Spotlight on Bristol: Action Tutoring’s third biggest region

Continuing our spotlight series on Action Tutoring cities, we come to the brilliant Bristol. We partnered with our first school in Bristol in 2014 and volunteers from across the city have been joining us ever since to support our mission to help disadvantaged pupils in the city to succeed.

A third of children are living in poverty in Bristol – ten school children out of a class of 30 – according to new data. The city has the highest levels of child poverty across the whole South West region. Evidently, even in areas where there are prestigious universities and more options for young people, the residents of cities are not necessarily benefiting. 

Young people from affluent areas are six times more likely to get places at the most selective universities. In Bristol, only one in 60 disadvantaged young people goes to a highly-selective university.

We believe that increased academic performance and good grades can be one of the most effective ways out of poverty for these young people and this will require a more redistributive approach to spreading education. 

Action Tutoring supports schools right across this hilly city, from Oldland Common to Stoke Gifford.

Fun fact about Bristol: Ribena was invented just outside Bristol. The popular blackcurrant soft drink gained popularity during the Second World War as an alternative source of Vitamin C.

With lots of programmes to deliver, we need plenty of budding volunteers to get involved. We are very fortunate that we partner with several businesses in the city, including DAC Beachcroft and Arup, whose employees volunteer with us. All of our volunteers have a positive impact on the education of disadvantaged pupils across the UK’s first cycling city.

Why volunteer with us?

We’re not standing still. We need more volunteers to ensure we can reach as many pupils as possible this year. There are many benefits to volunteering with Action Tutoring, from gaining professional experience and making your CV stand out to meeting other like-minded volunteers who share the same values as you.

Your help is more essential than ever in reducing the attainment gap and making sure pupils from deprived communities have access to quality education. 

Here you can find the schools we work with in Bristol. If one of them is accessible for you, why not get in touch with us so you can help support pupils who need you?

Nimantha is just one of our many volunteers in Bristol who tutored with us last academic year and has joined us again this year. As a university student, he can easily fit his tutoring sessions around his studies. As well as learning new skills, Nimantha is making a real difference to people’s lives:

I would highly recommend tutoring because you’re making a real difference to people’s lives by helping them reach their aspirations. Whatever level you tutor at, the pupils will be extremely grateful to you for devoting some of your time to pass on your knowledge.

Nimantha, Action Tutoring volunteer tutor, Bristol

If you live in this great city and would like to volunteer, our fantastic team in Bristol consists of Gemma, Alice, Lilah, Matt and Chloe. They will support you every step of the way and ensure that you have the best volunteering experience.

Why is Black History Month important for Action Tutoring and its supporters?

Action Tutoring supports disadvantaged pupils to reach their potential. Across the country, in the cities and regions in which the charity works, there is a higher percentage of Black and mixed heritage pupils classified as disadvantaged compared to their White peers.

Government data from 2020 shows the percentage of pupils eligible for Free School Meals (the Government’s indicator of disadvantage) by ethnic group. In the table we can see 24% of Black African pupils and 28% of Black Caribbean pupils were eligible for Free School Meals compared to 14% of White British pupils, of those receiving their GCSEs in 2020.

Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds aren’t less able, but they have less access to the tools that support them to progress in school. This means they are not able to reach their full academic potential, significantly impacting their future prospects.

Disadvantaged pupils are, on average, 18 months behind their non-disadvantaged peers by the end of secondary school (EPI report, 2020). In fact, in the 2019 GCSE exams, only 25% of disadvantaged pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and maths, compared to 50% of all other pupils (DfE report).

In the Government’s household income data, published in 2021, Black households were most likely out of all ethnic groups to have a weekly income under £600 and as indicated above, children facing socio-economic disadvantage are less likely to achieve meaningful grades in their exams.

Tragically, the data above indicates that our education system is not able to guarantee all pupils the same outcomes and opportunities, regardless of their background or ethnicity, which is simply not fair.

Action Tutoring focuses on reducing the academic attainment gap at the end of primary and secondary school, so that young people’s circumstances don’t limit how much they can achieve academically.

Why history?

At primary school level, 6 out of 8 history topics in the Key Stage 2 curriculum focus on British history and at GCSE level a minimum of 40% of the course must be British history. These topics, recommended by the Department of Education, predominantly focus on White British history, often neglecting other perspectives and contributions which create so much of the diversity and richness in our country’s history.

The curriculum should put more emphasis on the negative legacy of the British Empire and explore much further how the British Empire created a cycle of exploitation which oppressed the Black, Asian and minority ethnic people under its rule.

Dominant narratives in the curriculum of the Industrial Revolution ignore that England ruled over 25% of the world in mid-late 1800s and early 1900s and exploited the natural resources in these territories to fund economic growth in England, whilst simultaneously taking over developing countries’ systems of governance.

The curriculum also doesn’t critique England’s continuing participation in the slave trade after they officially ruled it illegal in 1807, or how England exploited its empire for soldiers during WWI and WWII without guaranteeing them the same rights as White English soldiers.

The curriculum does makes references to the slave trade and civil rights movements in the USA. This is limited as it does not give an accurate picture of England’s involvement in the slave trade, and does not convey similar Black Power movements taking place in Britain.

“If you’re omitting different histories and narratives, you’re saying that these people aren’t part of this country, this nation, this heritage – or they’re not important enough to be taught as common knowledge,” says Melody Triumph, policy specialist at The Black Curriculum – a social enterprise that seeks to redress this imbalance by delivering programmes, training and campaigns about Black British history.

British children from minority ethnic backgrounds deserve to be taught about their history as much as White pupils. Expanding young people’s awareness of the rich history of our multicultural society will help to foster an accepting and less racialised nation. In our English tutoring resources, we have included Black British authors and have referenced the work of the Black Curriculum when reviewing and improving our workbooks because we believe this is essential to a fair and well-rounded education.

History is an important tool we can all use to make sense of our society today. It can help inform, empower and educate. If you want to find out more about Black British history, from the Black Tudors to Black Power movements in the 1980s, take a look at our resource list here and the Black Curriculum’s resources.)

Get on your running shoes – it’s time to make a difference

After what feels like a long time of being inside our homes, for many, exercise events repopulating our calendars has been truly welcomed. The year 2020 saw the cancellation and postponement of events happening left, right and centre, but in 2021, the Asics London 10K and Hackney Half made a come-back, and all of us at Action Tutoring have been thrilled to incorporate these events back into our annual fundraising campaigns.

London 10K

In the height of summer, on Sunday 25th July 2021, five brilliant runners made up of Action Tutoring staff and members of our volunteer community ran the Asics London 10k, raising over £1,400 for our work and pupils. CJ, one of Action Tutoring’s Training and Quality Coordinators, said:

“Running the Asics 10K for Action Tutoring was great fun for so many reasons! I’ve never been a speedy runner but I do enjoy it as a hobby and de-stressor, and having taken a long hiatus from big runs over lockdowns, it was nice to have a motivation to get going again. I was also very spurred on by my friends and family donating to my campaign, and it was a nice jumping-off point for chats with my network about Action Tutoring. Lastly, the day itself was great fun; I got to enjoy some live music, sightseeing and people-watching along the route (my highlights were a steel band, a bubble machine and a runner dressed as Spartacus) and meet up with some lovely Action Tutoring people after the race to go for some well-deserved chips!”

The pandemic has been challenging for us all, and some turned to trying new things and challenging their comfort zones. Heather Taylor, our Director of Finance and Operations, took up running as a hobby during the pandemic, and like CJ, challenged herself with the London 10K.

Hackney Half

As the weather began to cool down and leaves started to change around us, autumn was in the air. It was time for our staff and supporters to dig out their running shoes and Action Tutoring t-shirts again, in preparation for the Hackney Half, a half marathon which took place Sunday 26th September.

The Hackney Half takes runners through some key London sights, ranging from the Town Hall to the historic Broadway Market and Hackney Wick, with music and celebrations coined the ‘carnival of sound’ taking place across the running route’… just what the Doctor ordered after over a year of uncertainty and four walls! The team again consisted of Action Tutoring staff, including Adam, Director of Delivery, and a variety of Action Tutoring volunteers, with some even travelling from the Isle of Wight and Lancashire to support us! The event raised over £1,500, helping us to support even more pupils in need.

Mollie, one of our Partnership Coordinators, said:

“I got into running in the first lockdown in 2020. Only being able to leave the house once a day, I found running became a staple part of my routine and has now become crucial for my mental health. When the option for running the Hackney Half came up, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to put my running to good use for an achievable challenge, whilst raising money for something I’m passionate about!”

Combined, our fantastic runners and fundraisers raised over £2,900, with each donation contributing towards supporting our work to close the attainment gap and help pupils catch up with lost learning through the pandemic. Did you know that £2,900 has the potential to provide 116 pupils with access to our online classroom for an entire academic year? It could also provide 290 pairs of workbooks for pupils and tutors for in-school programmes!

We’d like to thank all of our London 10K and Hackney Half runners for their dedication, training, perseverance and fundraising, in addition to all their generous donors who supported them, and us, through these inspiring events. Thanks also to Limelight Sports for their organisation of these runs.

Do you fancy a challenge for 2022? Get in touch with our Partnerships and Fundraising Manager, Hannah O’Neill, to secure your place at these two key events next year. Don’t fancy the run but you’re interested in making a donation to help our pupils? Contact Hannah: hannahoneill@actiontutoring.org.uk.

Together, we can all be the difference that makes the difference.