MyTutor provided 1:1 tutoring support to Year 11 pupils at Clacton Coastal Academy during the run-up to exams.
The sessions helped to support over 60 pupils across the core subjects without disrupting their day-to-day schedules at school.
Here, we speak to Richard Kerr, the Study Hub Coordinator at the school to find out the impact of targeted tutoring.
What challenges are you trying to overcome?
“The key challenge for us is to boost pupils’ confidence in learning and help them work more independently with things like coursework and revision.”
How are you running the programme in your school?
“At our school, pupils are given a certain number of hours for us to fit their interventions in. I run the school study hub, and they’ll have some of that time spent here, usually working independently under my direction for revision or coursework catch up.
“But, some pupils don’t find independent working as easy. MyTutor sessions have been slotted conveniently into this working time. Pupils are finding the personalised, tailored MyTutor sessions more useful and more enjoyable than sitting there trying to work things out on their own.”
What’s the feedback from pupils and staff been like?
“Feedback from the pupils has been really positive. They seem to build a rapport with their tutors quickly and are growing in confidence.
“I’ve had two or three members of staff come to me after the sessions and they’ve all been very impressed. One member of staff wants us to add more pupils – especially those in Year 10 once our Year 11s have left."
“The pupils themselves are asking to be put onto the programme, which is great. Even those that haven’t been that keen, have been engaged.”
What’s has the impact been on pupil confidence?
“On the whole, pupils’ confidence has grown throughout the programme so far. They seem much more willing to engage and appear a lot happier.
“For those that are really engaged, you can see that their confidence is growing; I can hear it in their voices when they’re answering the questions or when discussing things. I’ve been impressed and pleased with how it’s gone so far.”
How did you find setting up the programme?
“Set up was very simple. Kat, our Account Manager, was great when she came in for the first day of the programme as she helped get us up and running.
“The ongoing technical glitches have been minimal. And, when I contact MyTutor for help, they’re all very quick to sort everything out. I’m really happy with the service.”
What’s next for your MyTutor programme?
“I’m looking forward to introducing Year 10s to the programme early on. It means they’ll have plenty of time to get used to the system and how it works so they’ll be better prepared ahead of exams next year.”
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