Making the grade: Our results from a Local Authority audit
At Equal Education, we strive to create the best programme of learning and support for our young people. Our Alternative Provision programmes include up to 15 hours per week of 1:1 support working with one of our qualified teachers. We work with children and young people from Key Stage 1-5 who are not able to attend mainstream education for a wide variety of reasons; this could be due to medical needs, social and emotional mental health, a permanent exclusion or because they are awaiting a school place.
In April, Equal Education was invited to take part in an audit with one of our partners in the East of England. This involved reviewing documentation such as our key policies, discussions with tutors and with the Equal Education Leadership Team. It was rounded off with a tutoring lesson observation.
This process provided an opportunity to showcase our hard work across the organisation, primarily to ensure our tutors have access to high-quality training and feel supported. Our tutor training emphasises the importance of using the 1:1 model to build a positive relationship with the learner so it was reassuring to see this highlighted in the report, along with several other areas.
What we do well
Tutors undergo a thorough induction programme supported by a detailed Tutor Handbook. Tutors felt very supported by leaders, felt that the company cared for their wellbeing and liked the resources available on the website.
In the session observed, there was a clear sequence to the learning. The tutor has a good working relationship with the pupil.
Pupil reports provide a useful overview of learning. These are standardised across tutors.
Equal Education’s behaviour policy is based on the principles of positive behaviour support and attachment awareness and asks tutors to consider factors which may have an impact on pupils’ behaviour, for example behaviour as communication and attachment awareness. Leaders are very aware of the need to build positive relationships with pupils as many will have had poor previous experiences of education.
Non-safeguarding incidents of poor behaviour are recorded on the session feedback which is monitored by the support team at Equal Education. Tutors talked about how quickly leaders follow-up with any concerns raised and how the culture of the company was one of openness.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding has been and remains a top priority at Equal Education. We have recognised that risks evolve; and during the pandemic this brought about new digital and e-learning safeguarding risks. Both the internal team and tutors are trained to recognise and report on incidents and observations. Since the pandemic started our safeguarding policy incorporates new risks in the e-safety section which was praised in our final report.
Feedback
A key aspect to setting up and running successful tutoring programmes is high quality relationships with our stakeholders. At Equal Education we keep regular and measured contact to listen and collect feedback on the programmes.
This forms the basis of our quality assurance process; through structured surveys and feedback collection. We are able to ensure tuition is having positive feedback or being able to act in a timely manner. This specifically was highlighted in our report;
Parent carers felt that they had seen an improvement in their child’s behaviour and engagement since working with Equal Education.
Pupils stated that they enjoyed and felt safe in the sessions, as well as making academic progress. They felt that tutors valued their opinions and appreciated the feedback given.
Equal Education is committed to continuous improvement and the audit presented a welcome opportunity to identify areas to develop further. The following constructive recommendations included
Key areas of development:
Standardised testing - Consider standardising the baselining of pupils. We discussed both academic baselining where applicable (e.g. reading tests) and wider aspects of learning (e.g. SEMH profiling).
Curriculum development - broadening our offering to provide context-based learning. This can be developed to expand the number of resources available for specific parts of the curriculum and ensure EHCP targets are intrinsically woven into provision and reflected in session reports.
Examination Entry - Again, to broaden our offering and to work with the Local Authority team regarding expectations for year 11 examination entries where appropriate.
Equal Education’s approach to tuition is highly individualised in order to cater to students with a wide variety of backgrounds and needs. However, we recognise the importance of measuring our impact and offer a reading test for Year 9, 10 and 11 pupils for English tuition. We are conscious that standardised assessments can be daunting for many students who have disengaged from education or who are already lacking in self-confidence so we will be looking to develop this with a holistic approach and use them in an appropriate manner.
The audit provided an opportunity to engage with our tutors and we received some wonderful feedback during the process:
“Our conversation covered various areas including safeguarding, Inset from Equal Education, assessment, resources and how we deal with current issues like Ukraine our students may be concerned about. The other tutor and I commented on how well supported we are at Equal Education and how the whole team are very friendly and approachable. As I mentioned to you previously I really value the opportunity of working with Equal Education!”
If you are a qualified teacher interested in joining our Tutor Community please see further details here.
If you are a school or Local Authority and interested in working with us as a Tuition Provider, please see more information here.
If you’d like to hear more about the report, please contact us for further details.