wide range of subjects.
Some courses are taught with a video conferencing component, where students have a lesson with a tutor in the UK for 2 hours a week. Other courses do not have a video conferencing part and students have to follow set work from the course provider, only communicating with their tutor via email. Bandwidth can be an issue at times, but this is managed by the school’s in-house IT Technician.
Studying via distance learning takes more discipline and self-motivation than being taught in the classroom. This is especially challenging for younger students, such as those at GCSE level, who are still learning the independent study skills needed to tackle standardised examinations. It is important for students to be competent at reading, time management and communication. The school’s Distance Learning Coordinator provides on-site support to the students and acts as a liaison between the school and the course providers.
This school year, students have been studying IGCSE and A level Computer Science, IGCSE Travel & Tourism, IGCSE and A level History, IGCSE and A level Business, GCSE and A level Psychology, GCSE Sociology, A level English Language, A level Literature, A level Law, A level Geography, A level Philosophy and various Level 3 courses via distance learning at Prince Andrew School. Budget constraints mean that the options available next school year have been reduced to ensure the courses offered are of good quality.
Quotes from our students:
“Distance learning courses can be quite challenging at first, but after trial and error through assignments assigned to you by your tutor you begin to understand your strengths and weaknesses within this course, thus allowing you to understand yourself as a student and giving you knowledge on how to handle your other subjects better.”
Yakha, Yr 10 GCSE Business and Sociology student.
“I really enjoyed learning GCSE and A level Psychology through distance learning. Although studying without a face-to-face teacher can be difficult, distance learning has nurtured my independent learning skills and organisational skills. It has taught me self-discipline and to manage my workload which I know will be useful in my future career path.”
Amy, Yr 13 A level Psychology student.
“Our distance learning experience has been complicated as internet connection struggles hinder our learning and can make talking to our teacher hard at times. The time differences between St Helena and the UK also cause us to have lessons at awkward times this year.”
Bobbi, Erik and Matthew, Year 10 IGCSE Computer Science students.