Minerva Takes Battersea: 100 new families gather in London in preparation for the year ahead

More than 100 families gathered in Battersea Park yesterday ahead of their first term at MVA, meeting and connecting with each other, teachers, and staff; laying the groundwork to fully embrace and engage with the Minerva community.

Across a range of yeargroups, families came from as far as Latvia and Greece, bringing with them questions, excitement, and a handful of extremely cute dogs.

Staff were on hand to help, including a range of teachers both established and new this year, ready to guide students towards their potential classmates and subject experts.

CEO Hugh Viney was on hand with a freshly-rebranded MVA microphone (keep an eye out on Hugh's pages for the full interviews), and caught up with the team to see how the event had gone.

Principal Suzanne Lindley told us that it had been fabulous to learn everyone's stories, and particularly to see all the students arrive as strangers then leave as friends.

Head of Year 11 Mark Edwards talked about how fantastic it was to see how vibrant a community MVA nurtures, shattering the assumption that online education is isolating and disconnected.

Incoming Assistant Vice Principal for Student Development Anna Berney spoke of how wonderful it was to already see such a culture of kindness and compassion among students and staff, and how superb it is that 'Happiness First' isn't just what MVA says on the tin - it's what happens in real life from day one.

We thought it wise not to stick a camera and a microphone into the faces of brand new students, but in talking to families at the event we know that the sentiment was shared across the latest additions to the Minerva family.

Thank you all who came, we hope that meeting your future teachers and classmates has helped to put any start-of-term jitters at ease, and we hope that you are looking forward to getting started as much as we are looking forward to welcoming you through our virtual front gates in September.

From the whole team here at Minerva Virtual Academy - Welcome.

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