Transylvania College, the British International School
Transylvania College
is a prestigious educational institution located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It is recognised as the only British Schools Overseas (BSO)- accredited school in the region.
It offers schooling opportunities to students ranging from ages 2 to 18, offering a comprehensive educational program from early years to A-levels.
The school prides itself on delivering high academic standards and a curriculum that balances intellectual, emotional, and social development.
Their mission centres around creating an environment where students are enthused and confident, teachers feel valued, and parents are empowered and trusting.
This supportive atmosphere is built on healthy relationships within the school community, which includes students, families, teachers, and the broader local community.
Given its mission to offer a personalised learning experience to every student, Transylvania College faced a couple of challenges that prevented it from achieving its full potential.
Until they decided to outgrow their boundaries.
Challenges Faced by Transylvania College
Before learning about Spark Generation, Transylvania College was already an amazing school. So amazing, in fact, that they were struggling to keep up with the local demand for quality international education.
Given that they are a physical school, their enrolment capacity is limited.
Moreover, they have a diverse curriculum but not very much room to wiggle with all the options that students are getting, as their time is still limited to the traditional 9-3 schedule.
They wanted their students to take advantage of the diverse subjects that their curriculum offers.
Apart from this, they also wanted to innovate the way they handle teaching in the school, giving their teachers time back on grading and automated processes and getting them to spend that time on personalised teaching or developing 1:1 relationships with their students.
Have you ever faced the challenge of not having enough time? That’s what teachers feel like, all the time.
Implementing the Spark Generation Platform in Transylvania College
As Diana Vancea, the Head of School, started looking for ways to grow the school’s potential, she came across Spark Generation.
“As an international school, we are dedicated to providing the highest academic standards and meeting the individual learning needs of each student. Our school allows students to choose the subjects they wish to study.
However, scheduling conflicts sometimes arise, requiring students to make difficult choices between two subjects they are passionate about.
To address this, we use the Spark Generation platform, which allows students to access course content at any time, ensuring they can still study their preferred subjects despite timetable constraints.”
Diana Vancea, Head of School at Transylvania College
The results already started showing after the students, teachers, and administrative staff were enrolled in the Spark Generation online learning platform.
Everyone involved in this learning experience had the opportunity to attend training sessions to familiarise themselves with the platform.
Here, they could learn about the platform’s features, the use of AI for teachers, the content available, etc.
Benefits and Results
There were 48 teachers and 208 students enrolled in our learning platform.
The engagement level of the students showed proof that interactive learning opportunities create interest among students.
They accessed over 7,303 course pages since the implementation of Spark Generation in their school.
The ways in which Transylvania College (TC) grew
Boosted Enrolment Capacity
Since they were struggling to keep up with the demand for international education locally in Cluj Napoca, they are now able to enrol students in a hybrid or online learning environment, where they only have to come in physically to take exams.
Their enrolment capacity grew by 20% in one year, and they predict a growth of over 40% in enrolment capacity over the next five years for TC.
Expanded Curriculum Offerings
Even though TC was already offering a broad range of subjects ranging from IGCSE to A Levels, upon starting to use Spark
Generation, they added 35 new subjects to their course library.
Nowadays, families and students look for ways to get more than the traditional curriculum can offer. They want to future-proof their education and a diverse range of subjects is a big benefit for them.
This means that Transylvania College not only added 35 new subjects to its curriculum (a growth of 175%) but also managed to stay on top of trends and keep its standards aligned with families’ evolving needs and requirements.
Time and Resources Saved
While the school was using Spark Generation, the teachers saved 1-2 hours in lesson planning and created 20,461 quizzes and exercises on the platform. You do the maths.
The AI assistant was reportedly one of their favourite tools. It allowed them to grade, give feedback, save time, and focus more on 1:1 student-teacher interactions.
Overall, Transylvania College saved 1,036 hours by using the Spark Generation platform. What would you have done with all that time?
Environmental Impact
Even though TC is already a highly digitalised school, using the Spark generation Online learning platform, they also had a significant environmental impact on their local community.
By creating quizzes and assignments and interacting with their students online, Transylvania College has saved over 10,360 sheets of paper.
If they were to keep using the same methods moving forward, they would be estimated to save around 51,800 sheets of paper by 2030.
That’s 6,22 trees saved from becoming printing paper for assignments.
Their Opinions
“ Students can study independently the topics from the platform (flipped learning). The platform helps students to check up on the missing topics taught in class. It’s a useful tool for practice and revision.
Moreover, the customised assessments help both teachers and students. The platform improved many aspects of my life as a teacher: revision, time-saving when a student misses the lessons, and being able to study the topic directly from the platform, saving time I used to spend lesson-planning.
This way, the assessments could be more targeted, because the student can access straight forward the theory related with the topic in question. Being a digital tool, it allows for more teaching strategies to be applied in the teaching- learning process.
Furthermore, it helps those students who prefer more self studying.”
Calin Ț, Mathematics Teacher at TC
“With the Spark Generation platform, I can study during my free time from any subject and topic, which allows me to dive deeper into my interests and study with ease.
Since I often participate in competitions and miss school, Spark makes it incredibly easy for me to catch up on missed work. Teachers can quickly send me assignments and resources, ensuring I stay on track and continue my learning seamlessly.
The variety of resources available allows me to explore different subjects at my own pace, deepening my understanding and keeping me engaged, even if my schedule is tight.”
David G, Year 10 Student at TC
Conclusion & Takeaways
Curious to learn about the rest of the findings our case study revealed? 📄
Fill out this form and check out the full report, which includes implementation, results, process, etc. Everything you need to know about implementing an online learning platform like Spark Generation in schools.
Want to help your school outgrow its boundaries?
We know that schools nowadays are trying to keep up with the demands of modern families and the rapidly changing environment of education, and we want to help.
Online learning platforms like Spark Generation are the best option for rapid growth and innovation.
Online education is not the enemy of traditional education; in fact, it is the hybrid learning model that offers students, teachers, and schools the best of both worlds.
🏫If you want to test Spark Generation in your school for one month for free, let us know at paul.bishop@spark.school.
FAQs Spark Generation x Transylvania College Case Study
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1. How has Spark Generation impacted Transylvania College’s enrolment and curriculum offerings?
The implementation of Spark Generation at Transylvania College significantly increased enrolment capacity by 20% in just one year, with a projected growth of over 40% in the next five years. Additionally, the platform enabled the addition of 35 new subjects to the curriculum, enhancing the diversity of educational offerings by 175% and aligning with the evolving educational needs of students and families.
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2. What are the primary benefits of an online learning platform like Spark Generation for the teachers at Transylvania College?
Teachers at Transylvania College have experienced substantial time savings and efficiency improvements through the use of Spark Generation. The platform reduced the time spent on lesson planning and grading by integrating AI tools, allowing teachers to save 1-2 hours per day. This has enabled them to focus more on personalised teaching and building one-on-one relationships with students.
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3. What environmental impacts has the Spark Generation platform had on Transylvania College?
The adoption of Spark Generation has led to significant environmental benefits for Transylvania College. By transitioning to digital quizzes and assignments, the school has saved over 10,360 sheets of paper. If they continue with their current digital practices, they will save approximately 51,800 sheets of paper by 2030.
