To date, over two million tutoring courses have been started through the NTP since its launch in November 2020, however, the scheme is only temporary and is due to end in 2024. According to a survey by the Centre for Education and Youth, 70% said they believe the programme should continue for at least one more year than planned.
Despite education being provided online during the pandemic, the impact of the disruption on children’s learning was still significant. Not only does tutoring help children who have missed out to catch up with their peers, it has many other long-term advantages for schools, pupils and tutors.
Teaching and tutoring go hand in hand
Tutoring cannot replace school learning; it is a resource for schools to provide additional support to those who need it. Tutors and teachers should work together to provide a cohesive and linear structure to children’s education.
While the NTP was introduced largely to help students catch up after disruption caused by the pandemic, a good tutoring scheme can be useful in the long run. Through tutoring, children not only grow academically, but also emotionally as they build confidence, become more engaged, and achieve higher levels of attendance.
The difference between tutoring and teaching is that a teacher can’t be everything to everyone all at once. Every individual has a different way of learning. In a classroom with around 30 children, teachers must use methods that work for the majority of pupils. They can’t focus on individuals as much as they would like to, and so, inevitably, some children will not benefit from the same teaching style as much as others and will fall behind.
Tutors use the same national curriculum, but they engage with children in small groups, from one-to-one learning to groups of about six children. This gives them more time and flexibility to offer personalised support to individual students. They are better able to adapt to a learning style that works for their small group or individuals, to complement their school learning.
Students who are ahead of the rest of their class can also benefit from tutoring, because they can be taught something at a higher level than the rest of the class.
How to implement a successful tutoring scheme
The Department for Education has guidance on how to implement the National Tutoring Programme into your school. The scheme provides government-funded tutoring within schools, benefitting primary, secondary and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schools until 2024. Reed is a registered provider of tutors.
The first step to implementing a tutoring scheme is to understand the areas needing attention: which pupils need the most additional support and what they need support with, which subjects are students struggling with the most, and who in your team will manage the logistical side of the scheme.
Reed is proud to be an approved education provider, with access to over one million talented tutors, our own platform for virtual tuition, and support in building working relationships between tutors and schools. Reed recommends providing 15 one-hour sessions with pupils, and between one to six children in a lesson, per tutor.
Once you have implemented your tutoring programme, it is crucial to listen to feedback from tutors, pupils, teachers, parents and anyone else involved in the programme. Take the time to review what is working and what’s not and then, if needs be, you can adjust accordingly.
Becoming a successful tutor
Tutoring can have a huge impact on children’s education and can almost be more rewarding than teaching because your impact on students is more visible and you can receive more immediate feedback. To understand how the child learns best, you must first get to know them.
While you do teach the same national curriculum as teachers, your support can also build a child’s ‘soft skills’ i.e., communication, teamwork and decision-making, through your influence. That means, as an educator, it is best to have your own set of soft skills.
Here are some key skills a tutor needs to have:
Listening
The most crucial part of building the rapport and understanding that pupils require is to first be a good listener. Children in small groups can more easily tell you what’s working for them and what’s not so you can understand their needs.
Adaptability
Tutors can be more flexible than teachers and more focused on individual learning styles, which can help you offer a more tailored style of education. Don’t take it too personally if your chosen teaching style isn’t working – we all learn differently. You can experiment and do whatever works for the pupil, experimenting with different methods.
Collaboration
Tutoring is mostly a partnership between you and the pupil. You are working together towards the same goal: to help them succeed in their education. In addition to this partnership, tutors must also work with the child’s regular teacher to ensure lessons are in harmony with what they are learning in school.
Confidence
If you don’t seem to believe what you’re saying, students are less likely to believe what you teach them. This can have a strong impact on students’ engagement with your lessons and can make or break your credibility and their trust in you as someone guiding them to success.
Honesty
While confidence and credibility are important, honesty also goes a long way to building trust between you and your pupil. If you don’t know an answer, confidently teaching them the wrong one will also break your credibility and their trust.
Honestly stating that you don’t know is a much better option, because you can say: “Let’s try to find the answer together.” Helping pupils find the solutions themselves enables them to more easily learn and remember new information.
If you’re interested in joining the National Tutoring Programme, either as an educational institution or a tutor, contact us today.
