Top marks for White Rose Maths tutoring!
Posted 30th September 2022
Our tutoring service knows no boundaries, delivered online to the same high standards as face-to-face – which this primary school in Lincolnshire recently found out!
Holme Valley Primary School educates over 400 girls and boys aged 4-11 based in Timberland, south Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. The school has continued to rate ‘Good’ with Ofsted, and in November 2020, this increased to ‘Outstanding’.
When the government rolled out its National Tutoring Programme, the school was keen to take up the benefit of extra funding to support their Covid recovery. As with all subjects, the closures had impacted maths learning, particularly for the Year 4 cohort, and they wanted to provide a catch-up. They had attended some of our training courses and were already using our resources intermittently, which they felt were of high quality. On seeing White Rose Maths listed as an approved provider to the NTP, they immediately contacted us for help.
Holme Valley pupils began their tutoring journey at the beginning of 2022. Since then, two tutors have delivered sessions to groups of 3 pupils twice a week; the 15-week programme is due to finish this summer term. All delivery has been completed online, with each 45-minute lesson accessed by a school laptop, headphones and a microphone. Some of the work is completed by each pupil independently and the remainder as a group together.
We asked the school their thoughts about our tutors, of which they have received two since the service commenced in January. They agreed that both are incredible, two highly professional individuals who engaged exceptionally with the students from the outset. When lessons begin, they ask how the children have been since their previous session to involve them in dialogue and help settle them before getting on with their work. They also provide helpful feedback after each session – for example, letting the school know if the children didn’t appear as engaged one day or seemed easily distracted – allowing the class teacher to check if all is OK or to help them refocus.
The school felt lessons were detailed and included content easy for the children to follow. They also said the lesson structure and delivery were effective and confirmed how the children enjoyed using the technology to access their lessons. The tutor had taught them how to use the online system when the course began, so they were confident navigating its interactive features early on, quick to help themselves and embraced helping each other too.
When we asked how the children responded to the tutoring, the school confirmed that each child enjoyed their catch-up sessions and appeared enthusiastic for the next. For example, they recently had a jubilee celebration which meant that they put one of their tutoring sessions back a week, and each child said they were disappointed having to wait that long for their next session. One parent had also told them how surprised he was at collecting his child at the end of a long day, followed by an extra maths class and seeing how happy they were!
The school wrapped up its feedback telling us they are already signed up for the service again next year. At that point, they will focus the tutoring on Year 6 (the current Year 5 and a group who have not yet accessed any catch-up), helping them in their final year before they transition to senior school.
It’s top marks once again for White Rose Maths tutoring, with the Holme Valley headteacher giving us a (quote) “unquestionable” 5 out of 5 along with these kind comments:
“Overall, we have found the tutoring service extremely positive. It is a high-quality service delivered professionally and using a method the children find engaging. We have had no problems getting them to commit to their additional work, and each child is enthusiastic about their lessons. This activity was about closing the gaps and making sure the basics are secured, and we feel confident we are achieving this by working with White Rose Maths.”
Rachel Stephenson
Headteacher, Holme Valley Primary School, Lincolnshire
