St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School is close to the city centre in Leeds and in 2017/18, 28% of the pupils were eligible for pupil premium funding which is in line with the national average.

The school was in the intervention group as part of the randomised control trial we carried out in Year 6 Maths tuition, funded by the Education Endowment Foundation, during 2016/17.  Maria Owen, Deputy Headteacher, said

“We were part of a pilot scheme first of all, but saw the impact they (the tutors) had on our scores for Maths that we have used them for three years now.”

Last year, our tutor – Jenny Spence – supported 20 Year 6 pupils in preparation for their KS2 Maths SATs.  All pupils made progress on their test scores with 13 pupils reaching age-related expectations in their SATs and 3 pupils working at Greater Depth.  Jenny commented “I thoroughly enjoyed tutoring at St Patricks.  I had good communication with their head teacher who gave suggestions on what I should cover with the pupils.  I also was able to contact her and offer suggestions myself that I knew would be beneficial to them, after seeing which parts of Maths they struggled with.  I also found the teachers very helpful and if I had any problems with behavioural management, staff helped me straight away.  The pupils there were fantastic - very engaging.  They loved my smelly stickers and I saw a big improvement with them over the months.”  Maria went on to say that,

“Every child who has participated in the tutoring has enjoyed it & all the tutors are very professional.  The Tutor Trust has had great impact at our school.  Children have grown in confidence in Maths & the tutors are skilled at targeting the work to their needs.  Working in small groups of 3 children to one tutor means they build excellent relationships with the children, which helps them learn.  The tutors are also good role models for the children & opens up the world of higher & further education to children who may not have thought about it in the past.”