If there’s one myth about online schooling that 13-year-old Kings InterHigh student Alexander D’Cruz would like to clear up, it’s the idea that it’s lonely.
“If anything, online schooling gives you more opportunities to make friends,” the Year 8 student – who is also a budding actor, model and athlete – told SchoolsCompared.com:
“You can communicate in lessons using chat, or outside the lessons using email.”
“But just because you learn online doesn’t mean you need to live online.”
“You can join a club outside of school and make friends there. I’m going to stay at an art residential over the summer for example, but there are loads of outings you can do with your fellow students as well, and we have done trips to places like The Museum of the Future and many others.”
Alexander (far left) with his Kings InterHigh friends at The Museum of the Future
Alexander and his mother, Theresa, outside The Musuem of the Future
The Kings InterHigh trip to The Museum of the Future
Alexander adds that, in his experience, online students tend to be more open-minded and confident to be themselves, without the pressure to try and “fit in” that so often plagues the tricky teenage years:
“I find that the Kings InterHigh students are a lot more open and friendly than the kids you find in bricks and mortar schools. This could be because kids in online school don’t have to adhere to social conformities and peer pressure. I also find that there’s no real bullying going on.”
See what a school day in the life of Alexander looks like in the vlog he made for SchoolsCompared here:
No lid on learning
While many families might view online learning through the lens of the pandemic and remember it as an improvised substitute for face-to-face learning, the reality of a fully, dedicated online school could not be more different, says Alexander. For him and his mother, Theresa D’Cruz, online schooling opens up new opportunities that Alexander wasn’t able to have access to in his previous bricks and mortar schools.
Kings InterHigh student Alexander D’Cruz at his version of school
As a talented sportsman, Alexander has won multiple triathlons in the UAE and is a keen football player. He also acts and models in his spare time, and the flexibility of the online learning model means that he is able to switch from live lessons with a teacher and other students to a recorded option if he needs the time for additional training or to attend casting calls.
Alexander has won top places in multiple athletics, triathlon and duathlon competitions
While Alexander excelled in and enjoyed his past in-person school environments, his mother says there was a lack of flexibility in terms of subject options and levels, which meant that he wasn’t always being stretched as much as he could be. At Kings InterHigh, Alexander is able to study at an advanced Year 9 level for his strongest subjects – Maths and Creative Media – while remaining in the Year 8 classes for his other subjects, meaning he will be able to sit his Maths and Creative Media GCSEs a year early if he wants. Mrs D’Cruz says:
“Alexander would have struggled taking a higher group maths in a bricks and mortar school; firstly due to the logistical issues, but also concerns about his emotional development, and the ability to deal with the attitudes and behaviours of the older students. With online, there are no worries with this and in fact he is loving the challenges.”
He also has a greater breadth of subject options, says his mother:
“I don’t think he would have access to some of the subjects he studies such as Creative Media, Spanish, French, History etc. at an affordable bricks and mortar school. In traditional schools, timetables are often squeezed because of logistics, or the need to conform to UAE school regulations and offer certain mandatory subjects. Schools may also be restricted on elements of the curriculum that they can teach due to cultural sensitivity.”
Alexander’s school project work was to make a Wind Turbine
Some of Alexander’s artwork
A cardboard model of a Den design Alexander made for a ‘Dengineers’ project
Both Alexander and Theresa praise the online learning model for “not putting a lid on learning”. Theresa explains:
“It is my belief that no teacher wants to put a lid on learning, but it is down to the varying circumstances that exist within many mainstream schools today, which can leave the teachers unable to find the time to support children, whether the child needs learning support or more challenging work.”
Theresa adds that the limited class sizes in Kings InterHigh’s live lessons enable more customised instruction and opportunities for student-led exploration:
“In Alexander’s online school the class sizes are manageable and, in some instances, small enough for Alexander to feel a part of a small group of friends collaborating and leading the learning together.”
“The tailored approach and way in which the school goes to extra effort to accommodate Alexander gives him a sense of ‘anything is possible’.”
The path less travelled
While other children might be trundling off to the school bus first thing in the morning, Alexander is most likely returning from his morning athletics training – which he does most days as part of his schedule of triathlon and duathlon competitions. His day might then consist of school work, or he might have a casting call for a modelling or acting job – he has appeared in campaigns for Sea World and Warner Bros in the past – and fit his school work in around that.
Flexible schooling allows Alexander to attend casting calls even during school hours
Travel doesn’t have to stop during term time when you are studying online
But it’s not just the flexibility that the D’Cruz family love – Theresa also enjoys being able to be so engaged in his learning:
“I am at home with Alexander, so I can actually see what he is doing and learning, I can look at what work he is producing and most importantly, I can see if he is enjoying something (or not) and provide support where he most needs it.”
“The teacher provides timely feedback after every submission and for the main tasks. We sometimes discuss this together and reflect on any changes to consider going forward. I am quite hands-on, but I feel my contribution is in a way supporting him towards becoming and independent learner at a much earlier age than he would have in a bricks and mortar school.”
“I take care of Alexander’s nutritional needs and ensure he eats regularly and the right amount of protein and carbs for his daily training and the run up to his events, which would be much harder if he was at school all day from 7.30am until 3pm or later.”
Studying online means there’s always access to home comforts
While both Theresa and Alexander acknowledge that this way of learning is not for everyone, for the D’Cruz family, it suits them perfectly.
Alexander ends his vlog with an apt quote from a Robert Frost poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’ (commonly known as ‘The Road Less Travelled’), which sums up not only his chosen path in life, but also that of anyone who chooses to innovate, do things a little differently, or think outside the box:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
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