iScoil
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Mission Statement
iScoil is an online school, set up as a response to the need for accessible education for young people who disengage from mainstream education. We open education pathways for young people at risk of disadvantage and limited life opportunities with an innovative model of online and blended learning. Education and inclusion are at the heart of our work and technology provides the space where our students are supported to continue to learn.
About This Cause
International research describes education as a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens (Unesco, 2014). iScoil’s core aim is to ensure education is accessible to all. An average of 11% of young people under 24 in the EU-28 were early leavers from education and training in 2015. Low levels of educational attainment reduce lifetime earnings and place individuals at risk of poverty, ill health and involvement in crime. As a priority policy issue in Europe, education is recognised not only as a critical factor for individual growth but as a key component of future societal and economic prosperity. In Ireland each year approximately 3,500 young people leave school before they reach 16 years and without any qualification. iScoil future-proofs individuals and communities by providing an alternative for young people who are not engaging in traditional forms of education. We create an accessible learning environment by providing a personalised adaptable response to the individual circumstance of each student. Our flexible programme is achieved through a creative design for learning that maximises the use of open source platforms and multi-modal digital content. Self-paced and interest led our online team of teachers collaborate to deliver a student centred pathway to accreditation. Our primary beneficiary is young people between 13–16 years who are not attending school and who have no qualification. Early school leaving is an outcome of multiple factors including personal circumstance, family situation, social and economic context as well as the school environment. As a result of the complexity iScoil students represent a range of reason that preclude them from attending mainstream school, including health issues, behavioural difficulties, disaffection and socio-economic disadvantage. The Child and Family Agency (TUSLA) refer young people to our service and we partner with Youth Services, Garda Youth Diversion Projects, Youth Justice and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to support a multi-disciplinary approach to engaging some of Ireland’s most vulnerable and marginalised youth. Strategic intervention is critical at this key developmental stage in their lives. Technology sets us apart in many ways, facilitating an agile and flexible response to the individual needs of our students and supporting innovation in teaching and learning approaches. We are not constrained by traditional concepts of schooling and operate a partnership with local communities where learning can take place in any home or supportive youth friendly space without compromising on quality. Other areas that makes our model special: • Depth of impact that changes lives with accredited learning • A scalable adaptable model with a solid quality foundation • Collaborative teaching teams and inter-disciplinary partnership • A willingness to innovate and evolve as a core component We support a multi-disciplinary approach to engaging some of Ireland’s most vulnerable and marginalised youth. Last September two young early school leavers aged 15 and 16 years started iScoil in their local Youth Centre. Both were considered at risk: one for involvement in juvenile crime and one for mental health issues. Each young learner received a personalised online programme of self-paced learning that engaged them with online tutors, mentors and interest-led content. Their online programme complemented the range of personal development programmes delivered by the Youth Centre. In June this year they both graduated with qualifications and were supported to progress to further education. Their potential has not been lost. Since 2009 we have had consistent success each year with approximately 85% successful engagement of our students based on accreditation achieved and progression to further education. However, our reach is only limited by resource. The potential to grow our model is evidenced by demand for places, the statistics on early school leaving in Ireland, the priority afforded educational disadvantage in EU and International development programmes and the interest in our model from other EU states. We want to further develop our learner-centred model to achieve greater impact. This would increase our capacity to reach more young people also allow further development and innovation. We want all young people to have the opportunity to realise a bright future and contribute actively and positively to their communities and to the future growth of our society.