Tutor Trust have featured on the BBC’s national TV news in a feature on online tutoring. The feature aired on the flagship Six O'Clock News programme on BBC1 on Thursday 18 June 2020. The BBC Education Editor, Branwen Jeffreys, was keen to see tutoring in action. 

The BBC visited a pupil of Norman Pannell Primary School in Netherley, Liverpool. Tutor Trust have been working with Norman Pannell for two years and, since May, as part of our online tutoring pilot. This pilot saw 6 partner schools across Greater Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool assigned with tutors who could support disadvantaged pupils through their online sessions.

Ruby, a year 5 pupil at Norman Pannell, said she was enjoying her sessions and that Ruby’s tutor, Ellie, has been teaching her Maths and English every week.

Ruby's mum Emma commented on her daughter's experience of online tuition on social media. She tweeted: "Ruby started her online tuition today and loved every minute. Thankyou for putting her forward for this."

Ellie commented:

“Being online is a nice opportunity for the student to have a creative space away from their daily lives to explore English and Maths problems. One parent has told me that it has given their children a routine again which, with the absence of schools, is very important in the current situation.”

Rob Simpson, headteacher at Norman Pannell, has been delighted with the tutoring so far. Rob, said:

The Tutor Trust online pilot has been a real positive that has come out of the difficulties of extended school lockdown. Our Y5 and Y6 children have responded so enthusiastically and the children are loving the sessions from home.

“As we all get used to the new technology, this partnership with Tutor Trust enables our children to continue to learn in a fast-paced, meaningful and enjoyable way, which is so important as they approach Y6 or transition into secondary education from September.”

Tutor Trust have also been invited to take part in a national online tuition scheme funded by the EEF, Impetus, the Sutton Trust and NESTA. Our total online tutoring work will support over 150 pupils in Greater Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.

We would like to thank the BBC for filming and covering our online tuition work for the national news programme. We also want to thank the staff and pupils at Norman Pannell for their hard work as part of the online tutoring pilot. We will continue to work with Norman Pannell and many other partner schools to ensure pupils impacted by school closures will not be even further left-behind.