Nisai Virtual Academy has achieved the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence status.
Highly Effective Teaching Model
The Nisai Group is a quality assured education and skills provider focused on transforming the education landscape through blended and inclusive online learning. Nisai is inspected by Ofsted and is an approved Cambridge International School. Nisai Virtual Academy is delivering International General Certificates of Secondary Education (IGCSEs) and A Levels across the UK and internationally.
Students come to Nisai because a mainstream education is not working for them. The Nisai working practices were already well established before the COVID pandemic so there was a highly effective teaching model in place to build on and our Assessor saw this evidenced during his visit.
The Nisai Virtual Academy environment is very different to that of a traditional mainstream school. The student learners are remotely taught in small, live classes matched by a similar pace and ability, not necessarily by age. Coupled with highly trained teachers and well-paced online lessons, their learners receive in-depth tuition from their teachers and can interact verbally through the microphone on their headset, through public text chat or privately text chat the teacher only. 
Questions and polls to check understanding are used throughout the observed lessons. Teachers show exemplary skill in encouraging the students to participate through both open and closed questioning techniques.
Cutting Down on Frustration
The Quality Assurance (QA) of Education is made easier as staff all teach from a central location. Lesson observations have recently been reviewed and are now assessed against teacher standards. This is not however a ‘one-way’ process and staff have the opportunity to respond to feedback and meet face-to-face with their reviewer. An in-house IT department is available to support all issues, resulting in a swift resolution to issues in an environment which relies on it to run the school. The support extends to the students with a help button that is ‘live’ for students between 8am and 4:30pm. Outside these hours, an email system steps in and staff are expected to respond on the same day, cutting down on frustration and the possibility of lost learning and disengagement.
The development team has adapted Adobe Connect as its delivery system. Online registers for every session are taken and there is a 10 minute cut off when alerts go to attendance team to chase up. Staff are highly trained in different methods to check that students are engaging. Communication is scored and fed back to the commissioners.
All staff and students are allocated an internal Nisai email address and this is the only contact email allowed, thus ensuring safeguarding, QA and monitoring.
The academy was visited by the Department for Education, looking to pilot a new framework to accredit online learning during the middle of COVID; a strong voice supporting Nisai’s sector leading practices.
Regional Authorities provide rigour by quality assuring the school. Ofsted also include Nisai when inspecting home academies, schools, and authorities that commission places for their students.
Quality Team at the Heart of the Academy
Nisai has its own teacher training programme and there is a quality team at the heart of the academy. Every session is recorded for quality assurance but also for the benefit of the students so that they can securely revisit the lessons. This is also used by the safeguarding team if there are concerns or disclosures. The form tutor team picks up the day-to-day learning issues and they collate issues from all the other teachers, a student is taught by, to make a single point of contact.
Some students access the ‘non live’ lessons only and this could be because of medical reasons but they are still tracked and monitored. Not all students have an EHCP; however, many do.
A recently proposed change to the teaching platform software is in response to the awareness that some students may identify with different pronouns and the software is currently being adapted to give prompts to the teachers. This builds on the system already in place that gives visual guides informing the teacher of their student’s barriers to learning.
For students referred to Nisai who have no-one to support at home, personalised Learning Support Mentors mentor up to 3 students each and are commissioned to go to the home to help with independent work and life skills to support the academic programme. Of the 430 students currently on roll in the UK, approximately 90 are currently supported by mentors. There must be someone present in the home during these sessions for safeguarding and safety reasons.
Virtual Classes Taught By Ability
Registration is also conducted online. A welcome letter and induction, followed by initial Basic Key Skills Builder (BKSB) assessments, one for English and one for maths are completed before a student starts at the academy. A partnership is then established between the home school and Nisai where the student or students remain on roll, dual registered. The commissioning schools select the subjects/levels for their students. The Nisai school has virtual classes taught by ability, not age; this enables students that are currently not at a chronological learning age to access intervention and appropriate learning. This makes the material inclusive for everyone, removing as many barriers as possible.
In addition to the academic timetabled lessons and homework drop-in sessions, there are others that support the Cultural Capital: International Women’s Day, Science Week, Red Nose Day, Global Recycling Day; all examples of events currently planned. Teachers would be expected to link their lessons into this calendar of events, linking with Health and Personal, Health, Social and Citizenship Education (PHSCE), Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) and British Values.
A careers advisor is on hand to ensure positive outcomes. To highlight a particular area of success, last year 7 students gained university places, of which 100% who applied received offers, taking their successes online into the real world of a university place. 
The Management Information Systems (MIS) is used for storing the communication records and personal information on every student including Personal Wellbeing Plans (PWP). This is where all the end of term reports are built. It is important to note that the comments are highly personalised and bespoke to each learner; they are not automatically generated from the assignment feedback or objectives. The teaching staff know their students very well and have built up trust and fostered supportive relationships to learning.
The examinations officer ensures that access arrangements are applied for and fed into the examination boards, to ensure that the students receive the support they need due to their barriers. This even feeds down to the examinations themselves where students are able to be invigilated at home or attend an examination centre near their home as required.
Staff Take Pride
The student publication, ‘Nisai Magazine’ is well contributed to, documenting student and school successes and published termly on the online platform. Student successes are celebrated with online rewards including a Christmas card design competition and teacher/staff awards.
Staff here take pride in going the extra mile to listen to the voice of the student. They adapt their fully inclusive practices to provide a safe learning environment where their students can flourish and achieve their full potential.
Our Assessor met with the Director of Student Engagement, charged with overseeing the PLSP programme. The majority of students have Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) needs around social engagement, not so much Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs (SEMH).
The aim of the mentor programme is to support social re-engagement. A mentor will visit the home, go through academic feedback face-to-face, build vocal interaction and enter the home to get students more used to contact. An example was given where an Autistic/Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) student was high achieving but required the life skill programme in order to gain the confidence to leave the home. The mentors work towards the outcomes on the EHCP. The Local Authority (LA) covers the cost from EHCP funding and each mentor supports up to 3 students.
The mentors create a mentoring plan, adding activities that lead to the outcomes. Planning a bus journey to the local shop, for example, which may result in a multitude of steps. Gaining the trust and support of the parents and carers is also vital. Every session is evaluated including steps towards the goals and like the academic virtual platform, everything is tracked and shared online with the wider Nisai staff.
Support and Challenge
Our Assessor also met online with the Chair of Governors who explained that termly Governor meetings were held to support and challenge. The Chair communicates with the Chief Executive Officer weekly. Since the last IQM visit, changes have been made within the organisation to allow for the international expansion and development of the organisation abroad.
The Governors maintain a strategic role, holding the operational managers to account, ensuring action is taken. The Chair has delivered management training to the middle leadership as part of a CPD programme in order to help to implement the new management structure. IQM targets have been incorporated and reviewed by the Governing Body as they are linked to the Nisai Virtual Academy’s Development Plan.
The final virtual meeting was with the Chief Executive, a charismatic and articulate leader. He explained very clearly the well planned Nisai growth strategy, referencing their teaching centre in Brunei, delivering to international students who wish to gain International General Certificates of Secondary Education (IGCSEs) recognised across the world under the ‘Nisai Global School’ brand. Our Assessor left the meeting clearly understanding that any organisational growth would not come at a cost to the quality of the learner experience witnessed during the Assessment.
Our Assessor added, “I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Nisai as part of their Centre of Excellence review. It continues to be a highly inclusive school with dedicated staff who truly care for the students. It is clear from the review process that the leaders continue to prioritise inclusion. Their work towards the IQM targets over the past 12 months has had significant, positive impact.”
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
Want more information on the IQM Award? Click here to request your free IQM information pack.
