Author Archives: Mark Richards

1. What impact can we, in education, expect from the recent Budget announcements?

   8 November 2024 12:26 pm Leave a Comment

   Following any budget, there is always a period of reflection. This is when everyone digests all the figures and announcements and tries to establish what it will mean for them.

   Schools are no different.

   So, what will the impact of the recent budget have on those of working in education?

   The Headline Figures

   Politicians (of any colour) deal in soundbites and headline figures. This is how budgets are delivered and how any Chancellor of the Exchequer wants it to be presented to the media.

   However, often you really need to scratch beneath the surface of these headline figures.

   Core School Funding Budget Will Increase by £2.3billion a Year

   The big headline figure from the Autumn 2024 Budget is that the core funding for schools is set to increase by £2.3billion a year. This is including an extra £1billion for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The Treasury states that the per-pupil funding equates to a real-terms increase.

   All of this looks very positive for schools. As documents from the Treasury state, the increase in funding for alternative provision and SEND is “an important step in realising the government’s vision to reform England’s SEND provision to improve outcomes and return the system to financial sustainability.”

   While the increase is likely to be used by councils to wipe £865million from their SEND deficits next year. The potential problem is that it doesn’t actually offer scope to do much more than that.

   Indeed, the £2.3billion headline figure looks a lot less impressive when you take away the allocation (although much needed) for SEND, and consider that schools will need to use £450million of it to cover the full cost of this year’s pay rise award for teachers.

   What’s more, the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts that the increase to core school funding will simply get “swallowed up by ongoing cost pressures.”

   While the extra funding – especially for SEND provision – has been welcomed by education leaders, they have been keen to stress that a root and branch reform of SEND provision is necessary, as well as a long term plan to address the issue of local authority deficits.

   Other Budget Announcements

   Elsewhere in the budget, it was confirmed that the funding for school breakfast clubs is to be tripled. In addition, £15million will be allocated to expand school nurseries and create 3000 new ones. Extra capital funding is also being made available to deal with the problem of crumbling school buildings.

   It was also announced in the budget that schools will receive funding to cover the increase in National Insurance contributions.

   The Verdict

   In truth, only time will tell what impact the budget announcements will have on schools. The general feeling within the education sector seems to be that while the increase in funding is welcomed, it doesn’t go far enough to have the impact that it needs.

   A small step in the right direction, certainly.

   But are small steps enough?

2. Is it Possible to Earn Enough Being a Full-Time Tutor?

   17 October 2024 12:53 pm Leave a Comment

   If you are thinking of leaving full-time teaching and wondering if full-time tutoring is a viable option, this blog is for you!

   So, is it possible to earn enough as a full-time tutor?

   Are there enough job opportunities available?

   And is it a rewarding career?

   These are the questions likely be to on your mind, and the answer to all the above is definitely yes. However, like any career move, it’s something you should only go into with your eyes wide open.

   Which is where we come in!

   Reasons for Making the Move to a Tutoring Career

   While there are various potential routes into tutoring, the vast majority of those who consider a move into full-time tutoring will come from full-time teaching in schools.

   The problems that schools have in retaining staff are well-documented: workload, long hours, stress, the pressure of Ofsted. These are some of the main reasons usually cited by those who quit teaching.

   But there can be other factors too. Many teachers just crave the flexibility and freedom to choose their own hours, so that can spend more time with their families, for example.

   Tutoring: The Best of Both Worlds?

   In many ways, tutoring offers the best of both worlds. It still gives you some of the best bits of teaching in schools: working with young people and helping them to thrive and succeed – minus most of the pressure and workload that comes with teaching in schools.

   All of this is true, but it doesn’t tell the full story.

   What you do get from teaching that you don’t necessarily from tutoring is security

   and stability.

   Of course, this is not unique just to teaching; it is one of the key differences between full-time employment and being self-employed.

   But Does Tutoring Pay?

   Full-time tutoring is never likely to match a full-time teacher’s salary – especially if you are at the top end of the pay scale. You need to be aware that some months of the year are quiet. From mid-June (when exams finish) to the end of September, it tends to be fairly quiet. Similarly, bear in mind that there is often little work during the school holidays throughout the year.

   On the flip side, during other times of the school year, it’s not uncommon for a tutor to be ‘full to bursting’ and literally not able to take on any more of the tutoring referrals that are flying through the door.

   It’s a classic ‘swings and roundabouts’ scenario and it requires a different way of thinking about things. Like many businesses that get a lot of their trade during particular seasons of the year, you need to make sure that some of the ‘extra’ income you earn in the busier months covers you during the leaner times of the year.

   The Verdict

   As with any type of self-employment, there is an element of risk. It does take some adjusting to.

   However, some of the advantages of full-time tutoring definitely outweigh the disadvantages.

   What’s more, there are various ways you can supplement your income, should you need to – from supply teaching to exam marking, there are plenty of potential revenue streams open to you.

   If you are interested in finding out more, why not get in touch for a chat?

3. The Main Differences Between Primary and Secondary School

   13 September 2024 11:44 am Leave a Comment

   If you’ve started secondary school this month, it’s completely natural to be a bit nervous. Are you worried about finding your way around a bigger school? Scared about making new friends? Or stressed about the extra workload and homework?

   Well, the simple answer to all the above questions is: Don’t be!

   However, that doesn’t really help you much! This is why we’ve put together this quick guide.

   Read on the find out what the main differences between the two are, and some important things to remember about starting secondary school in Year 7.

   Main Difference #1 – The Size of the School

   In a way, this is the scariest thing about starting secondary school – the sheer size of it.

   It can be a bit daunting and take a some getting used to, but the thing to remember is that the teachers and everyone in the school realise this and will do all they can to help make the transition easier.

   In a few weeks, you’ll know where everything is. Before you know it, you’ll know the place like the back of your hand.

   Main Difference #2 – The Number of Teachers

   Not only is secondary school bigger than primary school, you also have to move around it far more than you used to at your old school.

   This is the other big difference between secondary and primary school. In primary, you will have been used to spending most of the time in the same classroom with the same teacher teaching you. In secondary school, you have a different teacher for each subject. Typically, you move between classrooms for each subject – usually 5 or 6 lessons a day.

   Main Difference #3 – The Amount of Homework

   Most kids don’t really notice the step-up from primary school to secondary, in terms of how difficult the work is. In many ways, it’s just like moving from Year 3 to Year 4 or Year 5 to Year 6. Yes, the work got a bit harder, but you were able to cope with it because it was a natural progression.

   The big difference you might find is with the amount of homework. Whereas at primary you might have just been given one piece of homework each day, at secondary you might get homework in 2 or 3 different subjects.

   It will be a bit of a shock at first, but as long as you are organised you will cope with the extra workload.

   Important Things to Remember

   The most important thing to remember as you start secondary school is that you are not alone.

   All the other Year 7 students are all going through the same thing. You’re all in it together – and you will all get through it together!

   And the older students, from Year 8-11 have been through it too. They will help you, if you need it.

   The same goes for the teachers. They are there to help and support you, as well as to teach you.

   Believe us when we say: in a few months’ time, you’ll look back and wonder what all the fuss was about!

   If you’re transitioning between secondary school and college this month, then check-out this blog-post here.

4. How To Settle into Your New School 

   6 September 2024 2:28 pm Leave a Comment

   Starting a teaching job in a new school can be exciting and daunting in equal measure.

   It can also be pretty challenging – whether you are a newly qualified teacher or the new Deputy Head – not least because all eyes are on you; students and staff!

   Here are a few top tips for how to settle into your new school.

   Set Yourself Some Goals

   It’s a fresh start and a clean slate, so your new position in a new school can be what you make it. There are always going to be a few variables and factors that you can’t do anything about, so focus on what you can influence yourself.

   It’s always a good idea to set yourself some goals and plan ahead for where you’d like to be in your new role in six months, a year, or two years. Whether these are formalised as a part of the performance management process or are personal, targets and goals are always useful to have.

   Get To Know the Students

   The students are what any school is all about and you should get to know as many of them as quickly as you can in your new school.

   Obviously, the kids you have in front of you take precedence but make a point of chatting to and taking an interest in the students you encounter on the corridors or in the canteen, or on the yard when you are on duty, for example.

   It will help you feel less of a newbie and make your new school feel like a comfortable new home.

   Build Relationships

   As we said above, the students are the whole point of a school but what really makes things tick are the positive relationships teachers build with them.

   But, or course, these are not the only relationships you need to build in a new school.

   There are your colleagues in your department or faculty; the senior leadership team; catering staff; cleaners, and caretakers.

   All of them play a vital role and are part of the team.

   You should build relationships with them all.

   Have a Presence Around the School

   Whether you are a classroom teacher or are starting a leadership/management position, you should try to be visible around the school.

   Your classroom is your kingdom and if you have the luxury of your own office, it’s a sanctuary – but you shouldn’t hide away in either.

   The school day can be frenetic and fast-paced but it’s still a good idea to visit the main staff room daily, to chat to people, and – as above – to start building those all-important relationships.

   A brew and a chat at lunchtime or at the end of the school day can be really therapeutic.

   Importantly, it will also make you feel a part of the whole-school.

   Final Words

   Of course, ultimately, whatever your role is, the priority is ‘doing your job.’ However, whether this is focusing on delivering the best lessons you can or fulfilling whatever other responsibilities you have, there is always more to teaching than simply doing your job.

   Becoming an active member of the school community will not only help you settle into your new school, it will also make you feel that you belong there too.

5. Planning Ahead for the New Academic Year

   26 August 2024 11:33 am Leave a Comment

   Exam results are finally out – and before you know it the start of the new academic year will be upon us. But with only a week of the holiday still to go, it’s a good idea to start planning ahead for the start of term.

   Rest, Recuperation and Recharge

   First things first, what we’re not advocating in any way here is that you should be working solidly over the next week; far from it.

   Hopefully, by now you’ve had adequate time to recharge the old batteries. And if you haven’t, you still need to. Probably the best preparation for a new academic year is to be fully refreshed and recharged.

   Reflect on Last Year

   Now the dust has settled, it’s worth reflecting on how things went last year with all your classes.

   You will obviously need to look very closely at any exam groups you had and once you know their results, it makes sense to do all the analysis as soon as you can. You can guarantee that you will be asked questions about it come September, so this is another way you can stay one step ahead. Get yourself prepared!

   Set Goals

   Think about what you want to achieve in the next academic year and how you are going to get to where you want to be.

   It’s always good to have something to aim for. It will keep you focused and on track.

   Planning

   Hopefully, you will already have your timetable for September. If you have, it is well worth getting lessons for first couple of weeks planned now. This will make the start of the new term much easier to handle.

   It’s also a good idea to look at your timetable and work out a marking schedule that fits in with it. Keeping on top of marking can be really difficult if you approach it in a haphazard way.

   Plan Your ‘Me Time’ From September

   Self-care often goes out of the window once you are back into the thick of things. You owe it yourself, your loved ones and your students to look after Number One throughout the year.

   That might mean planning a night off in the week; booking holidays or weekends away, going to the gym, or spending more time with the kids. It doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as it’s something that will be good for your wellbeing.

   The fastest way to burnout is to not look after yourself, so you should think carefully about how you are going to do so from Day 1 in September and set yourself some ‘New Term Resolutions’.

   Final Thoughts

   Ultimately, the key to success in the new term is to stay one step ahead. Things are likely to come thick and fast once September comes. And if we’re being honest, it doesn’t really let up for the rest of the year.

   That’s why planning ahead to stay ahead is so important.

6. Why Schools Need to Equip Students with Critical Reading Skills

   21 August 2024 1:28 pm Leave a Comment

   The riots that we saw recently up and down the country following the horrific murders of three girls in Southport were shocking and senseless. They were also a timely reminder of how dangerous misinformation can be; how posts you see on social media, in particular, cannot necessarily be trusted, and how destructive a ‘gang/mob’ mentality is.

   It also pushed sharply into focus how important it is to assess the things you read or hear in a critical way before believing everything.

   This is why it is vital that schools equip students with critical reading skills.

   The Danger of Misinformation

   The dictionary definition of ‘misinformation’ is as follows: ‘false or inaccurate information, especially that which is deliberately intended to deceive.’

   Immediately following the Southport attack, misinformation spread online about the attacker. It was said that he was an asylum seeker. That he was a Muslim, and that he had come over to Britain by boat. A false name was also posted online.

   All of this, of course, proved to be untrue. However, the damage was already done.

   The day after the attack in Southport, rioters took to the streets of the town. An angry mob attacked a local mosque, causing serious damage to its wall.

   Elsewhere in the town, a Mini Mart was targeted. It would seem that the only reason this particular shop was attacked was because its owner was an immigrant – a man of Sri Lankan heritage. The shop was bricked and then looted with £10,000 worth of stock stolen.

   Similar violence spread across various towns with Muslim communities, hotels housing asylum seekers, and immigrants in general becoming the main targets. In the ensuing days looting and damage to property also became widespread. Gangs and mobs set cars on fire and fought nightly battles with police.

   The aftermath of the destruction

   More than 150 people have already been sentenced for offences relating to the riots. The majority have been sent to prison with the average jail term being two years. Several young people have also been sent to Young Offenders Institutions.

   Communities have come together in a remarkable way to repair the damage done by the riots. Similarly, several fundraisers have been set up. For example, a carer in Middlesbrough (an immigrant) returned home from a 12-hour shift to find his car burnt out and overturned. The fundraiser was set up to buy him a replacement vehicle raised more than £65,000.

   The Need for Critical Reading

   It would be wrong to blame all the recent unrest on misinformation spread on social media. It is clear that there is a sizeable number of people across the country who hold a strong anti-immigration sentiment.

   However, it is undeniable that it was the misinformation that spread online that sparked the riots. Furthermore, there have been countless further examples of misinformation all over social media platforms in the last few weeks.

   For example, a community library that was attacked in Liverpool. One ‘reason’ cited for the attack was the ‘fact’ that children’s reading books had been replaced with copies of the Quran. Of course, this was complete nonsense and not true at all.

   Elsewhere online, certain posts claimed that there were 2 million asylum seekers currently staying in British hotels. The most recent official data is for September 2023 and the figure stands at 56,000.

   All of this shows just how important it is for schools to teach young people that social media may disproportionately feature exaggerated or inaccurate information.

   It is important that students are given strategies to critically assess the bias, reliability and accuracy of what they read online.

7. Top 5 Tips for Prepping Your Next Tuition Session 

   26 July 2024 1:01 pm Leave a Comment

   Private tutoring is a different beast altogether from whole class teaching, but one thing is exactly the same: if you want your student(s) to get the most out of a tuition lesson, you need to prepare and plan the session.

   And, as Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”

   Here are our top 5 tips for prepping for your next session…

   Plan What You Want to Do

   Of course, there’s no need to produce a formal lesson plan, but you still need to be clear in your mind what you intend to during the session.

   This planning needs to be fluid and certainly not set in stone. Sometimes you will find that the student wants to spend time on something that might have come up in a lesson at school during the previous week.

   And just like in a classroom, the ability to be able to think on your feet and adapt a lesson plan as you go along is really important.

   But – all things considered – planning beforehand is still the secret to a successful lesson.

   Check Your Resources

   You have no safety net in terms of your resources if you are private tutoring in a student’s home.

   There will be no running off to the photocopier, or into your colleague’s classroom next door if you have forgotten something you need for the lesson.

   Therefore, it’s important that you check everything in advance. Make sure you’ve got all the resources you need and that you can easily access them before the lesson.

   It’s always worth having a back-up plan too – a Plan B. This gives you the option to change your approach during the lesson, should you want or need to.

   Objectives and Outcomes

   Again, there’s no need to write lesson objectives and lesson outcomes – or share these with the student you are tutoring. In most schools, this has become an expectation and an accepted part of a lesson.

   But one-to-one tutoring is different and should be different. If a tutoring session essentially just mimics a normal school lesson then what’s the point?

   It would just be giving the student more of the same: more of what obviously wasn’t working for the student in the first place. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be there.

   That said, any tutoring session still needs to have an objective and an aim to it. The outcome, of course, is how you can see that your aims have been met by the student.

   Extension and Extra Activities

   It’s always worth having some extra activities and extension tasks up your sleeve for a tutoring session.

   The nature of one-to-one tutoring means that you only have one person dictating the pace of a lesson. This a great thing, of course. It means that if a student is struggling with something, you can really take your time with them to ensure that they do ‘get it’.

   On the other hand, with only one student to focus on, there are occasions where you can fly through material – a lot quicker than you could ever do with a whole class.

   And, finally – there will always be times when whatever you have planned simply isn’t working. There could be a variety of reasons for this.

   You can’t really legislate for this. Sometimes, it just happens.

   So, it’s useful to have something else that you can move onto seamlessly, if it does.

   Personalise

   Last but not least, prepping for a tutoring session should always involve you asking yourself how you can personalise the learning for your student.

   What are their learning styles?  What type of activities do they respond to the best?

   It’s the thread that runs through all of the above.

   Follow the above tips and your next tutoring session should be a breeze!

8. Making the Transition Between High School and College

   3 July 2024 10:43 am Leave a Comment

   With the GCSE exam season over for another year, students can feel both relieved and proud. It’s no small feat. GCSE exams are undoubtedly one of the most challenging periods of time that many young people will have had to face in their lives to date.

   We don’t want to scare anybody here… but life does have a habit of throwing all sorts of challenges at you. These can come left, right and centre – at all sorts of moments.

   They come at you thick and fast. And hot on the heels of the exam period and results day comes the transition between high school and college.

   So, we thought we’d put together some key pointers about making the transition to college life seamless and straightforward.

   First Things First: You’ve Done It All Before

   First off, it’s worth thinking about this: you’ve seen and done it all before!

   Okay, so that’s not strictly true – but you have gone through (and survived and thrived) the transition from primary to secondary school.

   Whichever way you look at it, the move from primary school to ‘big school’ is way more traumatic than the move from high school to college.

   Yes, you are bound to be a bit nervous and possibly a little anxious. However, that’s completely natural and to be expected.

   There’ll be a few weeks of semi-confusion as you get to know your new surroundings. But once you’ve found your bearings, you’ll be as right as rain.

   Things Are Done Differently at College

   Although most young people know it already, many are still thrown a little bit. Which is understandable by just how differently things are done at college.

   Obviously, there’s no uniform. There will no teachers waiting on corridors to tell you to take your coats off. Yep, you are finally treated like adults!

   The thing is – although all of this is great – it also means that you expected to act like an adult too.

   And while colleges offer a great range of support and guidance for their students, it doesn’t really compare to the level of support most students get at high school.

   There will always be somebody to see and somewhere to go if you need some help, but you are expected to stand on your own two feet much more at college.

   The Challenge of A Levels and T Levels

   Another worry that many students have about starting college is a simple and obvious one:

   Will I be able to cope with A Levels?

   Most students will be moving up from Level 2 qualifications to Level 3. Of course, these are . bit more demanding. Which is why many students find the initial step up a bit of challenge

   The vast majority go on to cope comfortably with the higher level of work. But you will need to apply effort and determination if you are to succeed at this level.

   But you’ve got this!

   Enjoy college and good luck!

9. How Can Tutors Deal with the Summer Drop-off of Tuition Work

   14 June 2024 8:36 am Leave a Comment

   Anybody that has dipped their toes into the world of tutoring for at least a year may well have learnt the hard way that the work that is available during the summer holidays drops off, the Summer drop-off is real.

   In fact, ‘drops off’ is a massive understatement to be honest… it falls off a gigantic cliff!

   You can go from having literally no free time to fit in any more students to having none at all in virtually an instant – and that means your income takes a serious hit.

   Planning For a Summer Drop-Off Is the Key

   The key to dealing with the Summer drop-off is planning for it in advance. After all, you do know it’s coming. And the Summer holiday’s are important – we talk about exactly why that is here.

   In many ways, tutoring is no different from several other sectors and industries – it is seasonal.

   The retail sector is largely reliant on Christmas sales; pubs depend on ‘beer garden weather’ in the summer – and the tourism industry largely shuts down between November and March.

   Tutoring is the same. You have to get it while you can because July and particularly August are likely to be barren periods.

   One way to deal with this is to do what these other sectors do – try to make a much as you can when you can so that you have enough saved to cover the quieter months. Make sure you also take the time to learn how to budget across the year!

   Take On Other Work

   Another option is to take on other work and look for different income streams during the summer months.

   For tutors, the most obvious thing that springs to mind has to be exam marking.

   Of course, the timing of exam marking fits in quite nicely with the drop off in tutoring. In fact, it’s almost perfect.

   As exams run from May to June, the marking period essentially runs from May to July (and maybe just into August).

   There will be a bit of a crossover with your ‘normal’ tutoring commitments at the start of exam marking, but – depending on the subject – you’ll probably find that the busiest marking period begins around the same time as the tutoring begins to drop off.

   The other great thing about exam marking is the experience you gain from doing it.

   Make no mistake, nothing puts you in a better position to be able to help and support the students you tutor than having the inside track on what examiners want to see.

   Not only that, as there are exams in every subject, it doesn’t matter what your specialism is – there is work out there for you!

   The Element of Risk Brings Rewards Too

   Finally, it’s important that we end on a positive note.

   Moving from a comfortable salaried job to the world of self-employment can be a daunting prospect.

   Unless your self-employment is largely made up of long-term contract positions – which, of course, as a tutor it almost certainly isn’t – you need to be mindful that your monthly income is likely to be variable.

   You need to be prepared for it to go up and down. And as a tutor – seriously down in the summer.

   There is always an element of risk but if are comfortable with this, it gives you the freedom to try different things and take on new challenges.

10. Top Tips for Revising English Literature Anthology Poetry

    10 May 2024 1:14 pm Leave a Comment

    If there is one component of the GCSE English Literature course that fills most students with dread, it’s the Anthology Poetry unit.

    And to be perfectly honest, it’s not hard to see why.

    If you are studying the AQA course, there are 15 poems to study; for Eduqas things are even more challenging with a whopping 18 to get through.

    What Does the Exam Question Ask Students to do?

    When it comes down to it in the actual exam, students will only ever have to write about two of these poems. One of the poems you have studied will be printed in the exam paper. You will need to write about this poem and then choose another poem you have studied to compare it with.

    But because you have no idea which poem will feature in the exam, there’s no way you can cut corners in any way. You really need to study all the poems.

    That might not sound too bad…

    Until you remember that you are not allowed to take an anthology into the exam!

    In days gone by, students could take their annotated anthology into the exam. Then, for a few years, students were given a ‘clean’ unannotated anthology. Now, since 2015, students are not allowed to have an anthology in the exam at all.

    This means that essentially this component has become little more than a test of a student’s memory.

    But All is Not Lost!

    Fear not though, all is not lost.

    While there isn’t a simple hack or way of avoiding the fact that you are going to have to remember a load of quotes, there is a way of focusing your revision, so that you just concentrate on the really important stuff.

    So, here goes:

    1. You should be able to summarise each poem in a sentence or two. Even better, narrow it down to a couple of key words/themes.
    2. Choose a key quote for each poem. Approach this as if you could only use one quote per poem – the absolute best one – that sums up the whole message of the poem.
    3. Try to learn another 4 (minimum) important quotes. Aim for quotes that cover a range of ideas – not just 4 quotes that basically say the same thing.
    4. Identify one of two methods – poetic devices, language, or structure – that each poet uses to get their ideas across.
    5. Identify which poems go well together and provide the best comparisons.

    Follow the above 5 steps and you will be well-prepared for the demands of the exam question.

    Finally, bear in mind this last point…

    When it comes down to quotes, it’s never simply about how many you have got. The most important thing is what you do with them. Make your quotes work for you. They should never be more than a line long – and if you can narrow them down to a few words – or even just one word – all the better. They will be a lot easier to remember this way, and you will dazzle the examiner with your understanding of the most important words that a poet has used.

    You can do this! – And with that we will leave you with 5 more tips for the secret to success during exams.