With Pupil Premium funding on the rise in the UK, lots of schools are now turning towards personalised tutoring programmes to help students reach their academic goals. Across the country, many academic institutions already rely on Tutor Doctor’s services because we know how to help students achieve results and tailor every session to ensure national curriculum standards are met. We also work hard to instil invaluable study and life skills that pupils can use inside and outside of the classroom.
A case study from Bishop Stopford School in Kettering illustrates just how successful Pupil Premium Funding can be. Tutor Doctor was approached by the school via a Pupil Premium conference and even with the school being well outside of the Cambridge catchment area, Tutor Doctor Cambridge knew it was an opportunity to see how directly transferable the service would be when working directly with schools.
About Bishop Stopford School
Bishop Stopford School is a CofE Voluntary Aided Secondary School, becoming an academy in 2011, providing education for 1450 students, including 400 sixth-formers. The school benefits from having very strong leadership from their head teacher, Mrs Margaret Holman who has provided direction and continuity for many years. In fact, in 2008, the school received “Outstanding” across the board and received some excellent OFSTED comments.
How Tutor Doctor worked with the school
Tutor Doctor was approached to help support the children on Free School Meals with their learning. This was a small percentage, just 5.7% in 2014 compared to the national average of 28.5%. Mr L. had been given the responsibility by the school for Pupil Premium. After many face-to-face meetings Mr L. said: “Despite the distance between the central office of Tutor Doctor and Bishop Stopford School, I was reassured that our needs, with regards to tuition could be met.” After everything had been finalised an Education Consultant met with all of the students individually that had been put forward for the programme.
The first ongoing programme started working with 17 students. There were 9 for maths, 2 for French, 3 for Science and 3 for English. Most of the sessions took place at school and were often one-to-one.
How Pupil Premium made a difference
Tutor Doctor worked with each student on a one-to-one basis to overcome the challenges they were facing and help them achieve their goals. Even though it was a logistically challenging project, the programme was a real success and a strong partnership has been formed.
“Tutor Doctor provide good quality tutors and tuition sessions which enable students to progress significantly. The organisation of the tutors and their commitment never faltered, as well as their patience and reassurance when some students were reluctant of extra help. We have seen a significant improvement of GCSE results as an impact of Tutor Doctor’s involvement at our school” Mr L.
Continuing the partnership between Bishop Stopford School and Tutor Doctor
Tutor Doctor Cambridge was delighted to be invited back to provide further tuition for a further 2 years. The programme continues to evolve as we carry out tutoring work outside of school, trial some group work and even provide support for daily after-school groups.
Mr L. summed up the programme and service received so far: “Every year we explore new options with regard to tuition. The original plan was just for one-to-one tuition, which then evolved into group sessions; some with the same ability students but others without. We hope to work together on an even bigger project that sees after school sessions provided for up to 10 students at a time. With the previous good track record of Tutor Doctor and their delivery of all that has been asked, I have no doubt this will be a success and as a result the students will benefit significantly”.
At Tutor Doctor, we know that working with schools like Bishop Stopford is where we can start to make a difference, especially in helping pupils who might not consider getting a tutor and supporting local schools and teachers. Through our support, the right approach to teaching and great communication we know that every student can reach goals and beyond.
For even more information on Tutor Doctor’s Pupil Premium services, click here.
