End of Term Reflections and the impact of volunteering

As the academic year draws to a close we would like to reflect on the incredible successes of the past 12 months, made possible by all our amazing volunteers and supporters.

The impact of volunteering

This year we have provided more programmes than ever before: our network of over 1,000 volunteer tutors have delivered nearly 31,500 tutoring sessions, a 14% growth on last year, supporting nearly 2,500 pupils across the country. These activities are helping to have a positive impact on bridging the gap in attainment between disadvantaged young people and their peers. 

Over this last week we have been gathering the SATS results of the primary school pupils we’ve been supporting and early signs look very positive – more news on these coming soon! Our 2017-18 Impact Report was launched in March this year in the Houses of Parliament, in the presence of many of our wonderful Action Tutoring network who heard from several inspirational speakers.

The very talented filmmaker Owen Baker was kind enough to film the event, which featured some of the highlights of our impact. We encourage you to check it out below:

Action Tutoring has grown ambitiously over the past eight years, now successfully delivering programmes in seven cities and we don’t intend to stop there! We are thrilled to announce that we will be launching in Nottingham this autumn, delivering tutoring support to young people in the city.

Recent figures from the Child Poverty Action Group show that over 38% of children are living in poverty in the city (compared to around 30% nationally) and in 2015, it was ranked as the fourth most deprived local authority on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index. We believe the work of Action Tutoring can help to tackle these figures, as a proud member of the Fair Education Alliance; we are committed to working towards establishing a fairer education system across the country.

We have already begun making connections in Nottingham, forging partnerships with a number of schools. If you would be interested in getting involved with our mission in the city or know someone who would, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Applications are now open to volunteers, get involved today.

We would like to thank all of our volunteers, funders and volunteer partners for their tremendous support over the past year and with your help, we look forward to continuing to grow our impact in the years ahead.

Written by: Olivia Beer

Volunteering Experiences – Primary school

Stefanie Bongert is a Systems Consult at SustainIt and has tutored maths to primary school pupils with Action Tutoring. Stefanie has attended fifteen sessions and shares her volunteering experience below.

SustainIt offers each employee the chance to volunteer for a charity of their choosing for two days, every year. I decided to volunteer with Action Tutoring in Bristol, who support disadvantaged pupils in local primary and secondary schools, by offering tutoring sessions for maths and English.

Every tutor works with the same group of two or three pupils, for one hour a week over the period of one term (8-10 weeks), with the option of continuing the following term.

Why did I volunteer as a tutor in a primary school?

Having previously studied English and Maths to become a teacher, this volunteering opportunity seemed like a perfect fit. The main reason behind my interest in volunteering with Action Tutoring was that I wanted to commit to an entire term as I really think that it is important to only start something that you can dedicate enough time to.

I also particularly like the fact that you work in a room full of other volunteers, working with pupils of the same age group. We get the chance to help each other and share ideas during the sessions, or in our 10-minute catch-up after each volunteering session.

During each session, we try to concentrate on a specific topic, including time for both group and individual work. During the small breaks between longer tasks, we play mathematical games or try the brain teasers in the workbook. Figure 1 shows an example of some of the activities we ask the children to complete. Can you solve the triangle mess and count the triangles?

It is great to see the students enjoying the sessions when we get to a topic they find engaging. Sometimes, they almost forget that they are doing maths.

It has been important to get to know my pupils a little bit during the first session and observe what they enjoy in the following session. It is a great chance to plan the lessons with a mix of tasks they need more practice on, as well as those they enjoy and leave them with a sense of achievement.

Written by: Stefanie Bongert, Systems Consultant

Originally published  https://sustainitsolutions.com/blog/volunteering-at-a-local-primary-school/

If you want to give back to your community and also volunteer like Stefanie in your area or online, get involved today and support disadvantaged pupils by providing them the academic assistance they need.