Experiences

West Coast Runners raise over £5000 for Action Tutoring in relay race challenge

Across September 5th-6th 2020, a team of avid runners in Merseyside completed a 31 hour relay race, raising vital funds to support Action Tutoring in its mission to help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve a meaningful level of academic attainment.

The newly-formed running group, West Coast Runners, participated in The Speed Project DIY, an event adapted from The Speed Project, that usually sees runners in North America run from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Speed Project DIY was created, enabling contestants from across the globe to participate in their own country.

West Coast Runners decided to bring this challenge to Liverpool, in direct support of Action Tutoring pupils.

The group, formed by Kelvin, Tom and Michael, raised over £5,000 for Action Tutoring – an incredible amount that was far beyond the team’s original target, and generously exceeded both their own and Action Tutoring’s expectations.

The runners mobilised support from across their networks, conducting interviews on BBC Radio Merseyside and appearing in news articles and snippets across a variety of Merseyside media channels. This inspiring article in Independent Liverpool details the team’s visions and actions for the race.

Michael, a former Geography teacher and an extremely committed Action Tutoring maths tutor, who has supported Action Tutoring pupils across a variety of programmes in Liverpool, said:

“Liverpool’s pupils need organisations like Action Tutoring now more than ever. School closures disproportionately affect pupils from low-income households, whose parents [or guardians] lack the resources to deliver an entire curriculum from their living room. The charity relies on schools for 40% of its income, so they’re in real need of extra support right now.”

“They’re honestly one of the most evidence-based charities I have ever worked with. You would be amazed how few charities check whether what they’re doing actually works. Action Tutoring collects data on every pupil they support to evaluate impact and improve their service. Their resources and staff are fantastic. We’re really proud to be supporting them.”

Action Tutoring would like to thank the West Coast Running Team for their incredible and inspiring support and dedication, and the NSG group in Liverpool for their donations during the event. If you would like to contribute to the West Coast Runners fundraiser, please visit their GoFundMe page, or donate directly to Action Tutoring by clicking the link below:

Donate To Support

If you have a great fundraising idea and would like to support Action Tutoring in raising vital funds for their pupils, please get in touch with Hannah O’Neill, our Partnerships and Fundraising Manager, via hannahoneill@actiontutoring.org.uk.

Remember to save the date of the Big Give Christmas Challenge, the UK’s largest match funding campaign, running from Giving Tuesday on December 1st – December 8th. Any donations made during this week will be ‘matched’, meaning one donation, double the impact!

Tutoring is not just about altruism, but taking small steps to see real results

Madina has been a volunteer with Action Tutoring making a difference to pupils in Birmingham since November 2019. Madina has shared her story for you to learn more about her experience as a tutor. We hope you enjoy reading about her Action Tutoring journey.

Madina, tell us a bit about what you do alongside volunteering.

I’ve just finished my first year studying for a degree in English, soon to start my second. I’m also currently working in retail part-time alongside my studies, which is definitely handy experience! Aside from that, I’m an avid reader and also enjoy making art. 

What first led you to Action Tutoring?

I first came across Action Tutoring at a careers fair at my university during welcome week. The volunteers’ passion was really evident as they explained what the role entailed and the enjoyment they gained from it. I was drawn in by the purpose behind the charity, in aiming to close the gap in educational attainment throughout the country. I was previously unaware of how the education of many can suffer due to not being able to afford private tutoring; providing an available voluntary service struck me as a hugely effective course of action. 

Why is volunteering important to you?

For a few years, I volunteered at Childline (NSPCC). I replied to emails and calls from a variety of young people, all with differing backgrounds, upbringings and experiences. The aim of the work was the safeguarding of children and young people, giving them a secure place to air their feelings, to express themselves and make themselves heard. It proved a very rewarding experience, which I feel is a crucial aspect in any voluntary work. Giving a portion of one’s time to help others or a wider community isn’t just about being altruistic. It’s about recognising where support is needed and taking action to contribute towards any improvements that can be made. For me, the knowledge that even a small step taken can lead to brilliant results is really what makes the volunteering experience so rewarding.

Describe a successful tutoring session.

In the week beforehand, we’re encouraged to plan whatever key skill we choose to cover – usually, this is up to the pupils and what they feel needs working on. A typical session goes along the lines of a warm-up, the main activity and then a plenary, where we summarise on the skill covered. Many sessions can go completely smoothly and according to plan, but I feel what makes it successful is the pupils’ engagement. It’s very normal for some pupils to be rather shy or nervous at the beginning. However, seeing them come out of their shell and being comfortable to voice any difficulties they may be having is what makes the sessions work so effectively. It really does feel successful when you realise the pupils are as motivated as you are. 

Describe a memorable moment from one of your sessions.One of my pupils, who had been struggling in grasping a key skillset, told me that she’d received praise in an English lesson after being able to finally demonstrate the skill. From that point forward, there was an evident improvement in her confidence; not only did she express herself better, but her work improved too. I’ll never forget her enthusiasm when she shared her achievement with me. It felt like I’d really made a difference, driving me to work further towards building the confidence of the pupils I work with. 

Tell us something that surprised you about volunteering with Action Tutoring.

I initially had the idea that tutoring was going to be one to one, so I was slightly surprised to find out that the sessions tend to be in groups. The challenge was trying to accommodate each of their needs in the weekly activities, attending to all of them without leaving anyone out. I found that the solution was to find a skillset that everyone could agree to work on, as well as keeping an extra eye on the pupils who needed more support. I also didn’t expect how fun it would be to work in a group dynamic, especially when it came to warm-up activities. Seeing how competitive they could be only five minutes into the session really set the bar for energy levels throughout the rest of the hour. 

What’s the hardest thing and the best thing about tutoring?

It’s often difficult to get the pupils to focus, especially if they’re easily distracted. However, it only means that I have to find more creative ways of maintaining their attention – this involves small breaks in between activities, or a break at the end if they just wanted a general chat to unwind. The best thing by far is seeing them enjoy the session. Nothing beats finishing on a positive note, with a solid plan on what they want to cover next week, and knowing that some progress had been achieved. It makes the struggles along the way worth it, seeing that they’ve been given the support they need and most importantly, that they get something valuable out of it. 

How has volunteering as a tutor contributed to other areas of your life?

It’s definitely helped me in gaining skills I wouldn’t otherwise have gained, such as improvements in my own style of communication. I’ve also discovered more efficient ways to be organised, which came from planning tutoring sessions. As they only last one hour, I’ve had to learn to adapt to tighter time requirements, which has subsequently led to getting more things done – especially when it comes to studying. It’s also made me realise how much I enjoy working with young people and being able to support them in their education. To anyone who is thinking of volunteering, I feel this is an amazing opportunity to help pupils reach a level of success, as well as tackling a prominent issue of inequality. 

Sum up your experience of volunteering with Action Tutoring in one sentence.

It’s been unforgettably rewarding and an experience that I would highly recommend to others! 

Start your journey towards an unforgettably rewarding experience as a volunteer tutor and apply now!

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

Reading for Pleasure

We wanted to share this interesting blog from one of our team on ‘Reading for Pleasure’ which was drafted before the crisis. Reading is not only important for your own well being, but it can also help with a child’s academic attainment. During this time when schools are closed, we encourage all pupils to read as much as possible. 

The importance of reading for pleasure

According to an OECD report in 2002, a child’s educational attainment can be more clearly predicted by whether they read for enjoyment than it can be by looking at their socio-economic background. This startling fact partly reflects that those from disadvantaged backgrounds will have more limited access to books, for many reasons including local library closures and lack of school funding. However, it also shows that a targeted intervention in this area can have a wide-reaching positive impact on a child’s future.

Reading ability doesn’t just impact attainment in English. A recent article in Tes referred to literacy as a “magic bullet” in education, pointing out that reading is essential for pupils to be able to understand the wider curriculum. The benefits of reading for pleasure go far beyond academic attainment. Research by The Reading Agency found that reading for enjoyment is linked to increased empathy, improved relationships with others, reductions in the symptoms of depression and dementia, and overall improved wellbeing.

So how can we encourage pupils to read for pleasure, rather than regarding it as extra homework? 

One simple answer is to let them see you reading for fun. Children are easily influenced by what they see the adults in their lives doing, for better or for worse. Modelling reading for pleasure helps to create a positive mindset in which reading is seen as a leisure activity like watching TV or playing a video game, rather than as a chore.

Allowing children to freely choose their own reading material is also crucial. While pupils in a class will all be expected to read the same texts, they should be encouraged to pursue their own tastes and interests in their wider reading. This might include blog posts or articles about a topic that interests them, or less traditional formats like graphic novels. Anything that gets them reading should be encouraged, even if it’s not something you would choose to read yourself. 

Action Tutoring recognises the huge importance of reading for pleasure, so ‘free reading’ activities are built into our primary English workbooks. Tutors are encouraged to spend ten minutes at the start of each session reading with their pupils in a relaxed way, without testing their comprehension of the text.

The benefits of reading for pleasure aren’t limited to children. Not only does taking time for reading set a great example for pupils, it can also boost your own wellbeing. As concerns about coronavirus spread and many of us are starting to feel cooped up at home, there is no better time to lose yourself in a good book.

If you would like to encourage disadvantaged pupils to read more, you can join our community of inspiring volunteers. Your contribution is incredibly important in lowering the attainment gap and making sure all children are given the academic support they need to succeed in school.

Tutor Spotlight

Kevin started tutoring with Action Tutoring at a primary school in Dalston in

January 2018. He then joined Pakeman Primary School in Finsbury Park in May

2018, where he has tutored ever since. He has been an extremely reliable,

enthusiastic and warm tutor, only missing three out of sixty sessions! We

could not ask for more.

What has also been lovely to see is that Kevin has also made a good friend at

his first school in Dalston, who also joined him at Pakeman Primary School.

They have become the feared duo at our North London pub quiz socials, often

winning or being a close second.

We asked Kevin some questions about his time at Action Tutoring…

Three ways volunteering as a tutor surprised me:

“As a current maths tutor for Action Tutoring, it’s been really surprising to see how

what is expected of younger children has increased compared to when I

was at school in the 1980s. The lack of calculators is also a surprise to

me, as I was practically attached to one through most of my schooling.

The ‘quality time’ you spend with the kids really seems to make a

difference to their knowledge. Though for me, without any teaching

background, it’s also been an eye-opener seeing how important it is for

tutors to take on learning tips and tricks.

Lastly, it’s been a welcome surprise to find a new friend in my local area

through tutoring. Having someone else to talk to about tutoring and

what goes on week-to-week has been really beneficial.”

I knew I’d made a difference to my pupils when…

“Well, it’s been a relief that the test scores my children have received

after my tuition have generally been higher than when they began! But

the clearest examples have been when I’ve made targeted attempts to

improve their knowledge in a certain area, and then my own testing a

week or two later has seen some of the teaching and methodology I’ve

given repeated back to me. In other words, examples where things

seem to have ‘sunk in’ where weeks earlier it was very hard going. It’s

worth adding that I myself had previously learned tricks and tips from

Action Tutoring. Understanding something yourself is different to

explaining it to someone else.”

Three reasons why I keep coming back to volunteer as a tutor each year

“As someone who went to school in North London, and has seen how

Super-speed, teleportation and laser vision cannot help with exams! How pupils can benefit from a REAL superpower: optimism

When it comes to English and maths, even superpowers can’t save pupils from their dreaded exams! But, what if there were heroes that could educate and inspire them outside of the classroom…? Oh yes, that’s us at Action Tutoring.

It can be hard to motivate and inspire pupils. Thankfully, people study these things for a living and there are plenty of insights in the psychological world to help. Personally, I have come across many articles on learning which have influenced my approach. So, what am I talking about today? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Oh, right, it’s a book.

About a year ago, I read an interesting book by cognitive psychologist Martin Seligman called “The Power of Optimism.” In it, he proposed that a state of “learned helplessness” could be reversed by changing our thoughts. It really got me thinking. Can the way we choose to think change the automatic thoughts we have towards situations? Can optimistic views be learned? Is there benefit to having an optimistic view towards exams? The answer to all of these, according to some psychologists, is yes.

As tutors, you may have noticed that pupils can be overwhelmed by the prospect of upcoming exams, leaving them liable to put off revision as it can seem like an unsurmountable hurdle.  This is counter-intuitive for their success. However, inspiration and confidence-building could allow the pupils to engage actively with their studies and overcome this hurdle. This is where the superpower of optimism comes in. If pupils are programmed to think positively towards the papers, they are more likely to establish the growth mindset that is the hype in educational psychology today. If you haven’t come across this idea before,  then let me explain growth mindset. This mindset is the thought process by which a student believes that they CAN do better, that they are not where they want to be “yet.” Over time thought processes can shape our neural pathways (especially in our youth) which is a magical phenomenon known as neural plasticity. Our minds can be moulded and changed by our thoughts. By supporting pupils to view themselves, and their performance, positively, we can help change the approach they have towards their exams. They can be calm and confident instead of a nervous wreck, like I was in my exams. This is all interesting but… what good is it? How can it be applied to help pupils?

To promote a child’s interest in a subject, simply make the work engaging.  I know, easier said than done, right? It’s after school at the end of the day, the sun begins to set out of the dreary window and everyone wants to go home. My pupils once told me that their form of revision involved just reading their notes over …and…over…and… over… Yawn, I’m bored just thinking about it. And most importantly don’t forget to tell them that they are doing well and point out their improvements to them. The grades they need are achievable! So go forth my fellow tutors and bestow your pupils with the power of optimism. Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

5 things I love about the work we do at Action Tutoring

What do I love about being part of Action Tutoring’s mission?

For a wholesome, educational take on Valentine’s Day, I’ve pulled together a list of five things I love about the work that we do and the young people we support at Action Tutoring.

The curiosity and humour of the young people we work with

Be they primary or secondary pupils, the children we support never fail to put a huge grin on my face. They are resilient, hard-working, ambitious, and deserve the very best we can give them. Whether it’s first thing in the morning, or the last thing at the end of the day, I’m always touched when my pupils – who have so much on their plates and so many different pressures and deadlines – still find time to ask me how I am, tell me a joke, or share a story. We may be there to tutor maths and English, but the relationships we build bring it all to life.

Being part of so many different school communities

I have felt privileged to learn from and deliver programmes in a whole host of different schools across London. Staff have welcomed me, let me observe their teaching, and collaborated to make Action Tutoring a success for their pupils.

Each teacher is committed to developing and championing their young people academically and pastorally – it’s amazing to see what a difference their care makes to each child!

The diversity of our volunteers

I have been lucky to meet, train, and work alongside so many inspiring people from all walks of life, and see the myriad gifts and skills they bring to us and to our young people. Each volunteer on our programmes brings with them new avenues for connection and new approaches to learning – many have studied outside the UK too, and their perspectives enrich ours. Watching positive working relationships grow between our tutors and pupils is one of the most rewarding parts of my role, and underpins the academic growth of our young people.

Having such supportive, committed colleagues

This job comes with joys and challenges aplenty, but carrying each of us through is a tide of support from our co-workers. The Action Tutoring team – spanning eight cities – is a network brimming with bold and creative ideas, care for how one another are, and complete dedication to the pupils we serve. There are spaces for debate and reflection (and lots of laughter), and I have learnt so much from shared wisdom and feedback from my peers. We strive for better each day, inside and out.

Fostering a deeper connection with my city

Working in the charity sector has allowed me to see different facets of the city I live in, and the places where policies and lived experiences meet one another. I have learnt about and travelled more of London; I have observed in small pockets of the city the relationship between national politics and the individuals it affects; and like colleagues of mine all over the country, I have seen glimpses of the next generation’s potential. I feel more connected to the chaotic and wonderful place I’ve called home for the last five years, and with that comes an ever greater desire to see its youngest flourish.

If you’re looking for a way to give back to or connect with your local community, nurture yourself and others, or are interested in joining the team, consider supporting Action Tutoring in a whichever way you feel you can. Donating, tutoring, marking, fundraising, promoting… if you’re keen to help, we’d love to know.

Written by: Anna Warbrick

Jo’s education podcast digest (episode 2)

The last time I blogged, I shared my top learnings from education podcasts. I’ve carried on listening to episodes of my favourites since then, and wanted to share a few new ideas and points to ponder. Although, I’ll admit that I’m a little behind with some of them.*

1. Working memory is a bit like a Post-it, from Trialled and Tested: Working Memory

Working memory can be a tricky concept to get your head around at first. But this simple and apt analogy from cognitive psychologist Dr Tracy Alloway is the best I’ve heard yet. Why? Well, as she outlines in the podcast, Post-its are:

• pretty small – there’s no chance of fitting all of GCSE History onto a Post-it, and your working memory couldn’t handle it all at once either.
• come in different sizes – not everyone’s working memory capacity is the same, and it tends to increase during childhood.
• usually a temporary way of keeping track of information – you wouldn’t rely on a Post-it to remember something long-term, and working memory is similarly shortsighted.

I also love the idea of working out the size of your working memory by using the “backward digit test”. When tutoring, thinking about working memory reminds me to make steps explicit, use checklists, prompts or worked examples, so they can save the precious space on their working memory post-it for practicing whichever skill we’re working on.

2. Does slang have a place in the classroom? From Tes Podagogy S7 E6: Slang and standard English with Rob Drummond

Ever been unsure about how to respond to pupils using dialect or slang within tutoring sessions? This podcast shows you’re not alone. Although – kudos to you if you always understand all of the slang they use (I’ve often been flummoxed)! Before I say any more, I think I should come clean and recognise the irony of writing this as a born-and-bred Geordie who allowed the accent and dialect to be ironed out of me whilst at university elsewhere…

Ok, onto the episode, which carefully explores the messages we send when celebrating or denigrating slang and regional dialects, the elusive ‘standard English’ or value-laden ‘received pronunciation’. A couple of choice soundbites from this episode can act as great guides: recognise that pupils need to be able to function in “different linguistic worlds” (for example, the linguistic worlds of home, friends, hobbies or sports they play, as well as linguistic worlds of the different subjects they study, and eventually the workplace). Each is unique and worthy, but linguistic practices may or may not travel well between worlds. Secondly, we should “celebrate linguistic diversity”: slang and dialect are brilliant ways to express ourselves, and standard English or received pronunciation have their place too. This is a topic to think about and reflect upon deeply and over time, and I found Rob’s points carefully thought out and informative.

3. How valuable multiple-choice questions can be, from Inside Exams S1 E7: Guessing your way into dentistry?

Many of our pupils will encounter multiple-choice questions in their assessments: primary pupils sitting SATs, secondary maths pupils sitting their GCSE with AQA, and that’s before considering the range of other subjects they study. Plus, if you’ve used our initial secondary maths workbook, or taken a look at the website diagnostic questions, you’ll have seen some carefully-designed multiple-choice questions. They are a great way to plan for tutoring as each wrong answer has been chosen to represent a particular misconception or error in a pupil’s thought processes – meaning you can be proactive about how you might respond to a pupil getting the answer wrong.

In this podcast, the ever-informative Mr Barton discusses MCQs with Zeek Sweiry, a Senior Researcher at AQA. There’s plenty of myth-busting in this succinct episode, but my favourite phrase was the idea of the wrong answers as “really plausible distractors” – I’ll be forever imagining them as excitable cartoon characters jumping about trying to tempt pupils into picking them! Thinking this way reminds me to aim for pupils deeply understanding the content we’ve covered in tutoring, to give them the strength of mind to discount and ignore plausible distractors, despite their pleas or cute appearance. The other really interesting myth discussed was whether pupils just guess. I loved the point that MCQs are pretty intriguing puzzles even if you don’t know the content – many of us would have a go at a MCQ on a topic we know nothing about, by using deductions and trying to rule certain options out. So, if you’ve ever been a bit skeptical about how useful MCQs can be for learning, or want to know why MCQs are used in exams, this episode is well worth a listen.

*I blame my discovery of TV-related podcasts for this – they’ve competed for my listening attention recently. Anyone for Obsessed with…, Dustbusters or Shrine podcasts? If you enjoy episode-by-episode dissections, outlandish fan theories, and interviews with the professionals behind the latest TV dramas, they are definitely for you!

Jumping word hurdles with pupils

As the Communications and Policy Manager for Action Tutoring, I know how frustrating it can be when you can’t fix on the word or phrase that you need to get your job done.

When I first started volunteering as an English tutor, this was what I was so excited about: helping my pupils become more confident expressing themselves in writing. The more you can refine your own writing and apply the words you learn accurately, the more meaning you can unlock in complex texts and find greater satisfaction in expressing your ideas to others.

As a tutor I discovered pretty quickly that the first challenge in sessions was often ensuring that pupils understood the material, which involved slowing right down and dismantling words that had become barriers to accessing the meaning of the text.

After that, you had to start the tricky business of generating ideas about what you’d read and picking choice quotations. The final hurdle was expressing these ideas clearly by finding the right words of your own.

It sometimes stopped me in my tracks when my pupils did not know a word that I was expecting them to know, making me wonder how many other words they had passed over without asking for an explanation. I realised how important it was to check their understanding of a passage and dwell on significant words, and I made it my mission to help them acquire some of these words for the future.

I studied medieval languages at university and whenever I was trying to commit a new word to memory during my studies, I would look for a path connecting it to another word, idea, or image. I thought of it like putting up pegs in my mind to hang the new words on. The Old Norse word hegri sounds a bit like ‘egg-grey’, which could help you picture grey bird that lays eggs and remember that hegri means heron. Some words happen to have memorable stories that help you store the meaning away.

One of my favourite examples is the Old English word sōna, from which we get our adverb ‘soon’. But to Anglo-Saxons, sōna actually didn’t mean ‘soon’, but ‘immediately’: over time, our way of saying ‘right now’ ended up meaning ‘in a bit’ – a shift in meaning that we can all relate to!

I tried to put this method into practice with my pupils when I wanted them to retain more ambitious vocabulary. One pupil did not know the word ‘crimson’. I told him to think of a criminal with bright red blood on their hands, so that the sound of the word and the colour it represented would be connected by an image. Finding these pathways and pictures was a fun and rewarding way of dealing with obstacles in sessions, and I would try to revisit these words in future to ensure they were remembered.

Of course, as great as it is to teach our pupils new vocabulary and help them remember it, we also need to help them cope when they face a word that they don’t know in an exam, without getting hung up on it. Fortunately, it should always be possible to draw a valid interpretation without knowing even a lynchpin word, provided you can back it up with evidence from the surrounding text.

A good example of this is in the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon, where a word with unclear meaning appears during a turning point in the narrative. The hero is said to act with ofermōd – which has been variously interpreted in this context as meaning ‘too much heart/courage’ or as ‘excess pride/arrogance’. The events that unfold, and the representation of the hero overall, can be interpreted entirely differently depending on that one word. Although the exact meaning intended by the author can’t be known, we can accept either interpretation because both can be convincingly justified using the rest of the poem.

Our English workbooks for primary school pupils have a ‘Word Journal’ in the back pages which tutors will be familiar with: pupils are encouraged to write a new word and draw pictures around it, to help them remember it better. Although our GCSE pupils might not appreciate being asked to illustrate new words they’re learning, it is certainly worth taking time to discuss new words, write them down, and revisit them in future sessions.

Words are not only fascinating but empowering, helping you to access meaning and express yourself, and I think that is a worthy goal to have for our pupils beyond their exams: to better understand and interpret what they see, and to make their feelings and ideas more clearly understood.

Join our mission and help us provide the academic support disadvantaged young people need.

Imagine you’re Gavin Williamson, how would you “Do Good Better?”

Suppose you’re Gavin Williamson right now. 

Get into character, you are Secretary of State for Education (at time of writing), MP for South Staffordshire (at time of writing), you (allegedly) once owned a tarantula that you kept on your desk and are (allegedly) a big fan of the original UK House of Cards series. We’re going to concentrate on the first of these facts. What do you do with the power you wield? There are any number of things you have responsibility for, including:

• early years.
• children’s social care.
• teachers’ pay.
• the school curriculum.
• school improvement.
• academies and free schools.
• further education.
• apprenticeships and skills.
• higher education.

So, where to start? Holding the position of Secretary of State for Education (or equivalent roles, as the name and exact responsibilities have varied over the years) can be seen as a place to make your name in politics. It has been held by a number of heavy weights (politically), including Ken Clarke, David Blunkett, Shirley Williams and who could forget Margaret Hilda Thatcher? If you want to delve into more detail on previous politicians who have held the post, I would recommend the excellent website: https://greatedusecs.com/ curated by Laura Mcinerney. 

I was only a secondary maths teacher for a few years and yet, thanks to Michael Gove, managed to experience a fair amount of change in the curriculum. This year we have had a new Ofsted Inspection Framework launched and party conferences are full of promises on how to improve education, including a policy from Labour which would abolish Ofsted. 

As part of my role involves creating the resources and training for Action Tutoring I know from first hand experience the temptation to continually make changes and tweak things. I have hundreds of ideas of my own and then when you open it up to our team and tutors we could probably collate over a thousand suggestions of things to change. With so many things to change, we’d better get started! 

But wait. 

Hold on a minute…

Are these changes always good?

Are these changes all effective?

Do these changes make a difference in what we’re really trying to achieve or do they just keep us busy and look good on the surface?

If you haven’t heard of Effective Altruism or the book Doing Good Better, I want you to go away and look at least one of them up right now. Go on, I’ll wait…

Back? Good, I told you I would wait, didn’t I?

I first read Doing Good Better in June 2018 in Uganda. I then re-read it when visiting Ghana in November that year (I promise these holidays are the exception not the rule, I’m usually found in Bristol or London working very hard). Ironically, I gave my copy away when I was in Ghana last year and had to buy another. I would really recommend you reading it too… here… have my copy. 

Here is a brief introduction to the book from https://www.effectivealtruism.org/doing-good-better/

Do you care about making the world a better place? Perhaps you buy ethical products, donate to charity or volunteer your time in the name of doing good. But how often do you know what impact you really have?

William MacAskill, Research Fellow at Cambridge University, has spent the last five years developing the philosophy of effective altruism, which applies data and scientific reasoning to the normally sentimental world of doing good. In the course of his research he’s come to the remarkable conclusion that most ways of making a difference achieve little, but that, by targeting our efforts on the most effective causes, we each have an enormous power to make the world a better place.

Such was the impact that reading the book has had on me, I managed to persuade the team at Action Tutoring to make it our theme and focus for the year.

Part of the reason for this is that over the last year, I’ve become more involved in working on our impact planning. This has been a mix of carrying out a piece of work on quality assurance, working with The Centre for Education and Youth (formly LKMco) and attending Impact Forums with other charities, run by our funder Impetus. 

One of the outcomes of this is working with our Data and Evaluation Manager to come up with an Impact Improvement Strategy for Action Tutoring. I already know this piece of work isn’t perfect, but it’s a step towards being more effective and having the biggest impact with the resources we have. 

Hold on, Gav! Gav! Pssst, that’s you… you’re Gavin Williamson, remember? 

What are you going to do to have the biggest impact on education in this country? 

If you’re still not sure, one suggestion that piqued my interest this week was from Becky Allen https://rebeccaallen.co.uk/2019/09/29/the-ungameable-game/ 

It ties into some of the ideas that Doing Good Better raises. Whatever activities we’re doing, we will almost certainly change how we carry them out by how those activities are judged. To ensure we’re having the biggest impact we can, maybe we shouldn’t focus only on the activities we’re doing, but what and how we’re really trying to measure at the end of the process. 

Or if we’re more interested in our personal ‘success’ we could all get tarantulas for our desks and rewatch House of Cards to pick up tips from Francis Urquhart on how to make our way to the top. 

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