Volunteer Stories

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

24 February 2020

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.

The Importance of Tutoring

10 February 2020

Every September, a joke goes around university campuses that we have our first day of school coming up. Next year will be my thirtieth first day of school. 

When I took up my current position as a lecturer, I wanted to set aside some regular time to volunteer. An education charity was an obvious choice. I chose Action Tutoring because their aim is to help those pupils who would gain the most from a little extra guidance outside of their regular classroom.  

the importance of tutoring

If you haven’t set foot in a school this side of the 2008 economic crash — as I hadn’t before I began volunteering — you can’t imagine how different today’s primary and secondary school pupils’ experiences are from what you might remember. More and more, I’ve come to realise how lucky I was. I’ve stayed in education all this time because studying came naturally to me, I enjoyed it, and it remained an option to me. I went to excellent primary and secondary schools, all for free. While I learned a lot (with thanks to my teachers), I didn’t appreciate why my peers might find studying more difficult. 

The importance of tutoring

One of the first things you realise when you start tutoring is that there could be any number of reasons a student is struggling, but it’s never being ‘bad’ or just not being able to understand a subject.

My academic field is linguistics, so when I volunteered for the first time and realised that every one of my tutees comes from a home where English is an additional language, I knew that I’d be working with some very intelligent pupils.

By the age of ten, some have learnt English as a third language, and are now studying a fourth in school (together with a second alphabet). This is an achievement for which most adults would laud others. It does mean, though, that my tutees’ parents might not be able to help them with their English homework, or that they’re particularly attuned to the UK’s preoccupation with testing, for example, Spelling-Punctuation-and-Grammar (which, if you were to ask a semi-professional opinion, are as much a test of a rigid writing style as anything else).

So now I spend an hour or two on Friday mornings reading with two or three pupils, working on their vocabulary and comprehension skills. Over the term I’ve taught them, my tutees’ confidence with reading has grown, but I should attribute that to the teachers who work with them every day.

If there’s one thing I know they’ve learned from me so far, it’s how the best strategies for playing Hangman work: vowels are the best letters to ask for first because, if you study phonology, you’ll know every word is broken into syllables, and every syllable in English contains a vowel. After that, continuant sounds like n and r link the vowels to other consonants. And at all times, keep an eye out for complex, but predictable strings of consonants like str or spr at the beginning of a word, or suffixes like -ing at the end. Hopefully, my tutees will put this knowledge to better use in the future, but if they move from Hangman to Scrabble, or to cryptic crosswords (once they get to my age, maybe), I’ll be only too pleased.

Written by: Sam Steddy

At Action Tutoring we believe that tailored and personalised academic support can help pupils improve their subject comprehension and increase their confidence. Our incredible volunteers are committed individuals who believe in equal education opportunities for everyone and their support helps lower the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.

If you would like to find out what our pupils and volunteer tutors have to say about their experience with Action Tutoring, you can read our success stories here.

Why I give my time to volunteer with Action Tutoring- Giving Tuesday

3 December 2019

The questions on the sheet blurred as tears of frustration rose in my eyes and I struggled to grasp the concepts needed to work out the answers. I was twelve years old and failing to understand how to work with negative numbers. Luckily, my maths teacher, realising I needed help with maths in general, had offered to let me stay after school to do some extra work.

Okay, come stand over here,” he said. “This is zero. Now take three steps forward and you are at positive three. Now walk backwards (subtract) four steps – how far are you behind the point of zero? Now if you were to add negative steps, would you go forwards or backwards?

When the inevitable lightbulb moment occurred, and I finally ‘got it’, the feeling when I knew I could grasp these difficult and new ideas was wonderful. It was like I had been given an incredible gift.

Originally, I wanted to give my time to volunteer with Action Tutoring because I wanted to contribute to society outside of work and was reading more and more about how inequality causes a large attainment gap between young people, which seems incredibly unfair. As a first-generation university student from a working-class background I have some insights as to how difficult it can be to achieve your best at school, especially when there are other external pressures that teachers may not be fully aware of or are unable to do anything about.

But, since I started volunteering with Action Tutoring, I now understand that this gift of learning is something that is bestowed on both the receiver of knowledge and the giver. It is incredibly rewarding to help the pupils learn new things and improve their skills, and their enthusiasm always makes me come away inspired for the week. It even inspired me to run a 10K to raise funds – something that I certainly found a challenge but helped me to strive towards a new achievement, something that the pupils are doing each and every day. The students are running mental 10Ks every day through their learning, and their teachers and tutors are the pacemakers.

I can’t recommend working with Action Tutoring enough – you get incredible support; the volunteer coordinators are so friendly and will bend over backwards to help you become a great tutor, and the students will teach you things about yourself you never even thought to ask for.

Elaine, after running the ASICS 10k to raise money for Action Tutoring

Why volunteer?

8 November 2019

In the fast-paced world we live in, we are constantly moving from one thing to the next.  It can be hard to find a minute to ourselves, let alone a minute to give to someone else. So why would you give up some of your precious time to volunteer?  What are the benefits?

At Action Tutoring we have over 1,100 incredible volunteers who give their time for us every year.  Their support directly impacts the lives of around 2,500 pupils a year, to ensure they can progress in life.  We simply could not function without them. To us the benefits are clear – our volunteers give our young people a future.

But we know your time is precious and we know even with the wider benefits to society it can be hard to make time to give back.  Sometimes we have to be a bit selfish, and so I think it’s important to reflect on how volunteering benefits the giver…

It gives you the chance to meet people you wouldn’t have otherwise met

Any volunteering activity will take you outside of your normal social circles, offering you the chance to interact and learn from other people in your community.  At Action Tutoring we’re proud to have a diverse range of volunteers supporting us, from 18 to 80 years. One of those, Abigail, is a university student who was new to London when she joined us,

“I have met lots of different, interesting people (tutors and pupils) and been to lots of different places in London that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen.”

It helps you to use existing skills you might have or learn and develop new skills

Depending on the activity there may be new skills you can learn or for softer skills, such as confidence or teamworking, volunteering often helps you to develop and refine these.  As Chris, a HMRC Tax Specialist, comments,

“In my daily life Action Tutoring has helped me too. I am so much more confident walking into a room of people I don’t know and holding meetings at work, where I have to lead.”

The ‘feel good factor’

Through volunteering you’ll often get so see the impact of your efforts first hand, which can be incredibly rewarding.  Through our tutoring activities, our volunteers often see this in the progression of the pupils they are supporting. Patsy, a retired statistician, comments: 

“I get a great sense of satisfaction from seeing my pupils understand something that they didn’t understand before; and succeeding in their exams. Achieving these qualifications is so crucial for them and whatever else I do during the week, I know I’m helping to make a difference.”

Positive impact on your mental health

Volunteering has also been acknowledged as causing improved mental health.  Giving your time to others helps to reduce isolation, reduces stress and helps to keep things in perspective.  The Mental Health Foundation looks into this more deeply here.

In 2017-18, over 20.1 million people volunteered through a group, club or organisation – so there are plenty of opportunities to choose from.  Whatever activity you choose, you can be sure the benefits will be great for you and for others. 

For more information about volunteering with Action Tutoring, check out our impact page here and our volunteering page here.   

Collective Sustainability – Quality education

3 October 2019

This article is part of a series to explore how everyday citizens can support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) locally through the power of collective action.

Education for my sister and all!

This article will be a bit more personal than all the others for one simple reason: if I needed to pick only one SDG to support for the rest of my life, education would be it. As they say, if you want to find your passion, you do not need to look for it, it is already there in one form or another. Probably my younger sister could tell you even more about this, accompanied with some rolling eyes, as she was the guinea pig of my early teaching attempts. It was obvious which books I was trying to use to teach her, their first few pages were full of writing and crinkles, the rest pristine, as eventually she always went on strike. I had to convince her again and again, “just one more class, it will be fun, I promise!”

Jumping forward in time eventually teaching did come back into my life, not as a full time career but, through an initiative I started with my friends to teach presentation skills to children. I absolutely loved teaching, it was the highlight of my week. As soon as I left the classroom I started thinking of new ideas to make sure the children understood the concepts and enjoyed the class at the same time. I currently work for an online education company, with which I can indirectly contribute to the lifelong learning of thousands of people around the world!

Getting back to the roots

When I moved to London I left our initiative behind. Despite my job in education, I did miss hands-on teaching. My favourite subject at school was maths. I truly enjoyed those extra exercises and brainteasers, so it was quite an obvious idea to give the love of maths to others (‘cringe-factor’ 10 out of 10!). After a quick Google search I stumbled upon Action Tutoring, which is one of the largest education charities offering volunteer tutoring opportunities in the UK. They specialise in helping pupils who are from disadvantaged backgrounds and struggle with English and maths, but could not afford to pay for extra support.

After my induction training I found myself standing sleepily at 8am at the gates of a primary school at King’s Cross, with ten other volunteers. Initially, I thought that the hard bit would be to make up the exercises and cover the whole curriculum. This is not the case though, as Action Tutoring provides a top-notch exercise book, with some really engaging exercises and games. The more challenging bit is motivating your pupils. I mean for one thing I am not a morning person, but imagine the enthusiasm the pupils have at 8am for two subjects they are struggling in. However, the mood always lifted by 9.30am and the pupils leaving with a smile on their faces.

Maths – not an all-time favourite?

Especially not fractions. I broke out in sweats several times, trying to find a way to explain the topic so that it finally clicked. First, you try to describe it as you remember it from when you were 11. You draw a big apple pie and ask them to colour the slices in, “You see, 1/4 is the same size as 2/8. Easy!” Blank looks. Right, so they don’t like apple pies, that must be the issue, let’s try with pizza. Same look, this time with eyes wandering to the window. Oh no, oh no, I am losing him! Do something! Am I explaining it wrong? No this can’t be, I tried the apple pie AND the pizza! Clearly, he is a lost cause, maybe we should just practise converting grams to kilograms. No, come on, one last time.

And then you hear an “Aaaaaaaahhh”, which usually comes with a smile. A word that is so genuine that no one can fake it and it means that you can finally relax and breathe. Your job done for the day. With one of my pupils I had to wait for this moment for several weeks, and in those sessions she was yawning more than the number of exercises we solved. And then one day, she turned to me and said: “You know what? I don’t hate maths anymore, I actually like it now!”

Education in numbers

Just as we have seen with health and wellbeing, social disadvantage plays an important role when it comes to education outcomes as well. Already at a young age it affects school attainment as, on average, disadvantaged children are four months behind at the age of five, nine months behind by age 11, and 18 months behind by 16 years of age in England1. Later on, the scissor does not get narrower, as in 2018 only 20% of 18 year olds from the most disadvantaged areas entered full time Higher Education, which is higher than ten years ago. This figure for the most advantageous areas was 47%2. This is why initiatives like Action Tutoring are key to help these young people to fall behind with their education.

How could you get involved?

Action Tutoring runs its programmes in school terms, and you can join them for any term during the school year. They work in over 80 schools in London and another seven cities around the UK. A full-time job is not an issue as you can tutor just before work, to start your day on a high note!

1 Education in England Annual Report

2 UCAS End of cycle report

Volunteering Experiences – Primary school

3 July 2019

Stefanie Bongert is a Systems Consult at SustainIt and has tutored maths to primary school pupils with Action Tutoring. Stefanie has attended fifteen sessions and shares her volunteering experience below.

SustainIt offers each employee the chance to volunteer for a charity of their choosing for two days, every year. I decided to volunteer with Action Tutoring in Bristol, who support disadvantaged pupils in local primary and secondary schools, by offering tutoring sessions for maths and English.

Every tutor works with the same group of two or three pupils, for one hour a week over the period of one term (8-10 weeks), with the option of continuing the following term.

Why did I volunteer as a tutor in a primary school?

Having previously studied English and Maths to become a teacher, this volunteering opportunity seemed like a perfect fit. The main reason behind my interest in volunteering with Action Tutoring was that I wanted to commit to an entire term as I really think that it is important to only start something that you can dedicate enough time to.

I also particularly like the fact that you work in a room full of other volunteers, working with pupils of the same age group. We get the chance to help each other and share ideas during the sessions, or in our 10-minute catch-up after each volunteering session.

During each session, we try to concentrate on a specific topic, including time for both group and individual work. During the small breaks between longer tasks, we play mathematical games or try the brain teasers in the workbook. Figure 1 shows an example of some of the activities we ask the children to complete. Can you solve the triangle mess and count the triangles?

volunteer-as-a-tutor

It is great to see the students enjoying the sessions when we get to a topic they find engaging. Sometimes, they almost forget that they are doing maths.

It has been important to get to know my pupils a little bit during the first session and observe what they enjoy in the following session. It is a great chance to plan the lessons with a mix of tasks they need more practice on, as well as those they enjoy and leave them with a sense of achievement.

Written by: Stefanie Bongert, Systems Consultant

Originally published  https://sustainitsolutions.com/blog/volunteering-at-a-local-primary-school/

If you want to give back to your community and also volunteer like Stefanie in your area or online, get involved today and support disadvantaged pupils by providing them the academic assistance they need.

Reflections from a tutor: The Action Tutoring experience

17 May 2019

Written by Elaine Garrod

Elaine is a graphic designer working for KPMG and tutors English with Action Tutoring at Chelsea Academy.

It is generally said that moving house is one of the most stressful life events one can have. I dare say general advice would be not to take on other new ventures at the same time, if it can be avoided.

However, one afternoon last spring as I was heading to my work’s restaurant for lunch in a state of angst over my impending house move, I was approached by a man who was trying to recruit KPMG staff members to volunteer for a charity called Action Tutoring. I work for KPMG as a graphic designer and the company allows its staff time during working hours to volunteer with all sorts of charities and activities as part of its ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’.

The man from Action Tutoring explained to me that the charity supports pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve a meaningful level of academic attainment, with a view to helping them progress to further education, employment or training. It does this by getting volunteer tutors to help pupils with maths and English. Despite the pressure I was under at the time, I agreed to become a volunteer tutor. Why, you ask?

I try to live Green Party values, be a useful member of society and do good in the community. In the Green Party, we promote equal opportunities and believe that every child has the right to a good education and the right to have the opportunity to reach their full potential, whatever their circumstances. Children from poorer backgrounds can face challenges such as having to care for younger siblings or sick/disabled parents. They might live in a crowded home and not have anywhere quiet and private to do their homework. They might not get enough to eat. Issues like these can seriously affect the time they have for studying and their ability to focus on their studies, not to mention their confidence and aspirations. I wanted to do something to help them.

To become a tutor you need to have at least ‘A’ Level in the subject you’re going to teach. I can therefore only teach English: as I tell my pupils, if we were in the maths classroom they would be teaching me!

The first steps were to apply for DBS clearance and attend an induction course with other new tutors where I learned some shocking statistics about how poorly pupils from less privileged backgrounds do in their exams compared to their more privileged peers. We were shown the workbooks we would use, although we were told we could use our own material and teaching aids too, so long as we ran them past the coordinator first. We were given a few rules regarding safety for ourselves and the pupils.

Soon after that, I was invited to look through the list of schools where tutors were required and apply for a position. I chose to apply to teach GSCE English to Year 10 and 11 pupils for an hour a week during term time at Chelsea Academy. There are primary school roles available too but they are at 09:00 and I’m not a morning person! The secondary school sessions are in the afternoon.

The benefits to the pupils are fairly obvious: the tutoring, which is one-to-one or in small groups can help them get better grades in their exams which will boost their chances of getting into higher education and a good job. However, there are also benefits for me.

Teaching English writing and reading comprehension makes a change from work for me and inspires me to think more creatively which is useful for my job, as is gaining skills and confidence in teaching as my job sometimes involves buddying apprentices. I find that helping the pupils to understand and analyse different types of text sharpens my own analytical skills and enhances my appreciation of what I read, be it a novel or a newspaper article. I’m always on the lookout for text that I could use for a good comprehension lesson so I read all the more attentively, looking out for interesting structures, forms, and language techniques. I find myself thinking back to books I’ve previously read and revisiting them to mine them for texts to use for a lesson. I’m re-learning a lot as I go along, and reading the different texts with the pupils is broadening the range of things that I read too. Another way in which it is good for me is that while I’m teaching I’m completely absorbed in it and focused on my pupils and their progress: I’m not thinking and worrying about other things (which I’m given to doing).

I was a little nervous before my first lesson as I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from the venue and the pupils. When I arrived at the school I joined the coordinator and other tutors, who are quite a diverse bunch, in the foyer. Most of us were there early so we had time to chat amongst ourselves before being led up to the classrooms (one for English and one for maths) to meet our pupils. I was supposed to have two pupils but only one of them, a Year 11 girl, ever turned up. This was in May, so I only had her for about three sessions before she started her final exams; then we were introduced to our Year 10 pupils. It can be a little awkward at first until we get to know each other. I start off by asking them questions about what subjects they enjoy in school and what they want to do when they leave school, and I tell them a bit about myself, or get them to play a guessing game as to what I do for a living and so forth. Sometimes we then play a game like ‘Taboo cards’ as a warm-up before the lesson proper.

Although we are provided with workbooks, it’s advisable always to have a ‘back-up’ lesson as sometimes we are given different pupils due to absences. Rather than disrupt what I’m doing with my usual pupil, or what my temporary pupil is doing with their tutor in the workbook I find it’s better to do a ‘stand-alone’ lesson in these cases. I’ve found all my pupils to be polite, respectful and hard-working and I hope to continue tutoring for the foreseeable future.

If you’re interested in giving up some of your time to help disadvantaged pupils visit the Action Tutoring website:
https://actiontutoring.org.uk/

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