Council pays for private tuition for Bristol schoolchildren

font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";

mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">With

school class sizes topping the 30 mark it can be easy for kids to miss out on

valuable one to one treatment so that’s why Bristol City Council has paved the way

for thousands of pupils to enjoy this privilege.

Launched

citywide for secondary, special, primary and junior schools in September 2009,

following a trial in 26 primary schools, the £900,000 scheme targets English,

writing and maths tuition at children who are behind the expected level for

their age, not making enough progress or are in care.

Each

child receives 10 hours of tuition from a fully qualified tutor who works

closely with their class teacher to ensure that the tuition targets the areas

they find most difficult.

Initial

feedback shows good and in some cases outstanding progress following tuition

which was provided in 93 primary, six special and 13 secondary schools.

Cabinet

Member for Children and Young People Cllr Clare Campion-Smith said: “Teachers

tell us that the tuition also has a positive impact through the rest of the

curriculum and some have told us it has been a life-changing experience.

“This

early feedback shows that this kind of intervention can really put the brakes

on children falling behind. Individual tuition should not be the preserve of

the well-off, all children can benefit from it, whatever their family’s income.

“The

scheme will continue in the new school year, providing pupils with the short

burst of individual help that can enable them to make the long term progress

they need to in the key areas of literacy and numeracy.”

Rebecca

Stevens, who oversees the delivery of the tuition programme, said: “All

involved in tuition have highlighted the boost to self esteem and confidence as

major benefits of the programme. Descriptions of pupils “blossoming” and being

“transformed” are common.

“In

their one to one sessions pupils, ‘catch-up’ on the basics and then return to

the classroom with the confidence to ‘keep-up’ with their peers. I’ve been

struck by the number of pupils using the word ‘fun’ to describe these sessions.

It shows the power of this programme to switch children back onto school and

onto enjoying their learning.”

But what about the

kids who don’t get this? Surely the money would be better spent in trying to

lower class sizes and benefit even more pupils in Bristol? While this looks

like a good thing on the surface we really should think about the wider picture

or we’re just creating a class system within the education system are we not?