Calderside Academy

Virtual Learning Hub

What is the Virtual Learning Hub?

The Virtual Learning Hub is an exciting new way for Calderside Academy to support young people who are finding it difficult to attend school regularly. We understand that every pupil’s situation is different, and being away from school can make it hard to engage with classwork or feel connected. The Hub is designed to provide a flexible and supportive pathway back into learning.

Through the Hub, pupils can work towards recognised qualifications in ways that suit them best. This may include short courses or units that can be completed quickly, practical projects, or digital access to classwork from home. For some pupils, the aim may be to return gradually to classes. For others, the goal will be to achieve qualifications and skills that support future college, training, or employment opportunities.

Just as importantly, the Hub focuses on building confidence, wellbeing, and positive routines. By working closely with families, we can create personalised plans that give every young person the best chance of success.

Why has my child been chosen

The Virtual Learning Hub is designed for a small group of pupils who would benefit from extra support with their learning. These pupils may have found it difficult to attend school regularly, often for reasons such as anxiety, loss of confidence, or challenges in routine.

Your child has been identified because staff believe this approach can give them the best opportunity to succeed. The Hub offers a fresh start, with flexible pathways that focus on manageable steps towards qualifications, confidence, and future opportunities.

Being chosen means your child will have a personalised plan, access to supportive staff, and the chance to achieve recognised qualifications in ways that suit their needs. The overall aim is to build confidence, encourage engagement, and prepare pupils for positive next steps, whether that is returning to classes, moving on to college, or developing skills for employment.

How Will my child be supported 

The Virtual Learning Hub provides pupils with tailored support designed to help them succeed. Every young person in the Hub will have an individual plan that takes into account their needs, strengths, and goals. This ensures that learning feels achievable and that progress can be seen quickly.

Support will include access to digitised classwork so pupils can continue learning from home, short, accredited courses to secure qualifications, and mentoring from a consistent adult who will track progress and encourage achievement. Wellbeing will also be a central part of the programme, with opportunities to rebuild confidence, develop positive routines, and feel part of the school community.

Families will be kept informed through regular communication, so that parents and carers feel involved and supported as partners in their child’s progress. The Hub is designed to provide the right balance of flexibility and structure, helping pupils take steady steps forward while celebrating their successes along the way. ICT provision can also be made available such as a Chromebook and headset.

Wellbeing Support – What does this look like for me?

As part of the Virtual Learning Hub, we will be offering and signposting some very helpful wellbeing support programmes.

 

LIAM – Low Intensity Anxiety Management

LIAM is a support programme for people aged 8–18 who are dealing with mild to moderate anxiety. It’s backed by the NHS and gives you a chance to meet with a trained practitioner who helps you work through short modules about what anxiety is and how to manage it in real life. Usually this is done in around 8 sessions lasting 45mins to 1 hour.

Not everyone who feels anxious will be offered LIAM. Someone will chat with you first to see if it’s the right fit, based on things like what triggers your anxiety, how strong it is, and what else might be going on for you. If LIAM isn’t the best match, there are other types of support that might suit you better. Usually, LIAM is just one part of a bigger plan to help you.

LIAM may not be appropriate for everyone:

  • Children and young people with severe mental health difficulties

  • Children and young people at risk (e.g. suicidal thoughts)

  • Children and young people already engaging in other forms of therapy (e.g. counselling or CAMHS)

 

What is anxiety?

Everyone feels anxious or worried sometimes. It’s a completely normal part of being human, and it can even be helpful because it alerts us to

things that matter. But anxiety can sometimes feel overwhelming or hard to control, and that’s when it can get in the way of school, friendships or everyday life. When that happens, learning how anxiety works and finding ways to manage it can really help. People might also call anxiety feeling worried, scared or stressed.

 

What might anxiety look like?

When someone feels anxious, their mind can get stuck on worries and all the “what ifs,” replaying situations over and over and thinking about everything that could go wrong. This can lead to certain actions, like wanting to stay close to someone they trust, constantly asking for reassurance, or being on high alert for anything that might feel unsafe. Some people try to calm themselves by biting their nails or fiddling with their hair, while others might seem irritable, have emotional outbursts, or avoid things that feel too overwhelming, like going to school or hanging out with friends. Anxiety also shows up in the body. Someone might feel shaky, breathe faster, have a racing heart, or notice their face getting hot. They might sweat, go quiet, freeze up, feel sick, get headaches or stomach aches, or need the toilet more often. All of these are common signs that anxiety is kicking in.

 

Calderside Academy School Nurse

An appointment can be made with the school nurse to discuss anything health related that may be concerning you. This can be physical or mental health related. This can be for a variety of reasons, but it is important to know that there is a support network which is built up around you at the centre.

 

Kooth – Mental Wellbeing Support (www.kooth.com)

Kooth is an online support service that gives you a safe place to talk about whatever’s going on in your life. It’s free, confidential, and you can join without using your real name. The biggest strength of Kooth is its one-to-one chat option, where you can chat directly with a trained counsellor who listens, supports, and helps you work through things at your own pace. You can log in from home, choose when you want to speak to someone, and you don’t need a referral or appointment from school or a doctor. Alongside the chat service, there are forums, articles and self-help tools, but the real benefit is having someone there to talk to when things feel stressful, overwhelming or just too much to handle alone.

Supporting your pathway

 As a member of the Virtual Learning Hub, young people will receive support in deciding what pathway works best for when it’s time to leave school. In addition to the support already mentioned, you may have access to additional programmes or professionals to help guide towards the next steps.

 

Career & Skills Development

From S3 onwards, you will be supported by our fantastic team who will talk through career pathways, college courses, working on a CV and to identify what key skills you have and how to showcase these skills into employment or further study.

Aspire – For those of age/approaching the age to leave school

Aspire is a targeted employability programme in South Lanarkshire for young people who may need extra support to move into a positive destination like college, training or work after leaving school. You can join the programme during the last six months before you leave, and you’ll be linked with a Vocational Development Worker who helps you plan your next steps and keeps you on track.

There are three different options within Aspire. The first is a college-based leavers’ programme, where you attend either South Lanarkshire College or New College Lanarkshire three days a week and take part in courses such as Construction or Creative Industries. Completing the course can lead to Level 4 or sometimes Level 5 qualifications, and many young people use it as a pathway into full-time college. The second option is the RISE programme, which focuses on confidence, wellbeing, employability skills and outdoor or group activities. It also runs three days a week and is designed to help you build the skills you need before moving on to college or work. The third option is individual one-to-one support for young people who aren’t quite ready for group programmes. This can include confidence-building, tackling barriers, trying out different types of work, volunteering, online courses or work placements.

Travel is supported through the Young Scot free travel card, and your development worker makes sure you know exactly how to get to your placement or programme. Referrals are made through the school’s 16+ process, and you, your parents/carers and your development worker all work together to choose the option that suits you best.

Curriculum Plan

Our aim is to gain two full course awards and at least one unit award as noted below. If the opportunity allows, the learner will also be able to choose an additional short course from the SQA catalogue. During our initial discussion, evidence will naturally be gathered through conversation which will contribute towards the Self Awareness unit award at Level 5 (the equivalent to a National 5 unit award). Although young people in the Virtual Learning Hub will be at different stages of their education, there are various levels of the courses below. For example, there is a Bronze level Youth Achievement Award instead of Silver and N3 English instead of N4. Our aim is that pupils aim to achieve the Silver YAA by the end of S4.

 

SCQF 5 Personal Development – Self Awareness unit award

This award will link with the Youth Achievement Award challenge.

Outcome 1 – Prepare for a project to develop self-awareness by:

  • Explaining their own qualities and feelings, using an appropriate technique

  • Gathering opinions from another person about their own qualities

  • Identifying, and explaining the choice of, and aim for the project

  • Identifying their own detailed tasks to enable progress towards the aim

Outcome 2 – Carry out the project by:

  • Monitoring progress and taking appropriate action

  • Completing their own identified tasks

Outcome 3 – Review knowledge of self by:

  • Explaining what has been learned about own qualities and feelings from completing the project, giving examples

  • Explaining personal goals for further development of self-awareness

 

National 4 English

  • Reading assessment – read a passage and answer questions

  • Listening assessment – discussion

  • Writing assessment – 400 words on a topic of their choice

  • Added Value Unit – work through a booklet and produce a critical essay based on a poem.

 

SCQF Level 5 Silver Youth Achievement Award

The Silver YAA (L5) aims to have young people building skills by helping to plan and deliver activities. At this level, a young person is involved in helping to plan and deliver activities. This could mean taking responsibility for part of an activity or sharing responsibility for the whole activity.

  • Undertake between 1 and 4 challenges, taking at least 90 hours to complete in total. (The Bronze award (L4) is 60 hours and is aimed at our younger cohort. Further information can be discussed)

  • Challenges can be no less than 10 hours.

  • 30 hours from this award will contribute to the Gold L6 award as a future goal (120 hours total)

  • The challenges can be basically anything of interest to the young person but must include some leadership in the activity – helping to plan and deliver, not just take part.

  • The overall challenge will be completed in stages and will be agreed upon and guided through by school staff.