St Urban’s Catholic Primary School joined us in the 2016/17 academic year for the EEF project and they received 6 hours of tuition weekly.  The tutors have been complimented by Clare Fergurson, a Year 6 Teacher, as they were all very professional and gave excellent feedback allowing the teachers to easily “cover the children’s next steps” in their lessons.

Rachel Cox, one of our tutors working at St Urban’s, said that she “had a fantastic time at St Urban's.  The children were brilliant, and the staff were so supportive.”  Rachel was very creative with her sessions and managed to turn SATS questions into different, entertaining exercises and the children found this a great way to learn.  In one case Rachel turned higher SATS questions into an alien-themed questions and when questioned on it she said,

“When they realised they had just done some high-level SATS questions they were over the moon and had so much confidence in themselves. I like to take the time to create my own resources for the most part as I feel that I can tailor them best to the needs of the pupils. Plus it's fun for me too!” 

Making her own work did add to her workload but she said “it’s the achievement from the pupil, both academically and personally, that make all the late-night lesson planning and early morning starts 100% worth it.”

One of the best aspects of The Tutor Trust is the personal touch that can be given within the small focused groups.  The children and Tutors are able to form a friendly working relationship.  Rachel even said “it was bittersweet finishing the tutoring with them.  I so wanted to carry on working with the pupils, but I’d done my job and they were ready to do their SATS."