As a charity focused on transforming lives through tutoring, we’re dedicated to championing and celebrating diversity and inclusion across all aspects of our work.

We’re committed to equity of opportunity and it’s embedded in our vision and values. Above all, we believe in fairness, and that’s evident every day as our tutors support young people to overcome any barriers they face to achieve their potential.

We are focused on ensuring every hour of tuition has the most impact, so we support our tutors with ongoing tutorials, CPDs and training throughout the year to enable them to deliver high quality, engaging sessions.  We also want to create an inclusive learning environment, and we have an active Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) Team* focused on ensuring the resources available to our tutors do just that. 

So, it is apt that, in October, as a number of key events are celebrated globally and nationally, we throw the spotlight on those rich and varied resources we share with our tutors. We’re making October, which marks Black History Month, ADHD Awareness Month and World Mental Health Day, amongst others, our ED&I Awareness Month.

Each week on our social channels (@TheTutorTrust) we’ll be taking a particular focus and sharing our inclusive resources with our tutors through our online training platform Thinqi, and we’ll be having a weekly round-up of resources on our website.

In week one, to celebrate Black History Month, we’ll be looking at the Black Curriculum and decolonising the curriculum. We’ll be sharing a range of resources with our tutors from our reading lists, including podcasts, and we’ll be reminding tutors of one of our favourite authors, Arree Chung, the writer behind the brilliant Mixed, which was the focus of our World Book Day event.

During the week of 10 October, which also happens to be World Mental Health Day (with National Stress Awareness Day following on 2 November), we’ll be focused on mental health and will feature Place2Be and the Mental Health Foundation’s fantastic resources to support our tutees’ and tutors’ mental health. Place2Be is one of our partner organisations, and in February this year they hosted an insightful online session about mental health, sharing tools and resources for tutors to use.

As part of the week, we have a live CPD session on 11 October for tutors and our staff team with Liz Birchinall, PGCE Primary Lead at the University of Manchester, which will be looking at stress, wellbeing and coping mechanisms.

In week three, which marks International Pronouns Day on the 19^th, we’re turning our attention to our LGBTQ+ community and sharing resources, from a number of different organisations, such as The Proud Trust, that promote inclusivity.

And, at the end of the month, we’ll have a focus on Special Education Needs (SEN) as October is ADHD Awareness Month and includes Dyslexia Awareness Week (3^rd-9^th) and Dyspraxia Week (9^th-15^th).  Our specialised Tutoring Plus team supports young people with additional needs, and we’ll be hearing from them as well as sharing a special blog article from Matt Wallis, our Director of Training and Quality, and a second from Merseyside tutor Danielle.

Our Tutor Trust EDI team is drawn from across the charity, and other colleagues attend meetings as and when their schedules allow.

The EDI team are: Matt Wallis (Director of Training and Quality Assurance), Jason Heaford (Chief Operating Officer), Jo Meredith (Director of Tutoring Plus), Rawan Yousif (Impact Coordinator), Ellie Cross (Tutor Engagement Manager), Maddie Foster (Manchester Primary Schools Coordinator), Freya Hillyer (Merseyside Schools Coordinator), Emily Parkes (Tutor Training Coordinator), Steff Wardell (Merseyside Schools Partnership Manager) and Natassia Cox (Merseyside Schools Coordinator). 

Keep an eye on our socials (you can find us @TheTutorTrust) and this website for more information!

*We chose Equity (as opposed to Equality) as this is about giving more to those who need it, which is proportionate to their own circumstances, in order to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities; for example providing more support to a disadvantaged student so they can reach their full potential.