Member News
North East education provider Rosewood Education Group is expanding its specialist education offer with the launch of Rosewood Virtual Academy, giving children who are unable to attend a physical education setting access to real teachers, real connections, and real learning.
The new virtual provision builds on the experience and success of Rosewood Independent Special School and the Group’s alternative provision, taking the approaches developed through its on-site education and adapting them for a fully virtual environment. The Academy has developed a fully bespoke online portal and app to ensure students can access their education with ease.
Designed for children and young people who are unable to access a physical school or education setting for any reason, Rosewood Virtual Academy will provide both full and part-time placements, with live teaching, personalised timetables and individual support delivered by experienced education professionals.
Rather than simply moving worksheets and online courses onto a screen, the Academy has been developed around the principle that the connections which underpin successful engagement in education should not disappear just because a child is learning from home. Students will have access to real teachers, regular interaction and a named key wellness tutor, alongside structured learning, assessment and progress monitoring.
Full-time students can follow Rosewood’s broad and balanced curriculum and assessment frameworks, while bespoke packages can be created for children who remain enrolled at another school or setting and require additional education, attendance support or targeted long or short term intervention.
Importantly, virtual learning does not have to mean virtual outcomes. Students can also access Rosewood’s on-site examination centres, providing pathways towards recognised qualifications and helping young people continue progressing towards further education, training and employment.
Jennifer Abraham, Director of Rosewood Education Group, said:
“We have spent years learning what works for children who, for all sorts of reasons, have found conventional education difficult to access. Rosewood Virtual Academy is the next step to ensure we can provide education for all. We know that education starts with connection. A child needs to feel that somebody knows them, notices when they are there, understands when they are struggling and genuinely cares about what happens next. We have taken all of the good bits of our on-site provision - real teachers, strong connections with staff, flexibility, high expectations, our curriculum and assessment frameworks, and our belief in the potential of every individual child, and have worked out a way to deliver without requiring the child to walk through the door of a physical school. The Virtual Academy has developed a genuine school experience in an environment which works best for the child."
Rosewood Independent Special School, which was established in 2020, provides personalised, trauma-informed education for children and young people in Northumberland, while the wider Group also delivers on-site alternative provision. The approach is centred on what Rosewood describes as “connection before correction”, recognising that children may arrive with significant gaps in education or previous negative experiences of school and that rebuilding engagement and trust is fundamental to achieving both academic and social and emotional progress. The Virtual Academy creates the potential to reach children across a much wider geographical area.
Jennifer added:
“There are children with huge potential who are missing learning because, at that point in their lives, physically attending a setting isn’t working for them. The answer cannot be that those children simply receive less education, less ambition or fewer opportunities. Technology gives us the ability to put qualified and experienced staff and meaningful connections into a child’s home. What happens within our virtual learning environment is every bit as purposeful, accountable and ambitious as the education we provide on site. For some children, virtual education may be a bridge back into a physical setting. For others, it may be the environment in which they thrive. For schools and local authorities, it can also provide another option when a child needs something different. The Rosewood Education Group was built around the idea that children are individuals and education needs to work for the child."
Rosewood Virtual Academy is now welcoming enquiries for full-time, part-time, bespoke and blended education packages.
