The VTO tailors its activities to individual needs and objectives, so that support is specifically focused on each pupil’s problem areas. By assisting those children who need help with their schoolwork, but whose parents/carers cannot afford private tutoring, the aim is improvement in their educational attainment. The relatively informal, but dedicated individual support provided by the VTO has been found to be very effective.
The VTO is now in a position to build on its experience and develop a comprehensive approach focusing on the areas of greatest need, the areas of our towns and cities where the greatest attainment gap exists.
These are some of the ways that we support children:
- One-to-One Tuition: usually in the child’s home, but where this is not suitable, in a neutral safe venue such as a library. The tutor is matched with the child based on the needs of the child, and the experience of the tutor. Each tutoring session lasts about one hour but with preparation and travelling the time commitment for the tutor is about 2 hours per week during the school term
- Learning Hubs: Where children come after school for support with their homework. For Learning Hubs we recruit fifth and sixth year pupils from a local school to help the children on a one to one basis and provide a lead tutor to supports them during the sessions. Learning Hubs are usually held at Primary schools, or in a venue provided by one of our partner organisations.
- Kinship Care Learning Hubs: similar to our other Learning Hubs but are specially designed to help children in who are being cared for by a relative that is not their parent due to issues with drugs or alcohol. In these circumstances we work in conjunction with other agencies such as the health and social care partnership and colleges to provide a comprehensive package of support to both the children and the carer.
- QuESTS: This project aims to provide Qualifications for Every Student through Tutor Support. Some children do not attend school for a variety of reasons (including mental/physical health issues), and are at risk of leaving school with no qualifications. By providing more intense tuition, our goal is to support these children to attain qualifications that will allow them to move on to a positive destination after school.
