Page last updated at 16:00 GMT, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 UK
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Weston Road High School helps pupils gain ‘real-world’ skills through e-learning
Weston Road High School in Stafford is using vision2learn for schools e-learning to diversify its curriculum and keep students motivated and engaged with learning. Pupils at the school get the chance to study vocational online courses enabling them to gain new work and life skills and achieve extra qualifications which contribute to their GCSE points.
Ann Kingman, Assistant Headteacher at Weston Road High School, is enthusiastic about what vision2learn for schools and online learning can offer. She comments:
“We decided to work with vision2learn for schools for two reasons: we wanted to broaden our pupils learning experience by offering them the opportunity to study online and gain additional qualifications and we also wanted to offer alternative provision to pupils who may struggle with the mainstream curriculum.
“Weston Road High School is a specialist school in maths and computing and we have sixty pupils who took their maths GCSE early in November. We wanted to give these pupils the chance to study something different that would enhance their qualifications and maintain their motivation and interest in learning for the rest of the school year. Many of these pupils have been studying vision2learn for schools Money Management course.
“We also have an Alternative Curriculum group of pupils for whom traditional GCSE subjects have become inappropriate and who benefit from a more vocationally-based curriculum. These students have been using vision2learn for schools courses to supplement vocational work that they are doing with a local college.”
The government’s goal for today’s 14-19 year olds is to give them the knowledge and skills that employers and the economy need to prosper in the 21st century*. Weston Road High School is working proactively towards this goal by offering its pupils the opportunity to learn additional vocational skills. Ann comments:
“Vision2learn for schools allows our students to acquire extra, work-related, useful skills that they can use in the real world. It widens their curriculum and provides an extra area of interest for them. It also enables them to develop ‘life skills’, which is a new area of learning for many of them.”
Pupils at Weston Road High School have been studying vision2learn for schools Money Management, Healthy Eating, Sports Coaching, Healthy Living and Equality and Diversity courses. All vision2learn for schools courses lead to nationally recognised qualifications with GCSE equivalent points and can contribute to students’ overall achievement. Pupils can learn at their own pace on computers, completing units and submitting work via the vision2learn for schools e-learning environment. Teachers at the school can track students’ progress as they go, receiving assignments and sending feedback via the internal email facility.
Weston Road pupils have quickly taken to the idea of studying online and being in control of their own learning. Ann Kingman continues:
“The students have responded very well to vision2learn for schools so far. They like being able to work through the courses independently and they also like the idea of studying online anytime and anywhere. They really enjoy communicating and interacting online.”
She added: “We’re hoping that, for the students, vision2learn for schools will provide an individualised programme that interests them. Over the coming months we hope to offer even more vision2learn for schools online courses to our pupils and to use the courses in many different areas; for example, we plan to use them for pupils who are being educated at home. It’s a different way of delivering learning and I’m sure e-learning will be used more and more to provide students with a well-rounded learning experience and to prepare them for their future careers.
To find out more about vision2learn for schools please contact Jonathan Ovenden on 01661 864470 (mobile: 07730 402653) or email: jonathan.ovenden@creatingcareers.com.
For press enquiries please contact Zoe Mullan on 07553 374198 or email: zoe.mullan@creatingcareers.com.
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