All the highlights that made our spring term one to remember

Every term at King’s InterHigh is filled with a mix of learning, fun, friendship, and achievement. This spring term was no different, with virtual field trips, in-person meetups, live performances, a whole range of student successes, and some exciting news for our school!

We became a DfE-accredited school

In February this year, we were delighted to announce that King’s InterHigh is officially accredited by the UK’s Department for Education (DfE) under the Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS)!

More than just a milestone for our community, our DfE accreditation is another stamp of approval that brings our families real assurance about our high-quality education, from our teaching standards to our student support.

We welcomed our new CEO

This term also brought a new face to Inspired Online Schools as we welcomed our new CEO Hugh Hurley in January. With master’s degrees from the University of Cambridge and the Collège des Ingénieurs, Hugh brings an impressive background in digital leadership (including as the former CEO of Gumtree.com) to King’s InterHigh and our sister schools, Academy21 and US Performance Academy.

We learned beyond textbooks

In the classroom, our students had plenty of excitement of their own this term. In particular, our virtual reality (VR) learning has been booming across the year groups, from virtual trips abroad to fun escape rooms.

Some of our favourite experiences included…

Practising Spanish at the doctor’s

Year 9 students put their Spanish speaking to the test in VR this term at a virtual doctor’s office. They started with dialogue at the reception before working through vocabulary, pronunciation, and anatomy activities, with live corrections from their teacher throughout. Practising language skills in virtual reality gives our learners the chance to apply their knowledge to the same situations they’ll face in the real world, boosting their fluency and confidence.

Geography fieldwork in Bristol

Alongside in-person trips, we also give students the chance to complete their A Level Geography fieldwork in virtual reality. This term’s cohort headed to a VR version of Bristol to explore the city’s three main shopping areas, completing environmental quality surveys, footfall counts, retail value surveys, noise readings in decibels, and more. The research then continued at the Harbourside, where students turned their attention to how sustainable the area’s regeneration has actually proved to be.

A Computer Science escape room

Virtual reality is a great tool for introducing students to complex new topics, but it’s also an amazing way to revise key ideas, helping essential knowledge “stick” in students’ minds. This term, our Year 12 Computer Science students revised binary and hexadecimal in a VR escape room, working in teams to crack codes and unlock rooms using their interactive whiteboards.

Travelling back in Environmental Science

IB Diploma students, meanwhile, enjoy two VR lessons per subject every term. In IB Environmental Systems and Societies this term, students traced the Earth’s six biggest extinction events through immersive virtual worlds. What better way to make prehistory feel real to teenagers than to drop them right inside it? With help from their teachers, they learned how natural forces and human actions have impacted biodiversity over time, and how we can protect the environment in years to come.

We took to the stage

At King’s InterHigh, we also use technology to bring performing arts to life online, with multiple exciting showcases taking place via live stream this term.

House Drama Festival Finals

The House Drama Festival Finals this March brought 20 student pieces to a live audience. From a puppet show to musical theatre to a moving duologue, our budding young stars performed across seven categories, impressing their community and earning accolades for their houses.

The Spring Concert

Later in March, we held our Spring Concert with a theme of “new beginnings,” and every student had their own unique interpretation: original keyboard compositions, songs from well-known musicals, stop-motion animations, and more, plus a finale performance from our Jam Band Club. The evening even wove in highlights from our World Poetry Day celebrations, featuring amazing student-written poems alongside works by greats like Maya Angelou.

We connected over competitions

Beyond performances, students showed off their creativity as well as their academic skills in a range of challenges this month. Competitions are one of the many ways we encourage students to get involved, celebrate their talents, and connect with our community.

Let’s take a look at some of the moments where students put themselves to the test.

The International Maths Challenge

King’s InterHigh students who took part in the International Online Maths Challenge (a worldwide problem-solving competition) received their second-round results this term, with 18 students achieving Elitist level and six reaching the highest rank: Champion, earning them a place in the IMC Hall of Fame.

Our annual ‘Pi Day’ contest

In our own maths department, meanwhile, middle school students joined in the annual Pi Day competition. Blending arithmetic with delicious cooking and artistic prowess, our students baked their own pies to celebrate the occasion, and they almost looked too good to eat.

The ‘Love is All Around’ competition

With ‘Love is All Around,’ our arts department challenged students to create their own postcards for Valentine’s Day. Every entry had a personal take on the theme, with many students using the opportunity to write heartwarming messages to their best friends at King’s InterHigh as well as the teachers who have shaped their learning.

Celebrating 20 years with ‘Hoot & Bake’

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary this year, our ‘Hoot & Bake’ competition invited primary school students to bake us a birthday cake (or make their own version with art supplies). Every entry earned a point for their house, and with so much imagination on display, it was impossible to pick favourites.

The Inspired Alpine Cup

Beyond the screen, two of our students represented King’s InterHigh at the Inspired Alpine Cup in Verbier, Switzerland this term: an annual ski competition that brings Inspired students together for professional coaching and competitive racing. It’s one of the many opportunities that our students enjoy as part of the Inspired Education community.

We took trips to London

We offer a range of academic trips around the world every year, and this term was no exception. In particular, we enjoyed several memorable trips around London.

Visiting the Imperial War Museum

40 of our Year 11 students came together to visit the Imperial War Museum and the Old Operating Theatre in London as part of their IGCSE History studies, each offering its own memorable experience. What stood out to those who joined wasn’t just how engaged students were with their learning, but how naturally the day became a great social meetup too. Students who hadn’t seen each other in a while were delighted to connect again, while new friendships formed just as easily over a delicious lunch that day.

Joining German Day

Meanwhile, our A Level and IB German students got to attend the annual German Day at an independent girls’ school in London. Together, they joined students from 13 other schools for a full day of lectures, seminars, and practical sessions delivered entirely in German, covering history, politics, literature, and contemporary culture. Our students came away energised by being in a room full of fellow young people who share their passion for the language.

We bonded over bowling

Alongside academic trips, we also host regular social meetups for our families: a relaxed opportunity for students and parents to get together for yummy food, fun games, and time to enjoy each other’s company. As in previous terms, we held several bowling meetups all around the UK this term, and our community had an amazing time.

Basingstoke, for example, brought together 26 students and their families for an evening of laughter, friendly competition, and well-earned burgers and chips. In Oxford, 20 students across the key stages met up with teachers, families, and our mascot Hooty McCluety, who was enthusiastically launched into the air at the end of the games.

And our largest meetup to take took place in London, where a vast group of students, families, and teachers gathered for the evening, with our CEO Hugh Hurley even making an appearance!

We got together in Dubai

Beyond the UK, our calendar of in-person opportunities includes trips and meetups that take place around the world. Our students in the Middle East time zone, for example, had some wonderful chances to spend time together in person this term.

A national park picnic

In February, students and parents gathered at a national park in Dubai for the school’s first family picnic, spending the morning on the park’s woodland trails in the fresh air before settling in to eat together.

Exploring the arts

Students from across all key stages also visited the Jameel Arts Centre, taking in a tour of the building’s architecture, a guided tour of the current exhibitions, and a hands-on workshop with artists from the show.

We studied around the world

At King’s InterHigh, we’re proud to offer a global timetable, with lesson periods synchronised across three time zones. This means our learners can study in the Middle East and Southeast Asia time zones with the same teachers, same curriculum, and same wealth of opportunities as all our students in the UK and beyond.

For example, students in our international time zones came together for a series of transition events this term to prepare them for secondary school, IGCSE, and sixth form study. Across the sessions, families enjoyed a taste of the subjects on offer, time with the pastoral teams, space to ask questions, and clear guidance about the support offered at each stage. In particular, our A Level taster sessions and career presentations were an unmatched chance for our Year 11 students to get a sense of what their sixth form journey could look like, sparking real curiosity and excitement.

Our international Student Council members, meanwhile, delivered some truly impressive assemblies for our community. Year 11 representatives gave a presentation on life as an IGCSE student to their Year 9 peers, while primary and middle school reps led their peers through sessions on children’s rights.

We enjoyed a range of assemblies

Weekly assemblies like these are one of the ways we bring students together to celebrate each other, hear from their peers, and find out what’s ahead. This term, like many before it, produced some particularly memorable sessions!

This term went out on a high for Year 10 students, who got to bring their pets to a special assembly, with far more animals on screen than anyone could have expected. Our primary students, meanwhile, marked Children’s Mental Health Week with an important assembly focused on looking after their minds as well as their bodies. They learned about managing worries, supporting each other, and the importance of asking for help, with our mascot Hooty McCluety reminding them that it’s A-Owl-K to have feelings. As in years gone by, our World Book Day celebration was a favourite for primary school students, whose teachers surprised them by dressing up as story characters themselves.

We got social in VR

Our younger students also get weekly opportunities to meet up virtually in our VR social sessions, where they explored many exciting worlds this term.

Taking on new challenges

Our primary school students got a rare chance to visit our special VR world usually reserved for our middle school cohort. The puzzle-based experience required quick communication and effective collaboration to finish it in time, but our Year 5 and 6 students rose to the challenge, making their way through the Tower of Keys with impressive focus.

An international meetup

Over 100 students from our Middle East and Southeast Asia time zones came together this term to work through two worlds side by side. They deciphered hieroglyphics, escaped mysterious tombs, and solved riddles as a team, with many students describing it as one of their favourite sessions of the year.

Reflecting in VR

Reflect sessions are King’s InterHigh’s weekly pastoral tutor group meetings, built as a safe space for personal development, wellbeing, and community building. This term, Year 8 students got to move their Reflect session into VR, growing their teamwork skills with a challenge in a virtual environment.

We created new worlds

Our students don’t just play with virtual reality at King’s InterHigh. In our FutureTech Club, they get to make their own worlds!

Our primary school FutureTech Titans spent part of the term designing their own mystery adventure VR experience from scratch, working on special effects, narrative storylines, original characters, and inventive artefacts. Meanwhile, middle school Titans were hard at work making a full VR school fair in Minecraft, complete with firework-launching rollercoasters, rowing ponds, escape rooms, and parkour challenges.

We wrapped up with Project Week

Project Week is one of the most anticipated parts of the spring term for King’s InterHigh’s primary and middle school students. It’s an exciting chance to step back from the regular timetable and take real ownership of their learning, with teachers supporting rather than directing. Plus, students get to spend part of the week in London, exploring museums as part of their project work.

In Year 7, students spent the week asking themselves what culture means. First, they reflected on their own backgrounds. Then, they designed a ‘Room of Culture’ that expressed their identity through objects, colours, patterns, and symbols, with a fun trip to the V&A Museum. Year 8 students were invited to think like researchers, scientists, historians, museum curators (or any kind of expert they chose) to develop their own research. They also got the chance to visit the Natural History Museum before presenting their findings at the end of the week. Year 9, meanwhile, spent Project Week diving into careers: visiting or virtually escaping from the Science Museum, designing their own museum exhibits, completing virtual work experience placements, and producing career pathway maps.

We celebrated so many achievements

Alongside everything that happens across our school each term, our students’ many individual achievements are some of the most rewarding to celebrate. The flexibility that King’s InterHigh offers means there’s no upper limit on the passions our young people can pursue, and this term showed that full breadth in practice.

Bastian – Starring in ‘Project Hail Mary’

Student Bastian Fuentes landed a role in Project Hail Mary, the critically acclaimed big-screen adaptation of Andy Weir’s bestselling novel, starring Ryan Gosling. Bastian played Gosling’s student Parker in scenes with the star himself, and with the film now in cinemas, we can’t wait to see him on the big screen.

Aleksandr – Published author at six

Our primary school student Aleksandr published his debut book this term. Written when he was just six years old, Saving the Kingdom is an adventure story built around the idea that anyone can choose kindness, even after making the wrong choices.

Christabel – Top in the world for Law

Our recent alumna Christabel shared the extraordinary news this term that she achieved the highest mark in the world in AS Level Law, as well as the top grade in Malaysia for AS Level English Literature. She credits her King’s InterHigh teachers for sparking her passion for the subject and is now planning to study law (along with political science and journalism) at university in Asia.

Benjamin – A karting trophy winner

Benjamin Manach reached the podium at the WSK Euro Series in Viterbo, Italy this term. The series is one of the top kart racing championships in Europe, held on a circuit well-regarded for its hard-to-navigate technical layout. It was a brilliant result for Benjamin, and one with plenty more behind it.

Jake – The Danish Judo champion

Jake Barr won gold at the Danish Open this term, becoming Danish Champion in the Pre-Cadet Over 60kg category. Now, he’s preparing to compete with the England squad in Antwerp in May. His family notes that King’s InterHigh’s flexible timetable has allowed him to train around 10 hours a week while improving across every subject, all with the long-term goal of reaching the Youth Olympics in 2029.

Every student has a story, and we love celebrating their journeys at King’s InterHigh. Alongside our athletes, actors, and achievers, that includes the successes of many young people who are making amazing strides in their academics, mental health, and daily lives.