“You might wake up tomorrow a teacher!”- We speak to one of Action Tutoring’s very first tutors, 10 years on

To celebrate 10 years of tutoring sessions, we spoke to one of Action Tutoring’s first ever volunteer tutors, Patrick Bidder, who tells us about his time tutoring on a programme and how the experience helped prompt a career change to becoming a teacher.

Patrick Bidder- one of Action Tutoring’s first tutors

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do currently.

For the last three years, I have acted as Subject Leader for English at Tonbridge Grammar School in Kent. It is a terrific school, where very high achieving pupils are nurtured and encouraged to be curious and independent in their learning. I have loved the experience. I moved with my young family to Tonbridge from London for the job and to make the most of the beautiful countryside in the Weald. Teaching the International Baccalaureate English course has introduced me to new international literature and I’ve enjoyed exploring an amazing variety of texts with the pupils.

Why did you first get involved with Action Tutoring?  What were you doing at the time?  How did you hear about it?

Before my teaching career, I worked as Wealth Planning Solicitor in central London and it was during this period that I first got involved with Action Tutoring. Susannah (CEO and founder of Action Tutoring) is an old and close friend of mine, who knew I had always had a bit of a yearning to teach. When she suggested I take part, to get some experience of what teaching is like, I jumped at the opportunity and since then I haven’t looked back. Thanks Susannah!

How did you find the tutoring? What subject were you tutoring?  Where were you located?

For a few weekends, I tutored English GCSE pupils at Harris Academy Peckham. It was a very good experience, because it gave me a very realistic view of how difficult teaching is. I perhaps had a slightly naïve view of teaching, standing in front of a class, waltzing around with an open copy of Pride and Prejudice in my hand. The tutoring experience made me realise for the first time that this career is more about learning than teaching. It is not a performance – more about the nitty gritty of figuring out how children learn and progress. But don’t get me wrong, I still get to delight in literature every week!

What impact did you see the tutoring have on the pupils you were supporting?  How long did you support for?

It feels like a long time ago now! I am ashamed to say that I think I only spent a couple of terms supporting on a weekly basis. But in my defence, I think I may have been so inspired by the experience that I immediately applied for the Teach First Leadership Development programme. It then became a full time job! Teachers will often say that the highlight is the ‘light-bulb moment’ when pupils understand something for the first time. I actually quite like the bit before that. When you’re working with a pupil who is quietly and determinedly working towards that moment. Pupils are not always like that. Teaching is not always like that. But when it is, it’s a privilege to witness.

What was the best thing about volunteering with Action Tutoring?

The best thing was working with the pupils. Trying to find different ways to explain something and working towards a new understanding together. There was also a really clear goal to it – although English, and certainly life is not all about exams, when you were in the room with the pupils, there was a really positive atmosphere. They were driven and there to work hard to get the result they wanted!

What impact did the volunteering have on you? What did you learn?  What have you done since then?

It confirmed my decision to change career and become a teacher! I spent two years on Teach First at an excellent school in Peckham called St Thomas the Apostle College. I was a Head of Year 7 and 8 and enjoyed all the challenges and highlights of being a pastoral leader, before moving down to Kent where I’ve loved leading more on Curriculum and Teaching and Learning within the English department.

Have you followed the work of Action Tutoring since?  What do you think has helped the charity reach this milestone?  What has contributed to its success?

Yes, I know that the organisation has gone from strength to strength, expanding to new areas and reaching many more pupils. I also know that it played a big role in the setting up of catch up provision following the lockdown – so important for pupils across the country. I think the clarity of your charity’s vision has been vital and the focus of ensuring that the tutoring is rigorously planned and resourced. Maintaining the quality of the pupils’ experience means that I am sure you will go from strength to strength.

What would you say to anyone considering volunteering now?

Do it! It’s a very rewarding experience, and you never know…..you might wake up tomorrow a teacher!

What do you think the importance is of volunteering at this time?

No matter how hard teachers or pupils have worked, no matter how much we have used technology intelligently to connect from home to home, we cannot recreate the experience of being in a classroom. Inevitably, it is now crucial to support pupils with any learning they need clarified so that they can access the results and futures they deserve!

Click to share patrick’s story

Donate your 10

To celebrate 10 years of critical tutoring for thousands of young people, we are asking whether you can donate either £10 or 10 hours of your time (or both!) to support the thousands of young people we work with each year.

How to create a charity video during a pandemic?

Producing a charity video in a pandemic, who doesn’t love a challenge? This is the story of how we, at Action Tutoring, managed to create our new video.

Click to watch the new Action Tutoring video

Back in September, Action Tutoring started its first online tutoring sessions after trials during the summer months. To encourage more volunteers to apply to tutor online, the marketing team were tasked with producing a video showing the benefits of online tutoring. The team worked with our fantastic videographer, Owen, to create the project.

Top tip 1: Create a detailed brief – formulating a plan for what the video will look like, what it must include and its overall purpose is extremely important. Make this as detailed as possible.

Producing a detailed brief for our videographer was critical, as we really wanted to shine a light on the benefits of our online tutoring. The brief detailed exactly what we were looking for, the main aims of the project and examples of other charity videos we were trying to replicate allowing Owen to have clear direction. Once we had our plan in place, the next step was to find schools that would be a good setting for our video.

Top tip 2: Find a supportive setting – in our case a school, that you have great communication with and our supportive of the work you do. We have worked with Prendergast Vale for years and this allowed us to overcome any issues quickly.

In the run up to the day of the shoot at the secondary school, a hiccup arrived. Having returned from a holiday to stay at his parents, our marketing manager’s mum started to feel unwell. A Covid test was needed. Unfortunately, the test came back inconclusive, making it impossible for him to attend the filming as they had to quarantine.

Fortunately, it had already been planned that our marketing assistant, Luc, would join the filming to support. On the day of filming, Luc brilliantly led the way, directing our videographer to ensure we secured the shots that were needed to make the video. Interviews with pupils were completed in a Covid secure way, masks were worn and social distancing was implemented.

Top tip 3: Interview people who are impacted by the work you do – interviewing pupils on camera for the first time allowed us to show the impact of Action Tutoring’s work on those who it supports.

As the plan for the video centred around interviews with our pupils, it was important to get as much content as possible, so that we were able to select the very best soundbites for the final edit. In order to make sure we covered a range of voices, we selected three different interviewees. By liaising with our programme coordinator, Lily, who knows the pupils well, we were able to interview pupils who we felt would be confident in sharing their experience of an Action Tutoring programme.

The results of the filming were great. Engaging interviews with the pupils, a comprehensive interview with the deputy headteacher and some dynamic cutaways to use in our video.

Top tip 4: Get more footage than you think you need – it’s great to have more content to choose from. There will often be issues, whether that is distorted sound or out of focus shots.

Unfortunately, due to lockdown rules, we were unable to get footage of volunteers tutoring from home. So, we made it our aim to secure some footage at a primary school.

Owing to the school closures in January, we had to cancel our planned filming at a primary school. After finding out schools wouldn’t return till March, it was decided to go ahead with producing the video with the footage we had.

Our videographer started to produce the first few drafts of the video. As you may have noticed from the final cut, we used old footage of tutors in the classrooms as we were unable to film in people’s homes – this worked really well.

Top tip 5: Don’t forget the subtitles – your video will be used on social media where people don’t have the sound on. The content should also be made accessible for all.

After much back and forth – we settled on the final version which you can see today. Despite some hiccups along the way, we are proud of the video we have produced and proved creating a charity video in a pandemic can be done.

Back to school! Action Tutoring resumes face-to-face tutoring as schools return

Photo courtesy of Abbeywood School

As pupils return to schools this week, we’re delighted to be able to begin delivering face-to-face tutoring sessions again, in order to support the young people we work with to catch up on the learning they have missed.

The impact that school closures have had on disadvantaged pupils is extreme, and Action Tutoring welcomes the news of teachers, tutors and pupils being able to return to schools, to resume normal classroom teaching and help make up for the time lost.

For many families, the news of schools reopening may bring anxiety as well as relief, but we know that school is the best place to be for the young people we support.

We are working hard to ensure that tutoring can be delivered in person as safely as possible, in line with the current government guidelines, and we have updated our Covid-19 safety guidance for face-to-face programmes accordingly.

Action Tutoring is incredibly grateful to all of its team and network, who have worked tirelessly to ensure its tutoring support has been able to continue online while schools have been closed.

We would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work, passion and dedication, which has helped disadvantaged pupils across the country with their academic catch-up so far. We are committed to ensuring that our pupils continue to receive support they need to get back on track.

Programme update

Following the government announcement that schools were to open on 8th March, Action Tutoring made the decision to resume in school tutoring from this date. From 8th March onwards, Action Tutoring will resume face-to-face tutoring sessions in schools, with social distancing in place.

We intend to continue to deliver most of our current programmes online until at least the Easter holidays. Pupils will take part in these online sessions from school, while tutors will continue to deliver them remotely, from home.

As face-to-face tutoring resuming, we are in need of volunteers to deliver in person sessions more than ever, to support disadvantaged pupils make up for the learning they have missed. We know that in person tutoring is of great value to both pupils and tutors, and we endeavour to make sure that these sessions can continue to go ahead safely.

Become a volunteer

Evidence shows that school closures have widened the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers further. Action Tutoring is committed to providing tutoring to as many young people as possible during this unsettling and challenging time.

This type of academic support is vital. Disadvantaged pupils need this support now more than ever before to ensure they can make up for the education lost and progress academically. Action Tutoring needs volunteer tutors to enable this to happen.

Apply now and become a volunteer with Action Tutoring to help disadvantaged pupils with English and/or maths, for as little as an hour a week.

For more information, please visit our Covid-19 FAQ page and read our Covid-19 statement.

Action Tutoring shares its 2019-20 Impact Report – how we’ve adapted to continue supporting disadvantaged pupils

We are delighted to share our 2019-20 Impact Report with you. The last year has been a turbulent and uncertain one, with school closures and further disruptions to learning impacting disadvantaged pupils significantly. As a charity, we are proud of what has been achieved in response to the pandemic and are committed to helping pupils make up for the time lost.

Our impact report includes some of our key delivery statistics from before the pandemic and it details how we adapted and developed over the period of school closures, to be ready and equipped to support with the catch up in the autumn. It also gives core statistics on the impact the pandemic has had on pupils’ learning nationally, particularly the disadvantaged pupils we support.

 Action Tutoring 2019-20 Impact Report

We are extremely proud to have delivered 8,983 sessions from September 2019 to March 2020, with the help of 1,098 incredible volunteers. This meant that we were able to reach 2,0108 disadvantaged pupils, in 95 schools, across eight cities.

We would like to thank our wonderful volunteers, funders, partners and supporters for the part you have played in contributing to this success. 

The pandemic has 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.

Key Findings

We are so pleased to be able to share some positive outcomes from over the past year. Here are some key findings from this year’s impact report: 

How you can help

Spread the word –  Please share our impact report 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.

Click to share our impact report via Twitter

Join us – become a volunteer tutor and support disadvantaged pupils to catch up on the learning they have missed.

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 pandemic.

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

Student Volunteering Week: My experience as a student volunteer with Action Tutoring

Eleanor, who is currently studying English Language and Linguistics at the University of West England, has been a volunteer with Action Tutoring since December 2019. Eleanor has shared her story for you to learn more about her experience as a tutor. We hope you enjoy reading about her journey.

I volunteer with Action Tutoring because I want to make a difference to children’s education, particularly now, considering the impact of the pandemic. This year especially, it feels so important to volunteer and help pupils whose education has been most impacted.

In my experience, you notice a difference in your pupils from the second tutoring session. They are usually a lot more comfortable with you and less shy. They may want to learn more about you and what you do for a living, too. During the initial sessions, my pupils would refuse to read the extracts given in the Action Tutoring booklets, and say they were embarrassed by their reading abilities. Now, they try to jump in to read before me, and pick lessons with longer reading chapters in a bid to further their skills. One pupil even experiments with doing different voices for characters now!

Balancing tutoring with my studies is very easy for me. I choose to tutor on days where I am completely free or have the whole morning or afternoon off, as I like to walk in and enjoy the scenic route. Tutoring the morning sessions helps me get out of bed and is a motivating start to the day, and hopefully to my pupils’, too. Action Tutoring provides all of the tutoring resources, so all I have to do is familiarise myself with the lesson and deliver it. This makes it very easy and simple for me to go and teach, so it doesn’t negatively impact my studies in any way. I also try and choose to volunteer at schools nearby to me that are easy to get to (when in-school opportunities are available), in order to avoid missing any sessions or being late.

Become a student volunteer

Action Tutoring has definitely helped me develop in confidence and in learning different styles of talking to people; such as teaching register, talking to my tutoring peers, and talking to school staff and my programme coordinator. This will definitely help prepare me for teaching environments and future employment.

Volunteering during the pandemic has been good for my mental health. When I have been able to tutor in-school, it has given me a sense of normality where my pupils and I can forget about COVID-19 and just learn about English together (while still socially-distanced and wearing masks). I would recommend volunteering to anyone who is furloughed or unemployed, as it is really motivating to have a sense of purpose and to feel needed. I chose to tutor on face-to-face programmes, as I prefer the closer interaction and getting to go somewhere different during my daily week, rather than online tutoring, but when schools are open, Action Tutoring offers both options, so it’s flexible for everyone. 

Finally, I would personally recommend Action Tutoring to anyone who is able to spare an hour a week to go and help children in need. I think it’s important to remember how lucky we were to have a ‘normal’ school experience and any sense of normalcy for these children in school at the moment is so key and showing that despite what is happening around them, people are there to support them and wish them the best chance in their education. This to me is such a key motivator this year. 

Disadvantaged pupils have been hit hardest by the pandemic, and we want to help as many as we can catch up. Apply now to volunteer to tutor maths or English for just one hour per week.

Student Volunteering Week: Five reasons why I volunteer with Action Tutoring

Megan Healey, who is currently studying English Literature at the University of Liverpool, has been a volunteer with Action Tutoring, making a difference to pupils in Liverpool, since October 2020. Megan has shared five reasons why she volunteers with Action Tutoring. We hope you enjoy reading about her journey.

There are so many reasons to volunteer as a student, but most of the time you find yourself coming up with excuses not to: you can’t find the right opportunity, it doesn’t fit in with your schedule, you aren’t sure if you’ll enjoy it etc. Having volunteered as a student with Action Tutoring last semester as part of a work placement module, I’ve decided to continue to volunteer with the charity. Here are the five reasons why I volunteer as a student.

1 – Giving back to the community

After spending a couple of years getting to know Liverpool, I decided that I wanted to give back to the community that has always been so welcoming to us students! Action Tutoring provided me with a way to support disadvantaged pupils in school, tutoring English study sessions to GCSE students. The extra support Action Tutoring’s pupils provides helps them build on the skills they learn in class. As volunteers, we offer pupils a space to go over any issues that they have with maths or English, helping them overcome any barriers so that they can achieve the grades they deserve. 

2 – Personal development

In addition to giving back to the community, the Action Tutoring volunteering programme allows students to develop crucial skills which employers find attractive. Working with Action Tutoring allows you to work on communication and interpersonal skills as well as your problem-solving skills as you work with the pupil to help them overcome any difficulties. The skills and experience gained through volunteering are completely transferable to any future job role, making it a valued opportunity.

3 – Because it’s rewarding

Personal development brings me to my next reason for volunteering because it’s rewarding. Not only does your development allow for more opportunities in the future, but volunteering makes you feel great. Spending time with the pupils and getting to know them makes seeing them progress extremely rewarding. Each week you notice positive changes in the pupils’ performance, and as they start to see the changes in themselves they gain more confidence. Not only does it boost their confidence but it boosts yours too! Being in a position where you are able to provide encouragement to someone, uplift them and help them develop makes you feel really grateful to be working as a tutor.

4 – Flexibility

Action Tutoring is perfect for students because the volunteering hours are completely flexible, allowing you to volunteer around your university schedule. I decided to volunteer three hours a week on a Monday and Tuesday as it fits in with my timetable. Whilst volunteering with Action Tutoring you’re able to join as many or as few tutoring programmes (weekly tutoring sessions) as you’d like, making it the perfect way to volunteer whilst you study. 

5 – Maintaining mental health during a pandemic

Finally, the last reason why I volunteer with Action Tutoring is that it’s helped me maintain positive mental health throughout the pandemic and all of the lockdowns. The weekly online sessions have helped take my mind off of what’s been going on. Getting to take a productive break from studying has let me feel like I’ve accomplished something, which makes me feel good about myself. The positive energy that the pupils bring to the virtual tutoring sessions rubs off on me, leaving me feeling revitalised. In addition to providing a break from reality, the weekly sessions offer some form of structure, something we all lost when the pandemic started. The structure volunteering provides helps me manage my time, allowing me to feel more organised during a period of constant uncertainty. 

Become a student volunteer

Action Tutoring is an amazing opportunity that benefits the pupils from local areas whilst also develops your own skills. I completely recommend volunteering with Action Tutoring. 

Apply now to volunteer with us as a student, and help young people in your local community improve their English and maths skills, as well as getting great teaching experience and improving your own skills.

Action Tutoring launches home-based tutoring for pupils during school closures

With the help of our inspiring volunteer tutors, collaborative partner schools and supportive parents and guardians, Action Tutoring has begun delivering online tutoring sessions for pupils, who are currently learning from home as a result of school closures.

When schools closed at the beginning of January, Action Tutoring made the decision to continue running tutoring sessions to pupils based at home by switching as many online and in person programmes as possible to home-based delivery.

133 schools are already taking part in home tutoring this term and almost 550 pupils have already had their first session in lockdown, with many more about to get started. This means that, for the first time, our pupils will be able to benefit from extra academic support outside of the classroom.

Become an online tutor

The National Tutoring Programme officially approved Action Tutoring to offer online sessions to pupils at home. This means that we have satisfied their criteria that we can deliver this tuition effectively and safely.

Home-based tutoring is new for Action Tutoring and we know there will be some challenges along the way, as pupils access the technology from home and engage in learning outside the usual structure of the classroom.

However, after a successful pilot of this approach last year (as part of a national evaluation of online tutoring delivery), and a promising start this term, we feel on track to help pupils achieve valuable progress with their tutors at the most challenging time to their education.

Home-based tutoring explained

Action Tutoring pupils usually take part in the classroom, even if their tutor is joining remotely, but with schools closed, this is no longer possible. Pupils will now join the Vedamo virtual classroom from their homes, too.

As part of this switch, Action Tutoring’s programme staff have been working hard to manage the many logistical demands to ensure that tutoring can still take place. This includes liaising with all of our partner schools, as well as each parent or guardian directly, to seek permission for pupils to take part. These conversations also help us to make sure each pupil has access to the right technology and the adults involved learn important details about sessions going forward.

A responsible adult must be within listening distance of pupils throughout the sessions, and so communication with the adults at home is extremely important.

Action Tutoring has produced new materials specifically for parents, including online PDF and video guides, that outline what we do and give instructions on how to join tutoring sessions from home.

Despite no longer being in the classroom with pupils, Action Tutoring programme coordinators continue to oversee every programme, entering virtual classrooms to observe sessions and troubleshooting any technical difficulties that may arise.

Programme Manager for London, Nargis Taylor, said: “It has been really reassuring to see that the young people are able to have some consistency and normality whilst being unable to leave the house. It was lovely to see the pupils chatting away with their tutors. In many ways, it looked like most of the other school-based online tutoring sessions I delivered for pupils.

“Coordinating a home-based tutoring programme can require a bit more time as you need to liaise with each parent, as opposed to just one teacher. Ensuring the pupils have the right technology to join tutoring sessions can be tricky as well and you do occasionally experience some glitches with the technology, but we try our best to resolve these promptly so that pupils can continue with their learning.”

Impact on tutors

For tutors already volunteering with us online, there is little change in how these sessions run. They continue to use the Vedamo virtual classroom, already in operation for our existing online programmes, to deliver sessions remotely. Home-based sessions conclude with a virtual debrief for tutors, where they can ask questions and give feedback.

Sarah Searle-Barnes, a volunteer in Bristol, said, “I have tutored three pupils at home now (I was involved in the pilot study) and have found each experience worthwhile. I have found that the session enables the pupils to engage on a one-to-one basis with the tutor, without the distractions of other pupils in the room or the background noises of school.

“I also think that the pupils’ confidence and self-belief is bolstered by the one-to-one attention which has a positive impact on their learning.”

Response from pupils

So far, pupils have adapted to the home-based sessions incredibly well. Despite losing the familiarity of the classroom, where they would be surrounded by teachers, classmates and Action Tutoring staff, pupils have remained focused and have engaged well with the new format.

Pupil Premium Coordinator, Emma Boyd, said, “The pupils access the sessions in the exact same way as they do in school and so they know what to do and they just get on with it!

“I’m really pleased that this is an option for them and it will help them through the last stages of their GCSEs.”

The future of in-person tutoring

Action Tutoring made the decision to pause all in-person volunteering during lockdown. We plan to offer these opportunities again as soon as it is safe to. We are also considering ways to supplement any missed sessions later in the year, potentially with ‘booster’ days or extended sessions in the spring and early summer.

School closures impact pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds disproportionately, widening the attainment gap and putting them even further behind their peers. Our volunteers combat this inequality by giving an hour or more a week to boost pupils’ learning and confidence while at home.

Join us as a volunteer tutor and be part of our efforts when pupils need it most.

If you would like to tutor in person rather than online, we still encourage you to apply and sign up for training, so you can be ready to start as soon as schools reopen.

Your help will make a difference.

Become a volunteer

School closures: Action Tutoring aims to deliver online sessions during lockdown

With the recent government announcement that schools will close until at least 21st February to help curb the spread of Covid-19, Action Tutoring aims to continue as many online tutoring programmes as possible during lockdown, to support disadvantaged pupils when they need it most.

We have been officially approved by the National Tutoring Programme to deliver tutoring to pupils at home. This means that we have satisfied their criteria that we can deliver effective and safe tutoring to pupils who are based at home. We piloted our home-based approach, as part of a national evaluation of online tutoring delivery, in 2020.

As a result, we intend to switch all online school programmes to home-based delivery and we are currently working with our existing schools to adapt our current provision, so that we can continue delivering tutoring remotely during lockdown.

Last year’s lockdown has shown us that school closures impact pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds in a disproportionately negative way, widening the attainment gap and putting them even further behind their peers.

Become a volunteer

We know that every hour of tutoring delivered will make a big difference to the young people we help, and we are currently in contact with our school partners to discuss arrangements for pupils to receive home-based tutoring during the lockdown.

Due to the rapidly changing and unsettled situation, we anticipate some initial challenges with logistics, technology and engagement. Thank you for bearing with us through this – we’re so grateful for your support. Any session you are able to deliver will make a positive difference to the young people we help. Every session counts. 

Face-to-face tutoring on hold

While online programmes convert to home-based learning, Action Tutoring has made the decision to pause all in-person programmes during lockdown. We are looking at ways to supplement the missed sessions later in the year, potentially with revision days in the spring and early summer.

We know face-to-face sessions are of high value to tutors and pupils, and we intend to resume them as soon as it is safe to do so. When schools reopened in the Autumn term, in-person tutoring took place in line with government advice. We hope that we can continue to deliver these sessions when restrictions ease and we will keep volunteers informed about when we will be returning to schools.

Photo courtesy of Abbeywood School

Our tutoring will be needed now more than ever before, to help make up for the time lost. Please spread the word about our volunteering and encourage others to get involved.

If you would like to tutor in person rather than online and such spaces aren’t available immediately due to school closures, we still encourage you to apply and sign up for training, in order to be ready to start as soon as schools reopen.

Similarly, if you’re a school interested in finding out how we might be able to support you this year and what our home-based set-up requires, do get in touch. 

Partner as a school         Become a volunteer

The impact of tutoring: Year 7 pupil Medina tells us about her experience on an Action Tutoring programme

Medina – Year 7 pupil at Lilian Baylis Technology School, Vauxhall, South London

It’s been a strange year for Medina. With the national lockdown coming into force back in March, schools were made to close which meant she missed out on her final few months at primary school, including her SATs exams. That’s a lot to miss, especially for the pupils we work with at Action Tutoring who don’t all have the same access to online and at-home learning as some of their peers.

Now, Medina has just completed her first term of secondary school, as one of the new Year 7s at Lilian Baylis Technology School in Vauxhall, South London. The year groups are in isolated bubbles, which means she hasn’t met any of the older children yet and the full secondary school experience is still to come – plus, there’s a lot of catching up to do.

Along with 19 of her classmates, Medina has been receiving personalised tutoring from one of our volunteers this term. Here, she tells us what it’s been like to get an extra hour’s support in maths from Abigail each week in this time of confusion and transition…

How did it feel coming to secondary school after missing the last six months of Year 6?

I was a little bit nervous because I thought I would forget everything. But I have a good long-term memory and I remembered a lot of the basics from my classes. I forgot a few things, though, and have had to be reminded in my classes now.

We’ve been giving you tutoring in maths. How did you feel about the subject when you got to Lilian Baylis?

My teachers have been good, but now we are learning more things that are harder and some of them do not make sense to me. But I’ve started learning and things are getting easier. Classes have refreshed my memory and I think I am getting better now. I was not as confident but now I feel more certain about my answers.

What’s your favourite subject?

Art is my favourite. It’s a way to express your feelings without talking. You can just put it on the page and tell people how you feel with colours and shapes.

What is your maths tutor Abigail like?

Abigail motivates me and even when I get answers wrong she helps me to get a good understanding about why I got it wrong. She understands where I go wrong and helps me so next time I get it right, and now I see questions that I know I can get right because she has shown me how.

Do you know what Abigail does when she isn’t tutoring?

She said she was a student at university but I can’t remember what she does. I think it’s medicine!

Why do you like her as a tutor?

She is very calm and doesn’t get upset when I get an answer wrong. She keeps working with me until I get it right.

What was she like when you first met her?

She was very nice and she asked me and my classmate what we were struggling with. She then made sure to bring those things up during the lesson. She’s very motivating!

Was there anything in particular you were struggling with that Abigail has helped you understand?

It was really good doing decimals with her. I didn’t know how to say which one is the biggest and the smallest off the top of my head but she’s helped me build my confidence doing that.

How do you feel when your tutoring session ends?

I feel very relaxed because I’ve done all this hard work that I know will pay off at school in my classes and assessments.

Do you know what you want to be or do when you’re older?

I don’t really know, but I really like skateboarding and writing. I’m going to have a workshop soon with a journalist from the Guardian. So I might want to be a journalist, but I’d also maybe like to be a chef. Cooking is like art – you can express yourself through the flavours!

This year, Action Tutoring is expanding to work with more pupils than ever whose education has been affected by the pandemic, including many more Year 7 pupils like Medina. We are proud and inspired by what our volunteers have done this autumn, whether socially distancing in schools or mastering virtual tutoring for the first time. We know so much will now be possible in 2021 but need more tutors to join us if we are to make the necessary impact on our pupils’ lives.

To make a difference to lives of young people like Medina, apply as a volunteer now and start tutoring in January, or become a partner school to see the impact that tutoring can have on pupils.

Partner as a school         Become a volunteer

Giving Tuesday’s #GiveBack2020 campaign encourages us all to take something positive from this year by making a difference

As we move towards the final part of 2020, I think it’s fair to say that this year has been an unusual one. Since March, the coronavirus pandemic has dominated global attention, as the virus stretched health systems and threatened the lives of individuals across the UK and the rest of the world.

As a result of the consequent lockdown, pupils’ learning suffered significantly. Disadvantaged pupils were, on average, already 18 months behind their non-disadvantaged peers by the end of secondary school even before the school closures in March, and this is only likely to have worsened as a result of the disruption in school learning.

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After nearly seven months out of schools, our tutoring recommenced in early October 2020, with the support of the charity’s incredible and inspiring volunteer tutors, partner schools and staff team, all determined to ensure disadvantaged pupils can still succeed. We also launched our online delivery in schools, uniting pupils from across the country with volunteers to tutor them in maths and English.

Photo courtesy of Abbeywood School

#GiveBack2020

The Giving Tuesday campaign is a global day of giving, where everyone, everywhere can do something to support the good causes that mean so much to them. This year, the focus of the campaign is on giving back, encouraging us all to take something positive from 2020 and make a difference at the same time. 

In line with this campaign, Action Tutoring would like to thank all its amazing volunteer tutors who are already giving their time to do something positive by helping pupils across the country. The work that they have done this year in offering disadvantaged pupils the support that they need to catch up and achieve their academic potential, helping us bridge the educational attainment gap in the process, has been outstanding.

We would also like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone who may be interested in tutoring pupils in their local area and across the UK to rise to Giving Tuesday’s challenge to give back, and support disadvantaged pupils by becoming a volunteer tutor.

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Rosie and Mike, two of our current tutors at Sydenham School, told us about their motivations for volunteering and how their experiences as tutors, in the midst of a pandemic, have been so far.

“For me, what has been rewarding in my tutoring Secondary English at Sydenham is when, after a couple of sessions, it becomes clear, during a recap task, that my pupil has definitely retained some of the key points that we discussed earlier. For example, when they are able to recall a number of language devices, and can give examples of them, which is a very important tool for ‘analysing language and evaluating texts’ questions. It’s great to see that the online method is working, and that the pupils are getting benefit from it.

“I think it’s always worthwhile giving tutoring support, but particularly so in the context of the current pandemic. With schools being closed earlier this year, there has been a higher risk of children falling behind and not reaching their planned grades. It’s therefore very good news that the online tutoring portal is being delivered successfully, and I do get personal satisfaction in believing that in some way I am able to help pupils regain ground.”
– Mike Perrott, Secondary English tutor at Sydenham School

“It makes me so happy when I teach my tutees a trick to do some maths quicker one week and see them replicate the trick the following week, because it lets me know that my teaching is having an impact and is giving the girls more confidence to tackle difficult maths questions quickly and accurately. I have also found it massively rewarding to become a listening ear for the students and feel as though I have been a sounding board for many of their queries, such as GCSEs, mock exams, revision and university choices.

“When I heard about this programme, I immediately thought that it was a great idea and wondered why I had never heard about it before! At school, I was a bit of a nerd and actually really enjoyed maths; hearing about an opportunity to share some of the tips, tricks and skills that I had learnt really incentivised me. As I am currently at uni, my GCSE days were not that long ago, so I felt really encouraged to get involved – I feel I’m someone with a useful perspective on GCSEs and how to work hard for them. Additionally, when I realised that this programme was as much about academic development as it was about boosting the confidence of the pupils and making them believe in themselves, I needed to get involved because I feel this is often a forgotten aspect of education.”
– Rosie Webb-Jenkins, Secondary maths tutor at Sydenham School

If you are unable to commit to becoming a tutor right now, or would prefer supporting our mission financially, we invite you to donate via the link below.

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