Inclusive communication at Action Tutoring: Why it matters

Action Tutoring is proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities organisation for its staff and volunteers. We’re always looking to attract the very best volunteers from the most diverse and widest possible talent pool.

We understand that language can break barriers, but without us realising, it can also create them. That’s why adopting inclusive language and communication is one of our top priorities. 

It is important that everyone feels comfortable and receives the information they need in the most effective way. What we mean by inclusive communication is sharing information in a way that everybody can understand.  

Why is inclusive communication important? 

It is estimated that one in seven people in the world have some form of disability, including vision impairment, being deaf or hard of hearing, physical and learning disabilities.

All these groups of people should be able to enjoy life opportunities and participate in different activities in the same way as anyone else.

Equal access for people with disabilities is both the right thing to do and a legal obligation under the Equalities Act 2010. It is extremely important to apply it in our work so we don’t exclude any potential tutors or job applicants.

Just as important as what we communicate is how we communicate it. We recognise that people understand and express themselves in different ways and in order to meet their needs, it is essential to use inclusive communication in all forms; written, verbally, on our website and social media platforms, presentations (internally or externally), and face to face.

This helps us create an environment of respect in which every individual is welcomed, valued, and empowered to be their authentic selves.

How do we make communication more accessible?

Our communications team understands the power that language and visuals hold. For this reason, they try different communication approaches so that no one is left behind. They encourage everyone in our organisation to respect and acknowledge that people’s ability to access and process messages is as varied as they are.

We all try to implement the following strategies in order to be as inclusive in our communication as possible.

✔️ We use plain English when communicating with external audiences. This means using simple, everyday words, and explaining acronyms or Action Tutoring terms. For example, instead of saying ‘WAG’ for ‘Working at Grade’, we prefer to simply say ‘the grade at which the pupil is currently working’.

✔️ In our blogs, social media posts and emails to tutors, we avoid using figures of speech and idioms, as these can be challenging for autistic people and speakers of English as an additional language.

✔️ In our additional resources for volunteer tutors, we have included a Diversity and Inclusion tutor code of conduct in order to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and in accordance with Equal Opportunities policies. If you want to learn more about what we expect from our volunteers, you can read our D&I tutor code of conduct here.

We are always mindful of accessibility when it comes to our content on our website. We use text instead of graphics when sharing important information, so that those using a screen reader can access it.

✔️ Inclusive communication is not a one-and-done box ticking activity. It’s an ongoing process and requires constant learning and adjustment. Our team is always looking for new ways to improve how we communicate and include as many people as possible in our cause.

It’s time to make a conscious decision to create a welcoming and  safe environment for everyone. When we strive to be more inclusive, everyone benefits!

Can you support our cause?

If you could spare an hour each week to help disadvantaged young people receive the academic support they need in English and maths, apply today to join our cause.

We’d love to hear from you!

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A spring in your step: running for a good cause

This spring and summer, a number of our brilliant volunteers, staff and supporters have been swapping their sandals for trainers and shirts for running bibs, all in the name of a good cause: supporting children and young people to unlock their academic potential. 

Across four running events our fantastic supporters have raised over £3,400 to support Action Tutoring and our pupils. 

Running to support a cause you care about

The Hackney Half and ASICS London 10K saw a group of six runners per event taking part through our pre-booked charity spaces. Runners ran through the sights of the beautiful capital, with there being plenty of sun reaching them on both days and crowds of smiling supporters cheering them on. One of our runners said:

“It’s a pleasure to support a wonderful charity like Action Tutoring through a sponsored run. The work you do is really important and very much needed to support the children and young people in our society. I’m happy to be a part of it and help out where and when I can.”

But you don’t have to use one of our charity spaces to fundraise for us! Three of our Programme Coordinators in the Midlands entered themselves into the Great Birmingham Run, with two running a half marathon and the other opting for the 10K, raising over £700 between them.

Another of our wonderful volunteer tutors, who has been tutoring maths online at one of our partner secondary schools in London, had already purchased her space in the Edinburgh Marathon before deciding to dedicate her training and event run to support Action Tutoring, raising over £480.

Hannah O’Neill, Action Tutoring’s Partnerships and Fundraising Manager, says:

“As a charity every pound makes a difference to our work to close the attainment gap, and we truly could not do what we do without the kindness and generosity of others. It’s brilliant to have our volunteers and staff team come together and get involved in sport for a good cause. We’re so grateful for all that our supporters do for us. We’re really lucky to have them!”

Running isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but after the pandemic and a series of lockdowns, many have used running as a way of boosting their activity, meeting new people and working towards a goal. When you add the dimension of supporting a charity or cause close to your heart, it really increases that ‘feel-good’ feeling. It’s not just the event that matters, in fact, that’s just part of the journey.

Using your training ahead of the event to boost your wellbeing and exercise can be a brilliant way to increase your confidence and ‘personal best’ training records, giving you a reason to use your gym membership, or to get out into nature.

After the events we’ve had lots of volunteers comment that they’ve continued their running, with some even joining a local running group! Whatever your motivation for running for charity, you are making a difference, not just for yourself but for the beneficiaries at the heart of the cause. Now that’s a worthy reason to dust off your trainers!

We know more of our volunteers want to get involved in our sport-based fundraising events, but can’t always travel to London. Next year we’re looking to offer pre-booked charity spaces for additional running events, including in the north of England and the Midlands.

We’ll be in touch with more details closer to the time. In the meantime, if you’d like to fundraise for us, check out our fundraising page or contact our Fundraising Coordinator, Naomi, via naomi@actiontutoring.org.uk. 

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Leading a tutoring revolution in schools to close the attainment gap

Tutoring has been proven to be a tangible and time-tested solution to improving the academic outcomes of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

With the pandemic disrupting school years, many young people have continued to face learning loss and remain several months behind in catching up. Even more significant is the impact on children facing disadvantage; predictions from the EPI estimate the attainment gap could increase by as much as 75%.

A major intervention that can help students get back on track is tutoring — a transformative instrument for reducing long-standing disparities in the education system. The government’s flagship National Tutoring Programme (NTP), if targeted, resourced, and managed well long-term, holds considerable potential to bridge the attainment gap.

Nick Brook, the Deputy General Secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT sought the insights of education experts while moderating a panel discussion at the Festival of Education last Thursday on the evidence behind tutoring, the focus placed on it by the Government, and the future of the NTP beyond Covid recovery.

These experts included Susannah Hardyman, founder and CEO of Action Tutoring, Sandra Hayes, Senior HMI of Schools and Early Education at Ofsted, Simrat Mavi, Deputy Headteacher of St. Giles C.E. Primary – a partner school of Action Tutoring,  and Ben Styles, Head of Classroom Practice and Workforce at National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

Firing on all cylinders

Susannah believes the attainment gap has the potential to narrow if the National Tutoring Programme is reformed in light of lessons learnt this year, and scaled up to focus on more disadvantaged children.

“If we can get the NTP firing on all cylinders in its implementation this year, it can fight the effects of Covid on education and reduce the attainment gap in the long-term.”

When Nick’s asked if the communication of the role and benefits of the NTP to schools in particular has misfired, Susannah said that there still remains an opportunity for the NTP to send a clear signal to schools of its value and purpose by focusing resolutely on the needs of disadvantaged young people and schools.

“We must also appreciate the dedication of senior teachers and staff in schools for offering logistical support as that is vital for making tutoring a success,” Susannah added.

Valuing tutoring

Drawing on the recommendations in the recently released CfEY report – Levelling Up Tutoring, Susannah called for a paradigm shift in thinking about tutoring as a profession and not an interim step. This, she believes, will improve the reputation of tutoring and support its growth in the educational sector. 

Read the key findings and recommendations of the Levelling up tutoring report here.

“Tutoring shouldn’t be seen as a ‘stop-gap career’ but a valuable profession in the education system. We can create pathways between the teaching and tutoring professions to help resolve recruitment issues in teaching and support the growth of human capital.”

Nick backed this narrative with an explanation of the possible benefits of the tutoring and teaching professions as mutually supportive, with flexible career routes between both, to help strengthen our education system.

Sharing tutoring evidence

Talking about the promise tutoring holds for addressing the attainment gap, Nick called for greater information sharing about how it’s making its impact on young people. “We need to move knowledge of what’s really working in tutoring around the system so we’re guided by the best evidence for supporting children’s learning.”As part of the work of the NFER, Ben said they advocated for new research which is forthcoming from Ofsted later this year to support the evidence-building and buy-in of tutoring.

In support, Sandra said high-quality tutoring was essential to closing the attainment gap.

“Tutoring is quality, not quantity. It’s about genuine partnerships. It works best with the young person at its heart.”

Do you want to be part of the change? Volunteer with us today!

Celebrating World Youth Skills Day – why is it important?

World Youth Skills Day is a global awareness day that is celebrated every year on 15th July as a way to raise awareness of youth unemployment and promote the importance of providing young people with the right skills, tools and resources so that they can transform their future. 

It was celebrated for the first time in 2014 and since then, World Youth Skills Day has created an amazing opportunity for dialogue between young people and education and training institutions, organisations, firms and employers.

Why do we celebrate it?

World Youth Skills Day is a chance to shine light on the high levels of youth employment around the world and the significance of giving young people the chance they deserve to succeed in life. 

By addressing the challenges of unemployment, the goal today is to spark discussion about how to provide further opportunities to young people coming from different backgrounds so that they can feel empowered and supported. 

How exactly did it start?

It started in 2014 as a way to reduce unemployment and promote Technical and Vocational Education and Training for youth, also called TVET. 

TVET, as part of lifelong learning that can take place at secondary, post-secondary and tertiary levels and includes work-based learning and continuing training and professional development which may lead to qualifications. 

TVET also includes a wide range of skills development opportunities attuned to national and local contexts. Learning to learn, the development of literacy and numeracy skills, transversal skills and citizenship skills are integral components of TVET. This presents a lot of benefits over traditional training methods and it creates better employment opportunities, higher income levels while also increasing job satisfaction.

As a result, this brings together policymakers, training institutions, and development partners to ensure that young people -especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds – are best supported.

Youth unemployment in the UK

Young people have been hit first and hardest in the labour market by COVID-19.  455,000 young people (10.8%) aged 16-24 were unemployed in February-April 2022. 

Read more: What does the EPI report show about the impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged young people?

Looking beyond COVID-19, the recovery of youth employment is more essential than ever. The government has responded to the unemployment crisis among young people by implementing different initiatives that encourage and promote employment prospects, such as the Kickstart Scheme, traineeships and employer apprenticeship incentives.

Do you want to get involved?

At Action Tutoring we have created a safe and inclusive place where our team members, tutors, pupils and teachers can feel supported, heard and empowered. 

If you could spare an hour each week to help disadvantaged young people receive the academic support they need in English and maths, apply today to join our cause.

We’d love to hear from you!

The role of tutoring in closing attainment gap – Experts share insights

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the academic attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has increased across the U.K. School closures and learning losses are likely to increase that gap to as much as 75%, according to EEF.

Tutoring remains one of the tangible and most effective tools to support learning and accelerate pupil progress in tackling this educational challenge. The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) was introduced by the Department of Education as a supportive solution to make tutoring available to pupils whose education has been affected by the pandemic. However, the NTP faced a number of challenges in the first two years that led to its inability to meet set targets and expectations.

At the just ended Festival of Education hosted annually by Wellington College in Crowthorne, a panel of education experts shared their insights and recommendations on how tutoring could be bolstered through the NTP  to live up to its objectives of narrowing the attainment gap.

The panel included Susannah Hardyman – Founder and CEO of Action Tutoring, Tom Hooper – Founder & CEO of Third Space Learning, Ian Taylor – Leader of School Performance at Academies Enterprise Trust, Sam Freedman – Senior Adviser/Senior Fellow at Ark Schools & Institute for Government, with opening remarks on the highlights of the Levelling Up Tutoring report by Baz Ramaiah – Senior Associate at The Centre for Education and Youth. The session was moderated by Mary Myatt – education adviser, writer and speaker.

Is tutoring the only solution?

Tutoring is a central part of our education system, with the new CfEY report stating that 70% of respondents want the NTP to continue beyond the time limit and 50% are calling for a radical redesign of the intervention. 

Susannah believes tutoring is not the only, but a major solution in closing the attainment gap, especially as the pandemic has exacerbated that disparity. “Tutoring is not the sole solution to solving the attainment gap but a really important part. We have to improve equitability in tutoring by ensuring that the NTP focuses on those who need it the most, which are disadvantaged children.” 

“Without some form of better measure, pupil targeting, funding and other proper structures to collectively support tutoring, the NTP may not stand the chance of leaving a strong legacy in the system to narrow the attainment gap,” she added.

Cost vs. quality

In his submission, Sam said the procurement team for the management of the NTP prioritised the cost component over quality in its decision to choose Randstad. Tom added that there was no marked engagement with schools before the NTP procurement. “For schools and tuition providers, there was zero concession which affected the implementation and outcomes.”

Bottom – top approach

Ian suggested that DfE needs to find a balance between a central, national open source system and local management in running the NTP. “It is advisable to tackle aspects of it locally because of the complexities. We’ve got to trust schools more because they know their institutions and pupils better than national providers. Trust them to choose tutoring providers, local tutors and experts themselves and monitor using both local and national quality assurance checks.”

“If it is top-down approach using national providers, then the quality assurance has to be very high by capturing the feedback from schools on tuition providers using technology. We have to choose an approach to help with accountability and direction.”

Integrating online tutoring

Drawing from lessons of the pandemic, Susannah advocated for the integration of online tutoring along with the face-to-face delivery to reach more remote communities, expand accessibility and improve convenience of teaching.  “One of the errors made by the DfE is the directive that schools should revert to face-to-face tutoring. Online delivery has helped us recruit more tutors beyond the traditional pool, including retirees and corporate employees, who rely on online delivery to teach pupils.”

“There is a huge amount of untapped potential there and there should be guidance on online tutoring as it will attract diverse tutors to help tackle the attainment gap in areas where it is harder to recruit tutors.”

Tom supported the online delivery model because it helps to fill the gap and match the huge demand for tutors to close the attainment gap. “If you want to solve the attainment gap, looking at the volume of children you need to work with, you have to bring in a new supply of tutors. It is impossible to actually scale up to the size of helping the over 2 million children who qualify for pupil premium without considering additional tutoring delivery models.”

Attracting tutors

Susannah believes that raising the credibility of tutoring as a profession will help attract more people.

There is a huge potential to strengthen the link between tutoring and teaching, including supporting tutors who want to become teachers. This will raise the profile and competence of tutors when they see a path to teaching, if in line with their career goals.

Ian recommended that creating a network of local schools to share best practices, and experiences can help improve tutoring quality. In conclusion, Baz summarised the key takeaways from the session, calling for the support of schools to  build long term partnerships with tuition partners and support organisations, create more accessibility for young people to benefit from tutoring and restore and maintain the Pupil Premium targets to keep the focus on disadvantaged pupils.

The consensus that a combination of these recommendations and several other solutions outlined in the CfEY report would collectively ensure that the NTP is entrenched in the education system and leave a positive, long-term legacy of narrowing the attainment gap.

Do you have an hour to spare each week to help disadvantaged pupils reach their potential in school?