Leading academic to address Jersey audiences on the future of education

A well-known figure in academic circles, Peter Fekete was a former head of 6th form at Victoria College, then founder and director of Black’s Academy in Jersey more than 30 years ago.

Black’s today is an online academy, through which Peter is spearheading a revolutionary new methodology in teaching, designed to support students of all ages and abilities.

“Covid-19 has been the driver in many ways for the teaching practices we now have in place at Black’s,” said Peter.

“As well as dominating every aspect of our lives and work, the pandemic upturned every norm for our children and a huge part of that was their learning.

“They could not access their schools, their teachers, their friends or any of their usual routines, yet they were still expected to study and progress.”

Operating as an online academy for several years before the pandemic, Black’s looked after pupils both with learning difficulties as well as high achievers, for everyday study as well as exam preparation.

Peter recognised that the needs of his existing pupils were changing and wanted to adapt his teaching methods to meet the unfolding crisis in children’s education.

Over the past four years his focus has been on developing a teaching methodology to “reignite the spark that is in everyone”, give his students a feeling of worth and that, academically, they can achieve anything they want.

The science behind his unique programme involves complex deconstruction and rebuilding of the curriculums, particularly in English, maths and the sciences. It also follows the fundamental principles on which Black’s is established - teach what the student can understand, work systematically from that point, exercise different parts of the brain in a measured way, have fun (!) and, most importantly, have faith in your student.

Peter is the principal contact for all his students, undertaking much of the teaching himself, and he also leads a team of undergraduate tutors trained in the methodology, who are matched with students depending on their needs.

“We look past diagnoses or ‘labels’ that may have been attributed to a young person. We look at them as a whole and work very hard to quickly understand the approach and individual learning style they need.

"After my initial assessment, we put the student and tutor together and watch the results unfold. As the stress of studying disappears, the joy of learning replaces it, even though the students are working hard in their sessions. The online environment also means we have every resource immediately available to us to support each individual student.

“As well as achieving academically, students have been able to re-engage with school attendance; we have worked on some very successful combinations of school and online/home learning; and some pupils are thriving in an all home-learning environment.

“Based on their experiences and fulfilment with Black’s, we also see marked changes in many other aspects of children’s lives, such as an increase in their empathy and emotional intelligence.”

At the workshops, Peter will explore the challenges parents and their children face, in a world where expectations are ever increasing, but the fundamental landscape of education has shifted.

In a post-pandemic world, he will look at strategies and coping mechanisms that teachers, parents and carers need to support children through their educational journey that has been fundamentally disrupted in so many ways.

Peter, who gives his name to the academy (‘Black’ is the English translation of Peter’s Hungarian surname ‘Fekete’), is an impassioned teacher and skilful communicator.

He wants to share his vision for any student who is A**, who ticks all - or none of - the boxes, who is (or whose parents are) disillusioned with learning, and for anyone who wants to see real, meaningful, and relevant results.

“We hope to see past, current and future students at the events, parents wanting to explore new possibilities, and anyone in education seeking different ways of supporting our students here in Jersey.”

The workshops – which are free of charge to attend – are being held at St Paul’s Centre, Dumaresq Street, at the following times:

Thursday 27 June: 6.30pm – 8pm

Friday 28 June: 8.30am – 10am

To reserve a place on either workshop – the format is the same at each event – please:

Go to www.blacksacademy.net and fill in the form

OR email: keentolearn@blacksacademy.net