School for children in care celebrates Oxbridge success
AN ONLINE school for young people in care has been praised after helping two more of its students to land places at top English universities.
Dedicated Bhuvanesh Ramnauth and Stephanie Braid passed rigorous Oxbridge entry requirements and are set to join the academic elite.
They are graduates of the Hertfordshire Virtual School, which supports the education of pupils in care in mainstream schools and has a high success rate.
Gifted
Bhuvanesh, 18, who is studying philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford said this was all made possible thanks to the excellent staff of the Virtual School and his foster carers.
“I’m gifted with calm and collected foster carers who allowed me to explore whatever I was interested in, without judgment,” said the Letchworth Garden City teenager.
“Their support allowed me to reach Oxford, something I never thought I
was capable of.” Bhuvanesh is one of 28 care leavers from Herts heading off to university.
For Stephanie Braid, 18, who achieved four A*s at A-Level, that means going to Cambridge to study computer science.
A total of the 139 care leavers have achieved degrees since 2009. And the school has helped the average grade achieved by the county’s children in care for GCSE English to rise by 13
per cent and Maths by 16 per cent. Kimberley Jean-Baptiste graduated in 2018 with first-class honours in philosophy and works as an investigator at the Ministry of Justice.
The 25-year-old said: “My mentors at the Virtual School provided vital support and guidance and their advice and positivity motivated me.
“I’m so grateful for their help as it changed the course of my life.”
Ex-student Alicia Warwick, 24, from
Hatfield, not only completed her degree in Primary Education but was the first care leaver to graduate while looking after her two children.
She completed her final assessments while expecting her third child.
“It was certainly a challenging time but I achieved my goals and graduated,” she said.
“I’m so grateful the school was there and helped me achieve my dream career as a teacher.”