London Park School (LPS) Hybrid, the only UK-wide hybrid school provider, has been named a finalist for the World's Best School prize in the overcoming adversity category. The school, part of the private Dukes Education family, combines remote online lessons with weekly in-person classes, offering a lifeline to students who struggled in mainstream education.
Student Transformation Through Hybrid Learning
Ellie Ball, 16, who once found it difficult to attend school, now plans to take four A-levels and study astrolaw at university. She attends remote lessons four days a week and travels an hour by train and tube once a week for in-person classes. “I absolutely love going to school now,” she said. “My mainstream school didn’t use screens and I was miserable there. Hybrid school uses screens but without them, I would not currently be in education.”
Ahlam De Chausay, 16, another student, said hybrid learning helped her become more confident and social. “I’ve been able to develop the necessary skills at my own pace,” she said. The school has also been shortlisted for a Tes Schools award for pupil mental health initiative of the year.
Context of Social Media Ban Debate
The recognition comes amid a fraught national conversation about children’s relationship with technology. The UK government is legislating a social media access ban, while schools restrict smartphones. Ellie’s father warned the ban could “potentially stop kids in the future from accessing all of the online GCSE provision that many kids like Ellie find invaluable.” A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the ban would not apply to “dedicated educational platforms, which support schoolwork and learning.”
Addressing the School Absenteeism Crisis
Vikas Pota, founder of T4 Education, which runs the World’s Best School prizes, said the school deserves recognition for addressing the crisis around student wellbeing. “In this country, we are seeing a crisis around student wellbeing, leading to absenteeism and poor education outcomes,” he said. More than 170,000 children were severely absent last year, missing at least half of their lessons. “If mainstream schooling isn’t catering to those diverse needs, it’s failing hundreds of thousands of students,” Pota added.
Technology as a Tool for Learning
Ambreen Baig, co-director of LPS Hybrid, said: “Telling today’s young people to avoid screens is like telling previous generations to avoid books.” She emphasised teaching students to use screens safely. Jamie Whiteside, also co-director, argued that educational screen use at the school “has little resemblance to the online environments that concerned many parents.” He added: “Through screens, humans who know each other, talk to each other.”
