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Alongside the high-quality English, Maths, Science and Reading tutoring services we provide in mainstream settings, we also offer more specialised support for Looked After Children (LAC), young people at risk of exclusion, persistent absentees and young people in alternative provision (AP) settings.
If you're a young person and want to know more about how tutoring works, you can read more here, and if you're a parent or carer, find out more here. You can read case studies here.
The need
For Looked After Children and those in AP, their attainment levels are consistently lower than those of their peers according to the report published by The Centre for Social Justice (11th May 2020): ‘Warming the Cold Spots of Alternative Provision: A manifesto for system improvement’). It states: “In 13 LAs not a single child in AP has passed their English and maths GCSE in the past three years. In three, not a single teacher in AP is qualified. And there is no area in the country where the rate of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) after leaving AP equals even the very worst-performing area for children from mainstream.”
In February 2021 the DfE stated that the total number of placements in local authority alternative provision had increased by 12.9% from 26,100 pupils in 2019 to 29,500 in 2020. As of 31st March 2020, there were 80,080 Looked After Children in England on this date. This date is chosen as children move into and out of LAC status on a daily basis. This includes children in LAC status even for one day.
These young people already face more challenges than their peers, including having more complex needs and facing learning gaps due to missing school. They may benefit from tuition not only as a confidence boost but also because of the more flexible and personal approach offered by 1:1 or small group tuition.
Our tutoring support
We tailor tuition to each young person’s needs, so, unlike our mainstream tuition programmes that run for an hour a week for 15 weeks, work with young people in care or alternative provision settings can run for longer periods of time, depending on what is required. We work with pupils in Years 5 and 6 and at Key Stage 3 and 4, as well as care leavers.
And, like mainstream tutoring programmes, schools and AP settings can also access our specialist tuition at heavily subsidised costs through either the National Tutoring Programme or School-Led Tutoring Grant. Some young people may also decide to use their Pupil Educational Plan (PEP) funding for tuition.
To better support these young people, our already highly-trained tutors also have additional training. This focuses on supporting the vulnerable child so that our specialist tutors are more informed about some of the challenges their tutees may be experiencing and the behaviours that these may prompt. The aim is that our tutors can then build strong supportive relationships and more effectively tailor the sessions to ensure these young people get the most from their learning, increase in confidence and achieve their potential.
As well as giving tutoring support, our tutors act as inspiring role-models – the majority are students or recent graduates and sharing their experiences of education can be invaluable in inspiring the tutee.
In the academic year 2020-2021, the team worked with more than 200 young people in Alternative Provision or Looked After Children assignments, but this is a small drop in the ocean compared to the number of children who are either Looked after or vulnerable.
If you would like to know more about how we can support your school’s Looked After Children, or work with you in an alternative provision setting, please complete the appropriate form here: