How Elsa found her voice and confidence with online schooling

Just a few years ago, however, her daily life looked dramatically different. From unsupported needs to severe bullying, Elsa wasn’t getting the experience she deserved in mainstream education. Thankfully, four years ago, her family found King’s InterHigh.

We spoke to Elsa and her mum Helen about why they made the move to online school and how it transformed everything.

When mainstream falls short

“We were very lucky,” says Helen, thinking back to how Elsa thrived when her primary school went online during the pandemic. “They did live teaching over Zoom, and suddenly Elsa absolutely flourished being able to learn at home.” When the time came to transition to mainstream secondary school, however, everything changed.

What should have become an exciting new chapter quickly turned into daily challenges for Elsa, who has a rare genetic condition and would later be diagnosed with autism. Despite the school’s promises to provide support for Elsa’s medical needs, the reality fell far short of expectations. “They just said, ‘Well, it’s COVID. We can’t give any support,’” Helen recalls. “It was a real failure in the mainstream school system.”

Sadly, the struggles Elsa faced outside the classroom were just as damaging. “She was really badly bullied,” says Helen, “and when you’re being bullied for your disabilities, it’s a really horrible situation.” In mainstream school, the bright and curious young student who had previously shone with remote learning began to see her spirit dim.

For Helen and her husband, the situation reached breaking point when Elsa revealed the full extent of the bullying she’d been facing. That decisive moment in October 2021 would mark the end of Elsa’s time in an environment that hadn’t protected her and kickstart the beginning of her learning transformation. “I phoned my husband as I was driving her home from school,” Helen remembers, “and by the time we got home, he’d already phoned King’s InterHigh and arranged to have our first discussions with them the next day.”

Finding Elsa’s confidence again

When Elsa joined King’s InterHigh, Helen says, “She got confidence and love for learning back very quickly.” Free from the daily trauma of bullying, with newfound flexibility to manage her medical needs, Elsa began to excel again academically.

Her favourite subjects became sources of joy again, and she found new interests that captured her enthusiasm. For example, with online A Levels, Elsa now has the opportunity to study a subject she’s loved since she was eight years old: classical civilisation. From classics to history to English, Helen says Elsa has “had some absolutely brilliant teachers at King’s InterHigh who’ve really inspired her.”

Alongside engaging and supportive learning, flexibility and understanding have been life-changing benefits of online school. With an environment that accommodates her medical needs and chronic fatigue, there’s no need for Elsa to choose between her health and her education. As Helen explains, “On the days where she’s feeling a lot better, we do everything live. But we do have a lot of other appointments we have to go to, so having the ability to watch back classes is really, really helpful.”

Just as significant is the growth Elsa has seen in her motivation, organisation, and self-advocacy. While Helen was a constant source of support during Elsa’s younger years, she’s now managing her own schedule, connecting directly with her teachers, and taking ownership of her learning journey. “That’s actually one of the things that King’s InterHigh has taught her,” Helen has observed. “An independence and a confidence in her own abilities.”

Sharing her voice with the world

That same initiative and independence have taken Elsa to achievements beyond her academics, including the prestigious title of BBC Young Reporter for the East Midlands. “That was an opportunity she would not have seen had she not been at King’s InterHigh,” says Helen, explaining that Elsa applied for the competition entirely on her own. “We never saw her application until the BBC contacted us.”

For Elsa, pursuits like these also offer something valuable beyond the achievements themselves. “With her autism,” Helen explains, “she’s able to be a different person. When she did the Young Reporter initiative, instead of being quiet, she did everything in one take. She knew what she wanted to say.” It’s a stark contrast to the struggles she faced in mainstream education.

And reporting is just one of the many passions and interests Elsa has excelled at over the past few years. Recently, for example, she represented King’s InterHigh in a shooting match. On top of that, she’s a force to be reckoned with in RDA (Riding for the Disabled), coming first in her second national equestrian competition. Most recently, adding to her impressive list of talents, Elsa has also taken up carriage driving. The rigid timetables of a mainstream school setting would have made Elsa’s hobbies challenging, but with online learning, she can excel at every single one.

In school, meanwhile, online learning has given Elsa the space to discover interests that might never have emerged in a traditional school setting. In Year 8 film studies at King’s InterHigh, for example, she got to create her own elaborate recreation of Indiana Jones starring her hamster, complete with a handmade set. Now, she dreams of combining her passions for history and media one day. “I’d absolutely love a job in film and TV,” shares Elsa; Helen adds with a smile, “She wants to give [history presenter] Lucy Worsley a run for her money.”

Connecting with our community

In the meantime, Elsa is already honing her media skills in InterNews: one of our three school newspapers at King’s InterHigh, run by students, for students. Despite learning from home, Elsa hasn’t missed out on any of the social aspects of school life, from clubs like these to classroom interactions.

“One of my teachers in my first year for geography had a pet parrot that would sit in the background and periodically shout ‘I am a chicken,’” laughs Elsa. On another occasion, her cat “ran through paint, then ran across the carpet” while she was showing her work to her art teacher on camera. It’s moments like these that help give King’s InterHigh a sense of connection that’s different from a traditional school environment, but no less meaningful.

And even Helen herself has found connection in our community. “We’ve got such a great group of parents out there,” she says, with families connecting regularly to share their experiences.

Building towards the future

As Elsa progresses through Year 12, her future looks bright. From confidence to independence, the abilities she’s building on every day are giving her a strong foundation for whatever path she chooses. Right now, she’s working on a 5,000-word essay for her Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), one of the A Level courses she’s taking online with King’s InterHigh. She and her mother have also been visiting universities, with interesting insights to share.

When they visited the University of Cambridge, Helen says “they were really impressed with the King’s InterHigh approach.” In comparison to schools that push students with “mock after mock” to boost exam results, she explains, “they know that what students are achieving is really indicative of the hard work they’ve put in.”

For any child who doesn’t thrive in traditional education (whether due to bullying, medical needs, or something in between), online school offers both hope and a roadmap. As Helen wisely notes, there are “different schools for different children,” and there’s no need for students like Elsa to be boxed into a system that doesn’t work. It’s something her mum knows well, as Elsa is the third generation in their family to study at home. “I did A Levels by correspondence course when I left school,” she reveals, “and my father studied the same way as a farmer in the ’50s.”

When mainstream education just doesn’t fit, choosing a better pathway can be the key to a child becoming who they were always meant to be. From a child who dreaded school to a teen with big dreams, Elsa is the perfect example of how finding the right school changes everything.