Summer Term Support

These are uncertain times for teachers and children alike as the government considers the best way forward. One thing is for certain though, that for the forseeable future those children who are invited to return to school will only be doing so in a limited manner and many children will not be going back at all until September.

Whatever your view is on this, the fact remains that children's education has been turned upside down since the lockdown and social distancing measures became a reality.

For the past couple of months I have continued to tutor children online with 1:1 and group sessions taking place on Zoom or Skype. The children enjoy the content and the interaction whilst many parents have told me how much they appreciate having some weekly input and time to discuss issues they have experienced home schooling. They have also observed how their children go into, "learning mode", during the online session - unsurprising when they don't have the wrestle with the idea of mum or dad also being teacher! On request, I have provided follow-up work for children to complete between sessions that directly relates to the learning objectives that have been covered. In my experience though, parents, you are doing a great job under tricky circumstances!

I currently have sessions available in the both the daytime and evening for tuition, both 1:1 and in groups. These may initially take place online but as restrictions are lifted (recently nannies and childminders were invited to return to work so long as each of their sessions were with a single family) they can take place in person, with appropriate safety measures applied.

Congratulations this week to E (Y5) for her excellent learning about fractions. In the past couple of weeks she's explored fractions of quantities and has now cracked the code of equivalent fractions. Especially impressive as only three months ago she found division, the core component of fractions work, very challenging!

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January 2021: Tier 5 Lockdown

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With the government admitting it won't be possible for schools to reopen this side of the summer holiday increasingly more parents are contacting me regarding tutoring up until the point their children can return to school, and potentially beyond in order to ensure the current situation doesn't have any long-term effects on their children's education. Other parents have requested support with the learning materials supplied by their schools. Schools are clearly doing their best under difficult circumstances but without direct teaching many children struggle to grasp new concepts and develop the skills they already possess - leading to frustration and giving up. Conversely, I work with many families whose children are thoroughly enjoying the sorts of valuable activites often pushed to the side in a Maths and English-focussed school environment. Crafts, cookery, sport, music - even video production and computer aided design thanks to the likes of Tiktok and Minecraft! So if y...

December 2020

With social distancing measures still in place I have been tutoring the vast majority of my students online through Zoom since September. Though some parents were intially unsure as to how well this would work, we have found this to be an effective approach with children reporting they enjoy the sessions and making good progress. Whilst some students continue to record their work in books, which can then be shared via the camera or photographed and quickly emailed, others have begun to record most of their learning on screen. On Zoom learners are able to highlight parts of texts and also create work which can then be reviewed and annotated together. Where more than one student is taking part we choose colours to write in so everyone's contribution is easy to identify - by students, parents and myself. I often take screenshots of final pieces so that we can view them at the start of the next session - either as a reminder or to develop further. Currently I have a few tuition session...

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