Looking back to AY (Academic Years) 20/21
We accessed tuition via the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) for our Looked-After Children, as they received 1:1 tuition remotely at home during the lockdown period. In addition, we used our Recovery Premium funding to hire two Academic Mentors, for English and maths on a full-time basis. The tutors had their own timetable and we identified students that needed extra support in these subjects. We found that this was mainly in Key Stage 3 and some pockets of Key Stage 4 and 5. The tutors would work with pupils in small groups during the school day. We found this approach worked well to ensure maximum attendance.
AY 21/22
This year we have signed up to the programme again and are adapting our usage to conduct tuition after school. This works for our pupils, as they are receiving tuition but not missing out on normal curriculum time. We have tutoring sessions running Monday to Friday for Y7-Y10. We are able to support 24 students in 1:3 sessions with 8 tutors focusing on English and maths.
We are currently using two Tuition Partners and both have been great to work with. We assigned an Admin Assistant to support with the setting up of tuition sessions and assigning pupils to tutors; this has been a great help. We specify how many hours we need and in what subjects and we’re ready to go!
Teachers have been working closely with the tutors to ensure that the tuition sessions are pertinent to the students’ curriculum. This is done routinely to ensure that any changes or adaptations that are needed are done in real-time.
We are also investing our School-Led tutoring funding to focus on catch-up lessons for students in Year 9 who we have identified as needing extra support. We gave students the choice, in discussion with parents to have an extra lesson in English or maths to rebuild their knowledge and address any gaps in these subjects. For Year 11, students who are significantly below targets are being tutored by our own subject specialist teachers. These small group tutoring sessions are really helping Year 11 students get prepared for their mocks and summer GCSE exams. We found that the best intervention for this cohort was tutoring from our own staff, as they hold the existing relationships and examination specifications. This is all conducted in addition to the student’s normal curriculum time. The School-Led route of the programme allows us to have this flexibility and has been well-received by pupils.
In terms of impact this year, we have seen a decrease in the number of students that were identified as below target. This is a huge positive for the school, as there is some evidence to suggest that the tutoring has supported children in their behaviour and attitude towards learning.
Looking ahead
The first blocks of tutoring ended around the February half-term, and we have re-start the identification process. Our intention is to offer after-school tutoring to those that are below target and disadvantaged first. If we have surplus spaces, these will be offered to a wider group of pupils who need support. Our aim by the end of the programme is to have every pupil who needs it to be receiving some form of tuition.
I would certainly recommend the programme to other schools. My advice would be to plan out the workforce requirements within school before starting the sessions. For example, a member of administration staff to support the student list, attendance recording and letters to parents. In terms of assuring the quality of the sessions, we would recommend that there is a member of staff who supervises the sessions to ensure learning engagement is maximised.
