Spiritus Homeschooling Hub for Young People
Case Study
Jacqui O’Connell, Founder/CEO of Spiritus, talks about how she uses the First News newspaper and Engage Pro to engage pupils and give them a greater interest in the world around them.
“Having subscribed to First News for some time, we knew how interesting the newspaper is and how it covers world news through relevant and informative information. I feel First News delivers the latest current affairs in a way young people can understand, and encourages them to continue reading. It gives interesting facts and information on a wide range of subjects which are both happy and sad – I feel it is important to share both of this type of news.
Following a 30 day trial, we decided to subscribe to First News Engage Pro. Our age group is 9-14 years and their abilities vary, not by age but by what they are able to cope with mentally, which is very interesting to see. Our young people are getting very competitive with Engage Pro’s points system. We always sit around a table to talk about a topic they find engaging. This achieved debating, which is something Spiritus wants to actively promote. They have been enjoying Engage Pro immensely, using it is a very crucial part of Spiritus Learning as it engages our young people to debate around current affairs, have knowledge of what is happening in the UK and around the world as well as engage in First News topics.
The team at First News Education have been so engaging and helpful. Understanding we are newbies in the education world and giving our young people the tools to have an easy understanding of what is going on in our current world – which is changing at a very fast pace!
Engage Pro is a window to the outside world and beyond – an amazing concept – thank you.”
Get full, unlimited access to all activities and features in Engage Pro during a free 30 day trial, including:
- Differentiated activities, automatically tailored to students’ reading levels
- An interactive interface to engage students, driving interest and focus
- Your own reporting dashboard to measure pupil and class progress
- Automatic marking of multiple-choice questions, saving you valuable time
- Points and badges to reward achievements, motivating pupils through their progress
