Jennie Harrison, from Bingham, had spent nearly 10 years teaching History before taking a career break. Her new role in the charity sector meant working from home and this, combined with commitments Jennie now had, meant she thought she would never return to the classroom.
But a chance conversation with her partner led Jennie to a new job teaching online with Britain’s fastest growing school, Minerva’s Virtual Academy (MVA).
The school has just taken on 15 new teachers as its pupil numbers have swelled to 1,000 less than five years after it was founded.
Jennie said: “I had been a History teacher for almost a decade, but was on a break from my teaching career and was working in the charity sector. Because I’d become used to working from home, and had commitments there, I did not think I would be able to return to teaching.
“My partner asked me one day what my ideal job would be and I said: ‘A History teacher online’. He did a quick search and found an advert for MVA. I was especially excited as my background was Enrichment, which included mentoring students to reach their potential, whatever that may be, so when I saw MVA needed mentors as well I was sold.”
MVA now employs more than 100 teaching staff, with many joining from mainstream schools to reap the benefits of flexible learning.
Hugh Viney, MVA’s founder, said the new teaching appointments had been made to fulfil a commitment he made when he started the school in 2020.
“When I launched MVA I made two promises that we will never break - that subject class sizes will remain the same, and that every single child in our care will have a dedicated mentor with a weekly one-to-one session,” he said.
“MVA’s success is built on student support and wellbeing, and that’s something we are never going to compromise on.”
Hugh said a major part of the student experience at MVA was built on positive teacher-student relationships, which was even more important when that relationship was largely through a computer screen.
“Every teacher has been picked because we believe they will uphold our values as religiously as we always have, and I’m seriously excited to see what they can do,” said Hugh.
MVA, which is accredited by the Department for Education (DfE), last year received a glowing report from Ofsted, which praised the school for putting well-being “at the heart of everything”.
The school has pupils in 53 countries, although 75% of students are based in the UK. Since the introduction of VAT on private school fees, MVA has seen a five fold increase in enquiries from parents.