Why the British Online School was launched
For a very long time, the idea of having an online school was something I really wanted to pursue.
I am a qualified English teacher from the UK (with a lot of experience in the industry) who always worked very hard to assist children of all ages to pursue knowledge the way they always wanted.
As a mother of four and a teacher, I decided that the regular schools were not fit for my kids. I was behind the scenes for many years and knew what kids in schools had to deal with: mistrust, corruption, behavioural and religious issues as well as bullying.
- My oldest son has ADHD and had to deal with daily detention just because he couldn’t “fit in” and understand how the school works.
- My younger son is a gifted child with hyperactivity and the school’s pace was too slow for him and could not respond to his needs.
- My youngest daughter was too slow and shy to ask questions in class and the teachers did not really care about her making me believe she was all fine!
- My eldest daughter is also a gifted child with brilliant results and the school was praising her only because she was bringing up their ranking. She was looking for a place where lessons were less academic and more practical as she has a kinaesthetic profile and learns by doing.
Homeschooling was the solution for all my kids, and that was an adventure on its own. In order to do this, I had to stop teaching other kids, something that I really missed for quite some time. I was happy to see that my kids were making progress, all while being happy and not having to deal with bullying and anything maleficent like that.
I was very happy with their progress, and that was mostly thanks to the flexibility and benefits that homeschooling brings to every child. My kids were free to learn and they also had time to go to the museum and other places when everything was less crowded. It was the best of both worlds for us and we were very happy to see the progress.
While my kids were the obvious priority, I did want to get back to teaching at some point. This lasted for around 4 years, in which I studied more and more about online schools and offering kids a way to enrol in a great learning program. It was quite a challenge because building an online school is very complex, not to mention it required a lot of time. But I managed to go through all of it and hired teachers that reflect my vision of education.
My motto is ” If I have happy teachers, I will have happy children, and if I have happy children, I will have happy parents”. That’s why I want to offer as much flexibility as possible to every teacher, so they have complete control while also being able to follow their own approach.
I prepared all the lessons for teachers and they also have a line of conduct. As a parent, I understand that they are parents too and I want to make it extremely easy for them to be parents and also enjoy their daily life the best way that they can.
The idea of creating BOS was a great and beneficial one. I have parents coming to me saying that their kids are seeing positive changes in their life and they also study a lot more. My approach is to provide 15 minutes of “brain breaks” after the 45-minute lessons. This is great because it keeps children focused while also offering some breathing time too. BOS also comes with modern foreign languages lessons. These are based on communication and practice.
BOS started as an afterthought, but it materialised into one of the most impressive things I ever did in my life. As a parent, I know how important it is to keep your kids away from bullying and negativity. With BOS, I get to help every parent while also making sure that kids are safe and learn in an interactive and creative manner. I encourage you to give BOS a try if you want a safe, friendly and very innovative learning environment for your child!
Umm Adam
Founder & CEO of the British Online School
