Context

 ‘Established in 1963, St. Damian's is an 11-16 mixed comprehensive College (number on roll: 785) situated on the edge of Ashton-under-Lyne, bordering on neighbouring hills and fields. It is an attractive, caring environment in which every individual is valued (re-awarded the "Investors in People" standard in 2009). Pupils are drawn from the four local Roman Catholic parishes (Ashton: St. Christopher's, St. Ann's; Droylsden: St. Stephen's; Mossley: St. Joseph's) as well as from the surrounding area.’

 The Assistant Headteacher assumed the role of one to one lead and has been working closely with the Heads of Faculty and Local Authority to ensure the delivery of quality tuition which has a positive impact upon stakeholders.

 Number of places:

KS3: 33

KS4: additional funding provided by LA for a nurture group based around one to one

 Subject(s): maths and English

Location of tuition: In school

Pupil Selection

Two approaches were adopted when selecting pupils to participate in the one to one tuition programme. Initially Heads of Faculty utilised internal data to select pupils who were ‘stuck’, slow moving and not on track to meet their end of Key Stage target. These pupils were then RAG rated according to indication of need for the intervention strategy. In addition to the use of internal data, vulnerable groups, such as LAC and FSM eligibility, were also targeted. Allocations were therefore based on a combination of data and socio-economic aspects, allocating places to pupils across the whole of KS3.

Pupil Engagement

 Pupils selected to participate in the one to one initiative were invited to a group meeting in school to explain the process and why they had been selected. Following that, a letter was sent home to parents/carers with an information leaflet detailing the origins of the initiative, ways to support their child and ways to access more information regarding one to one tuition. Phone calls were also made to parents whose children would be participating in tuition outside of the school day. Take up from the initial letters was 100%, confirming that pupil selection had been accurate in engaging stakeholders.

 Tutor Recruitment

 Capacity to deliver was initially an issue for the school. Several tutors were sourced in-house, whilst others were recruited externally. This provided the Assistant Head with the opportunity to select specialist staff to deliver tuition in maths. The externally sourced tutors consisted of a maths specialist, an intervention specialist and a teacher who was Primary trained; providing useful knowledge of strategies previously taught and missed by the pupil. English tutors were sourced in-house.

Delivery of sessions

 The main tuition model was based on pupils being withdrawn from non-core sessions. Whilst, initially, location was an issue, staff were generous with their classrooms/work areas and soon a timetable was scheduled to formally allocate times and spaces for tuition to take place.

At the outset of the tuition sessions, pupils were given a baseline assessment for maths and asked to complete an extend piece of writing for English. This served a dual purpose: to formally assess the pupil at the start of tuition so as to provide a comparative record upon completion of the sessions, and also to allow the tutor to identify target areas for development specific to each pupil. This assessment also identified specific skills sets and strategies that the pupil needed to enhance during the sessions.

 Challenges

 Although take up was extremely positive in 2009-2010, the Assistant Head feels that even more progress can be made by engaging with parents/carers on a more regular basis. She plans to develop relations further and involve parents/carers more in the process from the outset in the next round of tuition, through group parent/carer meetings and enhanced use of the school one to one tuition ‘Learning Log’.

 The school also plans to enhance the in-house pupil tracking system to incorporate data on one to one tuition.

 One to one tuition has proven to be an effective intervention strategy at St Damian’s. Informal pupil and tutor voice questionnaires have provided extremely positive ‘soft’ data around developed pupil confidence and enhanced relations between stakeholders. Due to the high number of places allocated for 2010-2011, tutors will in school for two full days each week delivering one to one to Year 7 pupils and flexible models will be used in school with a Year 10 nurture group based around one to one tuition.