Our tutors help smooth the move

Primary school leavers across Greater Manchester and Merseyside have been boosting their confidence ahead of the move to secondary school in a series of fun-focused summer schools.

Over the summer holidays, our highly trained tutors have been supporting incoming Year 7 learners to improve their English and Maths skills in engaging tuition sessions designed to sit alongside secondary schools’ summer activity programmes. We are working with more Year 7 pupils than ever before over the school holidays, with more than 450 joining our tuition programmes.

Over July and August we've been supporting pupils in Greater Manchester at: Oasis Academy Leesbrook, Oldham, Manchester Academy, Moss Side, Fairfield High School for Girls, Droylsden, Oasis MediaCityUK Academy, Salford and Irlam and Cadishead Academy, Irlam. In Merseyside, our tutors have been supporting summer schools at: St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Academy, Knowsley, The Grange Academy, Runcorn, Archbishop Beck Catholic College, Liverpool and Dixons Fazakerley Academy, Liverpool.

Working with our partner schools, our tutors are delivering a packed programme of English and Maths activities designed to inspire 11-year-olds in their learning and to ensure the transition to secondary is a smooth one.  Workbooks feature questions focused on well-known motivational figures such as Marcus Rashford, Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai to create an engaging environment for learning.

Nick Bent, CEO and Co-Founder of Tutor Trust, and Abigail Shapiro, Executive Director and Co-Founder, say that the summer holidays are a great opportunity to give young learners valuable tools that will help when they move to secondary school:

“We’ve had a number of years’ experience of running and supporting summer school activities and know they can make an important difference to the young person’s attainment. 

“We’re delighted that, this summer, our highly-trained tutors are encouraging and inspiring several hundred young people to learn in a fun and friendly environment, so they feel really prepared and ready to move to secondary school in September.

“In a year in which the pandemic has brought disruption to many sectors, not least of all education, summer schools have presented an opportunity to smooth the transition to secondary school. It’s great to have been able to work with our secondary school partners to support that.”

Parents of pupils who took part in the summer school at Parrenthorn High School in Prestwich, Greater Manchester said they felt their children had benefited.

One parent said:

X really enjoyed the summer school classes and it has hopefully given [him] an extra boost and catch up, ready for next year."

Another added: "I would like to say thank you for setting up the extra work for Y In English, we all appreciate it to help him with his GCSE. I think he enjoyed it too."

Tutor Carolyn Edwards worked with two other Tutor Trust tutors to deliver the programme at Archbishop Beck Catholic College in Liverpool. She said: “It was wonderful when I saw that a child, who had struggled with co-ordinates across four quadrants in Year 6, understood the lesson. Also, during the treasure hunt, she corrected her group as to where the clue was by using her skills in co-ordinates!”

A summer school pupil at Archbishop Beck Catholic College said of his tutor: “She has helped me face my challenges in Maths – she has really helped me a lot!’”

If you’d like to know more about how we work with schools, or would like to register your interest in tutoring for your pupils, please get in touch with your local team team: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].