We support any decision that’s needed to help curb the Covid-19 crisis and due to the school closures we are not currently delivering our programmes in schools. You can read our full statement on the current situation here.
We know the impact the school closures will have on our pupils is significant. These are pupils who are already struggling academically and the absence of education, and any other means of support, will simply leave them further behind. It is highly likely the attainment gap will widen further as a result of school closures.
Once this crisis has passed our help will be needed more than ever to support pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to catch up. We hope to engage many more volunteers to ensure we can help these pupils get back to where they should be. We also welcome any donations, to help prepare us for this work.
Please find below some FAQs relating to our delivery and operations during the crisis. If you can’t find the answer you need, please drop us an email: [email protected].
Are sessions still going ahead?
Due to the school closures we are not currently delivering our programmes. We are working closely with our schools to identify other areas we can support and have already shared printable versions of our tutoring workbooks with them, in the hope that they can be of benefit to any pupils struggling during this time.
When will tutoring recommence?
At present, we are in conversation with our schools to see what support we might be able to give through resources and once the current lock-down guidance has been relaxed. This also includes beginning to gather their views on the option for online delivery and how we could best do that for the demographic we support.
We don’t know when pupils will be allowed back in schools, but as soon as they are we will make sure we are available to help in whichever way the schools would prefer and government restrictions allow.
Will GCSE exams and Key Stage 2 SATs still take place?
Due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis, exams have been cancelled. You can read the full guidance on the government website here.
Can we do tutoring online?
Moving our delivery online was already part of our strategic plans before the crisis hit, but we have now refreshed the timescales to enable us to deliver it much sooner. We are in the process of selecting a supplier and designing the structure of this product, as well as fundraising to support the delivery costs for this. We aim to have a small scale pilot in place for June, so that we can be ready to then roll out more widely in September.
There will of course be many hurdles to overcome in this process, having reduced our development time considerably and continuing to manage the impact of the pandemic, but we are determined to deliver as closely as possible to these timescales.
Please apply now via our application form if you would like to join us as an online tutor. If you are interested in online tutoring for your school, please do get in touch.
What will happen to my pupils?
Unfortunately we do not have direct contact with the pupils but we are regularly in touch with the schools and finding out the best ways we can support. As we don't know how long the current situation will last, we're unable to say whether we will be able to support your pupils again this academic year.
If you would like to pass a message on to your pupils, please do get in touch with your Programme Coordinator/Executive, so that they can ensure it reaches the school.
Please do remember our safeguarding policy during this period and do not make any direct contact with your pupils.
Will volunteers be able to be trained online?
We are now beginning to deliver training to prospective volunteers online. This is a new venture for us, so we are keeping attendee numbers low initially. We’ll be in touch when there are dates available to sign up to. Please do complete the DBS form as normal and we will be able to check your ID via a video call following training.
How are Action Tutoring coping financially with the current crisis?
Over the last few years Action Tutoring have built up healthy reserves, which we are very thankful for at the moment. We are also grateful to our many funders who are standing with us through this period. However we are facing a loss of income in the summer term as we are anticipating limited or no delivery over this period and 40% of our income comes from our partner schools. Therefore any donation would be very gratefully received to help us compensate for this, to avoid the need to use too much from our reserves and to ensure we can be in a strong place to be ready to support our pupils as soon as we can safely do so. Additional funds would also be used to help us prepare to be able to deliver online quickly.
Visit our fundraising page to donate.
We have also recently taken the decision to furlough a percentage of our workforce, over a six week period, to help protect the organisation for the longer term: both its staffing positions and financially.
Unfortunately, due to the school closures, we can’t predict when we will be able to return to full delivery of our programmes or how our model may have to adapt to different environments. For these reasons, it is important that we take the Government support while it is available. This will save the charity nearly £20,000 over the six weeks the staff are furloughed.
Should schools return before the end of this period and we are able to begin tutoring, Action Tutoring will bring back the required staff members immediately so that there is no disruption to operations. As only a third of the workforce will be off over each period, the charity will be able to heavily focus its remaining staff on preparing to deliver again, both in person and online.
