A group of four people on a stage in a vaulted room

Having a voice on the national stage

We’ve recently taken to the stage at two important education summits to share how we ensure we deliver impactful tuition

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The two events – the first ever National Tutoring Summit, and The Fair Education Alliance Annual Summit – gave us the opportunity to share what we do with a range of educationalists, school leaders and those working for a fairer education system.

Abigail Shapiro, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Tutor Trust, said that it was important to be able to share what we have learned with other organisations that are also focused on making education fairer.

It is so crucial to us to have a voice at these national events, to share our experiences and expertise, and to hear from others about their practice, so that, together, we can have a more meaningful impact on those young people who most need support.

We are continually evolving what we do, and always learning – from our tutees and school partners, from the Randomised Control Trials and other research programmes we’ve participated in, as well as from other organisations like ours.  It’s an honour to be invited to play a part at events like these, and to contribute to wider learning.”
Abigail Shapiro, Co-Founder and Executive Director

The Fair Education Alliance Summit, held at the Battersea Arts Centre in London, brought together almost 400 leaders of organisations working to address educational inequity.

We were delighted to participate in the first in-person Summit for three years and we were inspired by the conversations and opportunities to share experiences and best practice. As part of the day, Jenny Muter, our Director of Impact, and Jo Meredith, our Director of Tutoring Plus, offered support to leaders in other organisations through a series of one-to-one advice clinics.  Jenny also co-led a workshop aimed at organisations wanting to improve their impact and evaluation practice, including advice on preparing for their first Randomised Control Trial.

However, it was Tutor Engagement Manager, Ellie Cross, who had the biggest audience. Ellie sits on the Fair Education Alliance (FEA) Youth Steering Group and was one of four young leaders presenting: Power: Enabling Young People to Lead the Movement, in the Grand Hall. The experience was ‘empowering’, she went on to say:

It was a real honour to be chosen to speak in front of so many people at the FEA’s 2022 Annual Summit, especially as they are all so passionate about making education fairer.

“It was nerve-wracking, but, at the same time, empowering to be able to address so many influential people directly and talk about the importance of involving young people in important decisions and giving them a voice.

“Oghale, another member of the Youth Steering Group, and I shared the significance of ensuring that the education system remains accountable for the young people it serves. Additionally, we pushed the importance of seeing young people as equal collaborators in workplaces and government. We had such a warm reaction from everyone – and it was good to know that members of my Tutor Trust family were in the audience too!”
Ellie Cross, Tutor Engagement and Support Manager

At the National Tutoring Summit, members of our senior leadership team also delivered two key workshops focused on creating impactful tuition.

In the session 'Ensuring tutoring mirrors classroom curriculum', Director of Training and Quality Assurance, Matt Wallis, co-facilitated the workshop alongside Jen Fox of our sister charity Action Tutoring. The session outlined the importance of accurate assessment to ensure that tutoring addresses learning gaps and complements classroom learning. Matt explained how Tutor Trust uses pre- and post-tuition assessments to gauge pupils' understanding, and how our feedback systems enable effective communication between tutors and teachers. He also spoke about our high-quality training for tutors and how it was essential to work in partnership with schools to identify pupils who most needed the support.

In a second session, Jenny Muter, alongside Lal Chadeesingh of the Behavioural Insights Team, shared the findings of our second successful Randomised Control Trial, which showed how improved pupil and tutor relationships support greater student attendance at tutoring sessions. Delegates were encouraged to read the BIT report: 'Leveraging pupil-tutor similarity to improve pupil attendance'.

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