Lessons in Lockdown

I’m sure we can all agree that the words ‘unprecedented’ ‘uncharted’ and ‘unplanned’ have become part of our daily vocab. In fact, I’ll be surprised if pupils round the country aren’t including these words in all of their English writing tasks from now on… 

We’ve been asked to create a ‘new normal’. We’ve been called to adapt and learn new behaviours and ways of working, whilst also required to ‘unlearn’ habits that no longer serve the times we currently live in. And, for the most part, humans are pretty adaptable, and WOW! They are resilient. From NHS staff, to those stacking shelves in supermarkets, to our incredible young people whose futures seem to have been thrown into chaos – they’ve navigated it so well, and I think that calls for reflection.

I’m no William Shakespeare, and I won’t be penning a world famous or ground-breaking play during quarantine (King Lear). But I have been ‘observing’ life and gathering thoughts I can share with my pupils and tutors when I see them again (whether virtually or physically). 

1.Resilience, resilience, resilience – Whether it’s falling over in the playground and dusting their bleeding arm off, or trying to mentally remedy the fact they can’t sit the GCSE exams that they’ve revised so hard for, young people are true pillars of resilience. I’ll be reminding all my pupils how amazing and resilient they are, and we as adults should be encouraging them to give themselves a big pat on their back for that. Let’s give ourselves one too.

2. Every lesson counts – Knowledge is never wasted. Effort and determination are always worth it. The term ‘education is for life’ has almost become cliche, but why? It’s true. It’s a fact. Yes, exams are the ‘proof’ of your hard work, but I know that my effective communication skills come from the debates and discussions we had in English classes – not from the ‘compare and contrast’ question in my GCSE exam. In fact, every pupil and tutor session this year has probably been even more important and impactful  in light of what’s happened. Ok we’re not measuring impact in the ‘usual’ way. Well let’s throw ‘usual’ out the window. It doesn’t fit for ‘these times’ anyway.  Half the journey is ‘showing up’, so another pat on the back.

3. ‘Usual’ is old news – We’ve been called to work, live and learn in ways we didn’t know possible. We will return to ‘normal’ at some point (whatever ‘normal’ is), but we shouldn’t lose this adaptive and flexible flair we’ve all started to master. So I’ll be bringing this energy to the young people I work with and mentor – never again will I accept ‘but I don’t usually do it like this….’. Usual is out, and ‘having a go’ is in! A pat on the back for flexibility.

4. You can make a difference from a distance – We’re all inside, but that hasn’t stopped people learning, growing, developing and ‘giving back’. Not being physically in school is no reason to not pick up a book. And no face-to-face contact is no reason to stop volunteering; so many of our tutors have already expressed interest in our online provision, and that is the definition of ‘making a difference from a distance’. You guessed it, it’s another pat on the back.

So there they are – the ‘Merseyside Musings’ – as I’ve affectionately named them (just in case this is a world famous and ground-breaking blog one day). Unlikely, but even Shakespeare started somewhere. 

These young people are going to need more guidance and support than ever. So, what lessons will you be taking from lockdown?

• Hannah O’Neill, Programme Coordinator for Liverpool

Sharing our 2018-19 Impact Report – why we’re determined to weather this storm

We are thrilled to now be able to share our 2018-19 Impact Report. The situation is not what we were anticipating it would be for this release, but we still hope you enjoy reading through the publication and reflecting on our work.  

A big thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers, funders, partners and supporters for the part you have played in contributing to this success.  

We are humbled to share some positivity at this time. Reflecting on the report has made us even more determined to weather the crisis and ensure we are able to continue delivering impactful academic support to the pupils who will so desperately need it.  With your help we can. 

This pandemic will hit disadvantaged young people incredibly hard. This report shows how relevant and necessary Action Tutoring is in helping them get back to where they should be.

We are particularly proud of our outcomes last year when:

• Of the primary school pupils we supported, 74% met the expected standard in reading and 81% in maths (12% and 14% higher respectively than the national average for disadvantaged pupils).  

• Of the secondary school pupils who attended ten or more of our sessions, 61% achieved a grade 4 or above in GCSE English and 58% reached this level in GCSE maths, both exceeding the national average for disadvantaged pupils. 

All pupils supported by Action Tutoring were at risk of not achieving these standards when they began the tutoring programme. 

In 2018-19, 1,150 of our inspiring volunteers supported over 2,500 disadvantaged pupils in 84 schools across seven UK cities.

We have also recently completed a wonderful new short film, hearing from a few of our amazing tutors at a session last autumn, which we wanted to share here.  We hope you enjoy it!

We know the impact the school closures will have on our pupils is significant. These are pupils who are already struggling academically and the absence of education, and any other means of support, will simply leave them further behind. It is highly likely the attainment gap will widen further as a result of school closures.  

For these reasons it’s imperative that we, as a charity, can survive and continue supporting disadvantaged young people.

We are working hard to develop our online delivery and aim to have a small-scale pilot in place in the summer term. That way, we can be ready to roll out more widely in September. 

How you can help

Spread the word – we’re always looking for more volunteers to support our work and new schools to partner with. Please share our film and our social media posts, to encourage anyone you know who’s interested to apply to join us as a volunteer or email us to discuss partnering as a school.  

Fundraise or donate, either individually or as a team, to help us raise vital funds which will support our delivery and help us recover from the financial loss resulting from the crisis. Thank you for making a difference.

Sign up to our termly newsletter, if you haven’t already subscribed, to receive all the latest news from our charity. 

We’re looking forward to working with you all as soon as it is safe for us to do so.