There was a presentation about the Virtual 6th form at HesFes.
Fiona Nicholson has made the following notes:
My notes from the Virtual 6th Form College Workshop at Hesfes are now online here edyourself.org/articles/hesfes2013workshops.php#virtual6thform
It will be free to students who live in England aged 16 to 19. I am not sure if it will be free for young people who live in Wales. It may be that students need to be based in England to get a Government-funded place. The college is looking to attract overseas students as well.
Robert Ellis comes from 6th form teaching background. He hasn't talked to the Department for Education but has been talking to the New Schools Network which helps people looking to set up Free Schools. NSN always tells people there'll be no problem, but that they have to sign up a minimum number to get off the ground.
The downer for me was that the actual teaching will be done by video conferencing in real time, so it will be like getting up every day and going to college except that the student will be at home on his/her own.
The student will log on for the morning session, have a break, and then log on for the afternoon session. At set times the teacher will not actually be teaching but will be available to answer questions. The student is expected to be signed in so the teacher can contact the student during these times.
This may be a consequence of the Free Schools funding, rather than for example using the model of a training course for adults with downloadable lessons plus the option to contact the tutor for feedback.
Of course this may not necessarily be an issue for other people.
I got the impression that exams would also be taken during residentials at the college, although this is not stated on the website as far as I can see.
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Virtual 6th Form
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julienoshoes · 03/08/2013 14:45
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