Online school unveils enough new teachers to make a class of their own as 25 new staff join back to school excitement
One of the UK’s leading online schools is celebrating a bumper return to school as 25 new teachers join the staff for the new academic year.
Hugh Viney, founder of the award-winning Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA), said the appointments reflected a growing need to abandon the “one size fits all” approach to school and that teachers now valued the benefits of flexible learning.
As he announced the new intake he also renewed a pledge he made when launching the school in 2020 that subject classes would remain the same size and every single child at MVA would have a dedicated mentor with weekly one-to-one sessions.
“This is a significant investment in our teaching staff and I am delighted to welcome our new teachers to the team,” he said.
The average class size in the UK is between 22 and 26 meaning the new cohort could make up a class of their own.
“When I launched MVA I made two promises that we will never break – that subject class sizes will remain the same, and that every single child in our care will have a dedicated mentor with a weekly one-to-one session,” said Hugh
This is the second major recruitment programme for MVA this year as the school continues to grow – now looking after more than 1,000 pupils both in the UK and around the world.
“MVA’s success is built on student support and wellbeing, and that’s something we are never going to compromise on,” Hugh added.
“This school was launched to help students who found it impossible to operate in mainstream education – whether that was because of anxiety, travelling, parents who have to work in different parts of the world or due to their participation in elite level sport. I wanted to provide those children with a school that met their needs and provided them with a happy environment but also stability and consistency in their education. Key ingredients for children to learn.”
Hugh said he was now seeing how it was also helping teachers to fall back in love with the profession and that they had been highly impressed with the quality of candidates who had applied to work for MVA.
“A major part of the student experience at MVA is built on positive teacher-student relationships, which is even more important when that relationship is largely remote.
“Every teacher has been picked because we believe they will uphold our values as tirelessly as we always have,” said Hugh.
“It was a very positive recruitment process and I am very proud that MVA is offering a working environment that is also helping some teachers to return to the profession and once again be a vital part of helping a young person to reach their potential.”
MVA now employs almost 150 teaching staff, with many joining from mainstream schools to reap the benefits of flexible learning.
A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this summer said schools and colleges were still struggling with rising vacancy rates and finding subject specialists as they called for more to be done to help, including looking at flexible working, something which teachers at MVA already enjoy.
Research by The Gatsby Foundation revealed 7-10 per cent of teachers are expected to leave the profession in the next year while only 60 per cent plan to remain in the next three years, down from 75 per cent before Covid.
MVA, which is accredited by the Department for Education (DfE), last year received a glowing report from Ofsted, which praised the school for putting well-being “at the heart of everything”.
The school has pupils in 53 countries, although 75% of students are based in the UK. Since the introduction of VAT on private school fees, MVA has seen a five fold increase in enquiries from parents.
