No. In an accredited online school, parents do not teach. Qualified subject-specialist teachers deliver all lessons, set all work, mark all assessments, and provide all subject feedback. The parents' role is to support the learning environment at home — not to instruct.

This is one of the most common misconceptions about online schooling, often confused with homeschooling. The two are categorically different. See the full online school vs homeschooling comparison.

What the parent does — and does not do

What parents do at an online school:

• Ensure a consistent daily routine and a quiet, functional workspace

• Monitor the parent dashboard for attendance, submissions, and teacher communications

• Support emotional well-being and encourage persistence when a subject is difficult

• Attend termly teacher-parent meetings

• Communicate with the school when something is not working

What parents do not do:

• Plan lessons or design a curriculum

• Mark work or set assessments

• Explain the subject content to their child

• Fill gaps when a lesson is missed (teachers and recorded lessons handle this)

• Manage examination registration independently (the school guides this process)

The distinction matters because many parents rule out online school, believing it requires them to become their child's teacher. At an accredited online school, this is not the case.

What makes an online school different from homeschooling in this respect

In homeschooling, the parent assumes legal responsibility for providing education, including planning, teaching, and assessing. This can work very well for families with the time, knowledge, and commitment to do it properly. But it is a substantial undertaking.

In an online school, the school is responsible for the education. Teachers plan the curriculum, deliver the lessons, mark the work, and report to parents on progress. Parents support the environment; the school does the teaching.

This distinction means online school is accessible to families where both parents work full-time, where parents lack subject-specialist knowledge of the curriculum being studied, or where a professional teaching structure is simply what the child needs to thrive.

What level of parental involvement helps most

While teaching is not required, parental engagement significantly improves outcomes. Research consistently shows that students whose parents are informed about and engaged in their schooling perform better — regardless of whether the school is physical or online.

At an online school, the most effective forms of parental involvement are:

Protecting the routine. A consistent daily start time, regular breaks, and a defined end to the school day build the habit that academic performance requires. This is a logistical decision the parent makes — not a teaching one.

Using the parent dashboard. Real-time visibility into attendance, submission status, and assessment performance allows parents to notice patterns — a string of missed submissions, a declining trend in Mathematics — before they become significant. At Teneo, the parent app continuously provides this data.

Communicating with teachers. Online schools make teacher communication more accessible than in many physical schools — through direct messaging on the platform, appointment scheduling, and regular, proactive outreach from teachers. Parents who use these channels are consistently better informed than those who wait for termly reports.

Normalising the experience. For students new to online school, parents who treat online lessons with the same seriousness as physical school attendance set the tone. Students whose parents reinforce that this is school — not leisure time — build stronger academic habits.

Frequently asked questions

What if my child doesn't understand something and I can't explain it? They ask their teacher — via the in-lesson chat, direct platform messaging, or a scheduled follow-up appointment. This is what teachers are there for. Students who develop the habit of asking their teacher for help build a skill that benefits them throughout their education.

What happens if my child misses a lesson? All lessons are recorded and available on the platform. A student who misses a live lesson can watch the recording at any time. The teacher will also be notified of the absence through the tracking system and will follow up.

Do I need to supervise my child during online lessons? For younger students (Years 7–8), having a parent nearby is helpful during the settling-in period. For older students, supervision is not required — and for teenagers, parental hovering during lessons is often counterproductive. The platform tracks engagement; parents can check the dashboard instead of supervising directly.

Is there more parental involvement required for younger children? Yes, at primary level, more parental support with routine and environment-setting is needed. At secondary level (Years 7 onwards), the expectation is increasingly that students manage their own engagement, with parents monitoring through the dashboard rather than supervising directly.

See how Teneo's school day works, explore the academic approach, or contact the admissions team to discuss what parental involvement looks like for your child's year group.