Ullapool High School pupil shares 'detrimental' reality behind virtual learning
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As Ullapool, Gairloch, Kinlochbervie and Farr parent council's campaign demanding a better deal for rural pupils gathers pace, IONA MACDONALD hears one student’s experience of virtual learning, touted by many as a solution to a lack of resources.
An Ullapool High School senior pupil has exposed the “detrimental” reality behind Virtual Academy courses.
Poppy Lewis-Ing (17) is a sixth year pupil at Ullapool High School with plans to study psychology at university after receiving multiple unconditional offers this year. However, she has faced barriers simply due to where she lives.
This month saw the launch of an open letter to head of Highland Council leader Raymond Bremner and education secretary Jenny Gilruth, titled Save Our Rural Schools. Four parent councils representing high schools in Ullapool, Gairloch, Farr and Kinlochbervie, have amassed over 850 signatures with calls on politicians to take action on what they call the dire state of rural Highland education.
Cllr Bremner responded to concerns about limited subject choices and staff stretched beyond their capabilities by citing the “success” of online learning provision as a solution. Ms Gilruth, who had not responded to the open letter at the time of writing, told the Ross-shire Journal: “Councils are able to extend subject choice through school-college partnerships and digital platforms who provide a range of online provision.”
However, Poppy’s experience of high school virtual learning courses facilitated by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) shows they are not the fix-all solution they are presented as.
Poppy, who studied Higher sociology and Higher psychology via virtual learning courses in S5, said: “In sociology, we had three weeks without any tutor, and by the time we had a tutor again it was too late to catch up.We had three different teachers for psychology over the year, none of them knew what parts of the course we had learnt, so it was our responsibility to tell them what we had been taught – there didn’t seem to be any communication.
“I’m lucky to be an independent learner, and my older brother is studying psychology at university which also helped with the coursework. But I still need feedback from teachers and to have conversations about topics I don’t understand – you can’t get that over email or Google Meet. It’s hard to communicate with virtual learning teachers.”
READ MORE ON THE SAVE OUR RURAL SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN:
- Ullapool rural education campaigners demand end to 'buck passing'
- West Highland parents say their high schools "are beyond breaking point"
- Ullapool and Gairloch schools' crisis: Education Secretary responds to concerns
Due to there being no assigned room for her to undertake the course, Poppy had to do her online classes from the school’s concourse, with many pupils loudly passing through during her classes. She explained how in some schools, textbooks for the course weren’t provided, despite being told that the schools would provide the textbooks.
Poppy said: “I had to put so much more effort into my virtual learning courses than I did for in-person subjects. I thought: ‘Am I spending too much time on this? Will this be detrimental to my other subjects?’ I spent so much time to teaching myself the basics that it affected my grades in other classes – I had to drop the course.
“In psychology, most people did the assignment (worth 30 per cent of your grade) in pairs to lower the workload. But because I was the only Ullapool pupil on the course, I had to carry out the assignment by myself which took lots of extra effort and planning.
“I was getting migraines triggered by the stress, I was losing confidence, we hadn’t been taught about major deadlines like the assignment yet. It was too much.Virtual classes might work for some, but for the majority it doesn’t – virtual learning cannot replace in-person learning.
"It feels like we're being told we don't deserve the opportunities that other people have." - Poppy Lewis-Ing, S6 pupil at Ullapool High School.
Discussing her subject choices for sixth year, Poppy said: “I was going to do Virtual Modern Studies, but at the last minute it was removed as a course for our area, even though it’s online. I wanted to get another higher under my belt for my uni applications, but it wasn’t possible. I felt very stuck.
“There’s lots of people at school who are having a nightmare with subjects. Its not just me who’s feeling it, a lot of my friends are in the same position.When you come from a school without many academic opportunities, you’re already at a disadvantage. Someone who doesn’t get into university, just because they had to do subjects they weren’t good at – I don’t think that’s fair at all.
“My year group had a class of just over 30, but in S4 that dropped to just 15. People are fed up.
“I’ve had countless conversations with peers: ‘School can’t offer what I want to do so there’s no point staying’. It de-motivates us to think we don’t need an education.”
Another issue at rural schools is merged classes, as Poppy explains: “I’ve definitely noticed the impacts of budget cuts during my time at the high school. Some classes are now merged together with National 5 and Higher pupils in one class, for subjects like history and geography.
“It’s a lot for the teachers too... I think it is an extra level of stress for the them. You only get 50 minutes in one class, and you’re having to teach two exam year groups, but you can’t divert all your attention onto one class. They’ve got to plan two lessons in one. A lot of people are finding that the National 5s are getting left behind. There’s no time to give one-to-one support, you just don’t get that anymore.
“Its not the teacher’s fault – they can’t help having to teach two classes at once. I think a lot of people will be pushed to get private tutors, because it’s just not doable.
“The government needs to take action. It feels like we’re being told we don’t deserve the opportunities that other people have.”
Chair of Ullapool High School parent council, and Save Our Rural Schools organiser, Seoras Burnett, said: “The way online learning is delivered doesn’t allow any meaningful interaction between teachers and pupils and between pupils, this results in a significantly poorer outcome for pupils those in face-to-face learning.
“It’s universally felt that online learning should never be a substitute for face-to-face delivery of the core curriculum although it’s generally accepted that some form of virtual learning can complement the subject choice as long as the delivery is clear and consistent.”
Lydia Rohmer, principal and chief executive of UHI North, West and Hebrides, said: “Our senior phase offer provides young people in our rural and island communities with opportunity, choice, and equitable access to a wide range of subjects and qualifications. We work closely with head teachers, guidance teachers and councils to plan our senior phase offer and currently offer around 60 qualifications to 25 secondary schools across the North and West Highlands, Skye, and Outer Hebrides.
"We have more than 1000 senior phase pupils enrolled this year, with a 98 per cent student satisfaction (Early Student Experience Survey, 2023-2024). Our senior phase qualifications are delivered in a variety of ways – on campus, in school and online via timetabled classes with a lecturer in a virtual classroom. By delivering some qualifications online via a virtual classroom, we can connect very small numbers of pupils across our rural and island communities to provide a viable offer, which builds on our long-standing experience and leadership in high quality online delivery. Our Virtual School partnership approach with Highland Council has been recognised as sector leading.
“Colleges and universities across the country face an extremely challenging financial environment, with an 8.5% real term reduction in funding for colleges between 2021-2023, and a further 5-6% revenue cut for college and university budgets proposed for 2024-25. We recognise the challenges faced by our local secondary schools and will do all we can to support them, whilst continuing to engage with the Scottish Funding Council for a flexible approach to how we use funding to support our rural and island communities.”
Read or sign the Save Our Rural Schools open letter here.
