Coach Spotlight - Yumi

At first, I wanted to start volunteering in a new city, but I had no idea where to begin. Then, I came across Coach Bright through the LSE volunteering centre. I was not particularly looking for any tutoring opportunities, however, I did more research about Coach Bright. I found out that the organization’s vision is inspiring – to promote social mobility from the educational aspect. To me, it is a privilege to be educated in LSE. Therefore, this is an opportunity to give back to the community, to those who do not have the chance to receive adequate educational support.

My experience with Coach Bright was meaningful and worthwhile. My highlight during my volunteering was that I developed a great bond with my coachee. He was shy and a bit reserved at the beginning. As time went on, we managed to build a positive and trustworthy relationship. The process was rewarding because I saw how he improved slowly but surely. On top of that, I was tutoring English Literature, which was one of my favourite subjects in school. Therefore, it did not feel much of an effort to prepare for my sessions.

In terms of skills development, I think volunteering with Coach Bright will boost your confidence as you have lots of opportunities to meet new people, both tutors and students. In fact, I have made an incredibly good friend outside of university because of Coach Bright. Regarding workload, I do not think that it will take up much of your time. As long as you bring enthusiasm and patience into the classroom, I am certain that your students will receive it in a positive way.

Overall, I highly recommend working with Coach Bright. If you have no idea how/ where to start volunteering, Coach Bright is a wonderful place to begin. The staff are friendly and passionate, and they will certainly guide you from the beginning.

Yumi Tsang is currently in their second year of studying international relations and history at London School of Economics and coached as part our year 11 programme at Ark Evelyn Grace Academy.

CoachBright CEO stepping down at end of 2022

Our Founder and CEO Robin Chu is stepping down at the end of this calendar year (2022). Having grown and led the charity for nearly 9 years, he will be moving on to new pastures. With this in mind, the search begins for our next CEO and we are working with Berwick Partners to find the best person to lead our charity through its next stage of growth and impact. Link for the job description here.

Founded in 2014, CoachBright exists to make social mobility a reality. Through coaching programmes in partnership with schools and employers, we support young people to become more independent and resilient so they can lead the lives they want. Traditionally, this has been through training university students or senior pupils to work with a disadvantaged pupil to improve their grades, confidence and independence. 

From a classroom of 12 pupils in Elephant and Castle to now supporting over 4000 young people each year, the charity operates across London, South West, West Midlands and the South East. For the last 2 years, independent evaluator ImpactEd has observed that our programmes made “Positive changes across all social and emotional skills for CoachBright pupils.” This has had a tangible difference -  with many of our pupils becoming the first in their family to go to university or enter a professional industry.

CoachBright is currently part of the Department for Education’s National Tutoring Programme, supporting over 65 schools. We have a team of over 25 staff, and have connections with leading employers and universities such as the Cabinet Office and the University of Exeter. All united with a desire to make sure the postcode lottery no longer exists.

Having set a 3 year strategy around supporting the Whole Child over the Whole Lifecycle - there is no more exciting time to be joining and leading the organisation.

Chair of CoachBright Qamar Riaz said: ‘We are looking forward to appointing an exceptional candidate to implement the recently approved strategy which we hope will ensure CoachBright becomes a leading social mobility charity. 

I would like to thank Robin for all he has done since the inception of CoachBright to improve the life chances and unlock the potential of so many children. He leaves CoachBright in a position of significant strength and ready for the next phase of its development and growth.’

Robin Chu, founder and current CEO of CoachBright stated that, ‘It has been the biggest privilege to lead CoachBright. At our best, our interactions with young people can be the difference maker helping them push forward in school, that extra confidence to challenge for that university place or get the next step they want. 

I’m grateful to have played my part in founding the organisation and will be cheering on from the sidelines. Having led CoachBright since the age of 22, I believe now is the right time for me personally to move on. What a privilege its been! This will allow a brilliant leader to take us onto the next stage of our impact supporting young people. Onwards.’

Berwick Partners will be leading the search of our next CEO. If you are interested and would like to have a confidential conversation please email Will at William.Pringle@berwickpartners.co.uk directly. The Job Description for CoachBright CEO is also here.

BBC Spotlight - Social Mobility within the South West

Last Thursday saw the release of a landmark report exploring social mobility within the South West of England, conducted by researchers at the University of Exeter. The report, headed by Anne-Marie Sim and Lee Elliot Major, found that the South West has ‘the worst educational outcomes for disadvantaged young people in the country, and low social mobility compared with other areas.’ 

Some of the key research findings included: 

• School attainment gaps between poorer pupils and the rest are the largest of all English regions at the end of both primary and secondary school

• Just 40% of disadvantaged pupils attained a standard pass in GCSE English and Maths in 2019 compared with almost 60% in Inner London 

• 17% of disadvantaged students within the South West went on to university in 2018/19 – the lowest rate of all English regions – compared with 45% in London 

The report explored some of the reasoning behind the poor social mobility within the area, citing low earnings and poor pay, lower than average school funding, and the recruitment and retention challenges faced by schools located in rural areas. 

Professor Lee Elliott Major emphasised the importance of social mobility, stating that: "Improving social mobility is about ensuring that all people fulfil their potential and lead full lives in the communities they come from."

CoachBright was honoured to contribute towards this report, which suggested a university-led tutoring scheme targeted specifically towards disadvantaged pupils. Alongside other interventions such as flexible post-16 learning, a free 16-19 travel pass, and school-centred community hubs to provide support to under 21 year olds, coaching schemes such as CoachBright could play a vital role in improving social mobility across the region. 

Robin Chu, our CEO at CoachBright, stated that: ‘The fact is that social mobility within the South West is so poor is simply not good enough. We all have a responsibility to play in changing this and ensuring that those from disadvantaged backgrounds receive the support to lead the lives that they wish. At CoachBright, we are really excited to play our part in this by joining school pupils with our wonderful university student volunteers in order to boost their confidence, attainment, and prospects after school.’ 

Following the report, we were thrilled that BBC Spotlight joined us at West Exe school, based in Devon, to see one of our sessions in action and catch up with some of the brilliant young people that we work alongside.

Watch our BBC Spotlight feature here, as well as a link to a copy of the Social Mobility in the South West report here.

Coaches - You Shared, We Listened, Now Let’s Take Action

At the end of our Autumn term programmes, we asked our coaches to share their feedback and tell us what they’d like to see from CoachBright as we grow and develop as a charity. Here’s what we found and what we’re planning to do about it. 

We read through all the wonderful evaluation form responses and pulled out some key themes. Firstly, that having an impact on a pupil’s life and networking opportunities were coaches' main reasons for volunteering with us. Secondly, we can do more to support our coaches to plan their sessions during the programmes. 

Networking

What you shared:

When we asked what you would like to gain from a CoachBright community, the majority of our coaches said they want to meet people - whether to form friendships or professional connections.

What we’re doing about it:

We’ve introduced pre-programme Coach Coffees and Welcome to the programme calls to start to build those friendships and sense of community at the beginning of a programme.

We’re planning a series of end of term events across the country to connect you with other coaches in your region and our network of industry partners. Here, we’ll take a moment to celebrate the impact we’ve had over the last academic year thanks to coaches like you. 

Save the date:

• London - 31 May 2022

• Birmingham - 27 May 2022

• Exeter - 2 June 2022

More information to come - watch this space!

Session Planning

What you shared

On the whole, coaches reported feeling supported by your Programme Officer and Head Coach but the biggest area you wanted more support was in how to plan and deliver a session and more resources to help you do this.

What we’re doing about it

We’ve redesigned our Google Classroom to make it a comprehensive ‘Coach Handbook’ - let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see here. We are also in the process of revising our training ready for next academic year.  

We’re planning a new approach to our ‘Mid-Programme Workshops’. These will be an open space for coaches to share feedback and advice with one another, to share what’s working well and what’s not and exchange creative activity and session ideas. We hope this informal roundtable discussion, led by all of you, will support you in your development as a coach.

Thank you to every single coach that took the time to complete our post-programme evaluation form at the end of last term. Your feedback is so valuable and is helping to shape the future of CoachBright. 

Teacher Spotlight Alexa Holt at King's Academy Prospect

By Ellis Carpenter, Programme Officer

Read on for the start of our series spotlighting schools and brilliant school coordinators who make the running of the programmes as impactful as possible. Our very own Ellis sits down with Alexa Holt, the More Able Student Co-Ordinator and History Teacher at King’s Academy Prospect to get her take on all things CoachBright. For the last 3 years, together we have been running our Peer to Peer programme where Year 12’s support Year 10’s.

How did you first hear about CoachBright and what we do?

Our Headteacher David Littlemore met CoachBright CEO Robin at a training event and was really impressed by the potential of the programme. Robin came into school with other CoachBright staff and launched the programme to our first cohort of Yr 12 and 10’s in Autumn 2019. I have co-ordinated the programme at school ever since.

What is a typical co-ordinator day like for you? Talk us through it.

Alongside my co-ordinator role I am also a history teacher. I fit in the organisation of CoachBright and other programmes with my teaching commitments. I keep things organised by sending a weekly update email to all staff and students involved so everyone is in the right place at the right time! Support staff help me in ensuring that everything is set up for CoachBright and the sessions can start on time, as soon as normal school lessons have finished. I really like catching up with the students and CoachBright programme officers - Shanon, Loui and Ellis- every week.

Prospect Year 12 example session resource for their English coaching

What has been your biggest win from coordinating so far?

When I arrive in the room after a busy teaching day to find that the coaches and coachees have already got themselves settled into pairs and are working together. I also love seeing the students at graduation when they reflect on how far they have progressed.

How has coordinating helped with your own professional development?

I have met lots of new people - both CoachBright staff and people at out local university. It has helped me develop my organisational skills, but mostly it has taught me not to underestimate what the students can do to help each other!

Why do you recommend others join CoachBright programmes?

CoachBright is a great benefit to both the coaches and coachees. I have had positive feedback from every student involved in the programme so far. I really like the fact it is so personal and allows the coachee to steer the topics and pace so they really feel the benefits.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m really proud of all our students who have taken part in CoachBright. They have all surpassed my initial expectations of what could be achieved.

In 2019 all our pairs worked successfully through the 7 weeks, making up any sessions missed during registrations and after school. In 2020 the pairs managed the additional challenge of online mentoring (due to Covid bubbles which meant that pairs couldn’t meet live). In 2021 we had our first set of coachees who became coaches. Wow! :-)

It is so lovely to see the potential teachers of the future delivering their first lessons!

CoachBright - National Tutoring Programme 2021/22

We are delighted to be an approved Tuition Partner of the National Tutoring Programme for 2021/22.

We know the effects Covid-19 is having on our most disadvantaged pupils and we are actively seeking out schools at secondary and primary level to partner with to ensure pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds receive the additional tuition they need.

Please feel free to email our CEO who is working with new partners at robin@coachbright.org or feel free to fill in the form at the bottom of this page. See below for some quick FAQ’s.

“The National Tutoring Programme with CoachBright has provided an exceptional service to the students of Bacon’s College particularly during the challenge of school closures and remote learning.

Tutoring sessions were delivered weekly to provide the students with the much needed opportunity to connect with a familiar and friendly face, and overcome difficulties that they may be facing in their chosen core subject.”

— Lionel Bush, Assistant Head, Bacon's College

WHO ARE WE?

At CoachBright we are an award winning social mobility organisation that exists to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds become more independent and resilient so they can lead the lives they want.

We do this by running academic tutoring programmes with primary and secondary schools to help pupils improve their grades, confidence and independence.

WHERE DO WE WORK?

• West Midlands

• East Midlands

• South East

• London

• East of England

• South West

WHAT TYPES OF SCHOOLS CAN WE SUPPORT?

Primary mainstream and Secondary mainstream

WHAT MODES OF TUTORING DO WE OFFER?

1-2 online; 1-2 in person; 1-3 online, 1-3 in person.

WHAT SUBJECTS AND STAGES DO WE OFFER?

• English KS2

• English KS3

• English KS4

• Maths KS2

• Maths KS3

• Maths KS4

• Science KS3

• Science KS4

HOW MUCH DO SESSIONS COST?

• Secondary: Total cost for 15-hour block of tuition: £330

• Secondary: Cost to school of 15-hour block with NTP subsidy applied £99

• Primary: Total cost for 15-hour block of tuition: £300

• Primary: Cost to school of 15-hour block with NTP subsidy applied: £90

WHO ARE OUR TUTORS?

Trained university students and recent graduates who will tutor to the school’s curriculum.

All have DBS checks and safeguarding trained.

HOW DO WE RECRUIT OUR TUTORS?

Tutors must meet eligibility of having worked to a high level in their subject (either degree, A/B at A- level or A*/A at GCSE). They apply by filling out an application form. Then, attend an assessed training day. Tutors all agree to our safer recruitment policy and must pass a DBS.

HOW DO WE TRAIN OUR TUTORS?

Initial tutor training is a day long focussed on understanding our mission of working with disadvantaged pupils and making social mobility a reality, session planning, how to build relationships with pupils and safeguarding. We run ongoing CPD throughout the programme in subject-specific groups and open drop-ins to plan sessions with the CoachBright team.

HOW WILL WE COMMUNICATE WITH YOU?

Each school has an allocated CoachBright staff member who will support in identifying pupils, fixing dates for the programme and quality assuring sessions.

Throughout, schools input onto our online system topics for pupils to focus on and can see and provide feedback on how each individual session is going.

HOW WILL WE KEEP TRACK OF PUPIL PROGRESS?

We collect attainment data before and after programme to assess how CoachBright pupils do compared to those not on the programme in their tutored subject.

Throughout the programme, we collect pupil, tutor and teacher feedback.

All our information is shared with the school weekly and we provide an end-of-programme report.

CoachBright officially becomes a charity

We’re delighted to announce that the Charity Commission has approved our application to become a registered charity as CoachBright Charitable Trust. Our charity number is 1194092.

Set up in 2014, our vision is to create a world in which every young person’s destination is based on their choice, ambitions and talents, rather than their background.

Since then, CoachBright has supported thousands of disadvantaged pupils, across the country, improve their grades, confidence and independence which in turn will help make this vision a reality. This is reflected in the fact our disadvantaged pupils on average improve nearly half a grade more than their non-CoachBright peers from similar backgrounds in the same academic year.

In light of Covid-19, our work has become even more vital. As one of 33 National Tutoring Programme Tuition Partners, a Fair Education Alliance Intrapraneurship Award winner, and partnering with leading Multi Academy Trusts and Councils we are playing our part in making education fairer.

This is reflected also in our five appointed trustees who, as leaders in their industries, will be working to lead the governance and oversight of the organisation. These are:

• Qamar Riaz (Chair): Headteacher at King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls’ Academy

• Sasha Hardman: Global HR director at Allen & Overy

• Geoff Lane: Former partner at PwC and Vice-Chair at Earthwatch Europe

• Kelly Mcaree: Head of OTT Product Strategy & Transformation at Sky

• Muzna Mahmood: Finance Business Partner at Nuffield Health 

Robin Chu, CEO of CoachBright said: “Becoming a registered charity is the natural next step for us. As an organisation it will embed our social purpose. We exist to eliminate the postcode lottery in the UK and we know Covid-19 has impacted our most disadvantaged communities the most leading to greater inequality. As a charity we are able to widen the ways we can achieve our vision and it also means that we have a wider scope to support as many disadvantaged pupils as we can.”

Qamar Riaz, Chair of CoachBright said: “After a wide and extensive search I am pleased with both the diversity and calibre of our founding Trustees who have joined us at this important transition for CoachBright. During the recruitment process, all were able to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to social mobility and the transformative impact education can have on the life chances of disadvantaged children. I am looking forward to working with fellow Trustees, Robin and his team to deliver on our shared vision for the charity.”

If you would like more information, please contact Robin directly on robin@coachbright.org 

InSight Series Edition 4 - A look into a career in dentistry

ABOUT THE INSIGHT SERIES 

At CoachBright, we launched our InSight webinar series to help pupils to find out more about potential careers, routes and pathways into a range of fields and hear from those currently in a variety of roles across the country. 

In the midst of the pandemic and a very uncertain time, we believe that it’s even more important for pupils to get well-rounded and detailed careers advice so that they can make informed decisions about their future. 

While pupils aren’t able to attend careers events and visit workplaces, we aim to bring the workplace to them. We’ve embarked on a mission to cover as many careers as possible through engaging webinars with people passionate about sharing their experiences. 

Our first webinar kicked-off the series in December 2020 with  ‘InSight into the Civil Service’, with other instalments this year will include journalism, law, teaching, nursing, paramedicine, dentistry, tech and engineering.  

EDITION 4 - INSIGHT INTO DENTISTRY

In our fourth edition, we continued looking at careers within the medical field but this time had a spotlight on careers in dentistry with Sean, who works as a dental surgeon in a practice, a career to which he switched after working in engineering. 

As well as providing pictures that are surely to encourage you to maintain your brushing routine, Sean gave an insight into what it takes to become a dentist, what are the different roles available within a dental practice and what are the highlights of his day to day work.

If you’re considering a career in dentistry, please do give it a watch or a listen and if you have any questions you’d like us to ask Sean, submit them here and we can pass them on! Here is the link: http://bit.ly/insightdentistryvideo

To find out more about careers in the dental profession, have a look at the links below:

• https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/dental-team

• https://bda.org/advice/Documents/Careers%20in%20dentistry.pdf

Upcoming events

Next month, we are hosting an InSight into Law where we will be joined by a trainee solicitor who will share their experience of entering the profession. To sign up, please follow this link: https://bit.ly/insightlaw

Insight Series edition 3 - Nursing

This month in our February edition of the the InSight webinar series, we stayed within the work of the health profession and turned the spotlight to look at careers in Nursing. 

ABOUT THE INSIGHT SERIES 

At CoachBright, we launched our InSight webinar series to help pupils to find out more about potential careers, routes and pathways into a range of fields and hear from those currently in a variety of roles across the country. 

In the midst of the pandemic and a very uncertain time, we believe that it’s even more important for pupils to get well-rounded and detailed careers advice so that they can make informed decisions about their future. 

While pupils aren’t able to attend careers events and visit workplaces, we aim to bring the workplace to them. We’ve embarked on a mission to cover as many careers as possible through engaging webinars with people passionate about sharing their experiences. 

Our first webinar kicked-off the series in December 2020 with  ‘InSight into the Civil Service’, with other instalments this year will include journalism, law, teaching, nursing, paramedicine, dentistry, tech and engineering.  

EDITION 3 - INSIGHT INTO NURSING

In our third edition, we explored routes and a career in Nursing with Ash, who is currently working as a GP Practice Nurse and has worked in A&E and Oncology departments before.

Ash talked through her route into nursing from choosing to do BTECs, from choosing nursing over careers as a doctor or a paramedic whilst also joining the army reserve. 

Some key questions Ash gave insight on was: 

• What it is like to be a nurse (even giving us a sneak peek of the equipment used!)

• Her volunteering experience with St John’s Ambulance and working in a hospital

• Working as a nurse throughout the global pandemic and how that has affected how busy she is on a day to day basis

If you’re considering a career in nursing, please do give it a watch or a listen and if you have any questions you’d like us to ask Ash, submit them here and we can pass them on! Here is the link: http://bit.ly/insightnursingvid

Please also see below for links that would also be useful if you’re interested in getting into nursing

Infographic:

https://www.nhsemployers.org/-/media/Employers/Publications/Workforce-Supply/NurseSupplyInfographic-2019.pdf

NHS Employers Routes into Nursing info:

https://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/plan/nursing-workforce/your-future-nurses 

Insight Series edition 2 - Medicine

“I’ve spent all of my time from 18-35 years old looking after people. That’s why I go to work - to look after people” 

Steve - Junior Doctor 

From blood and boats to exams and entry requirements, our January addition of the InSight webinar series took a look at careers in Medicine. 

About the InSight series 

At CoachBright, we launched our InSight webinar series to help pupils to find out more about potential careers, routes and pathways into certain fields and hear from those currently in a variety of roles across the country. 

In the midst of the pandemic, we believe that it’s even more important for pupils to get well-rounded and detailed careers advice so that they can make informed decisions about their future in what is otherwise a very uncertain time. 

While pupils aren’t able to attend careers events and visit workplaces, we aim to bring the workplace to them. We’ve embarked on a mission to cover as many careers as possible through engaging webinars with people passionate about sharing their experiences. 

Our first webinar kicked-off the series in December 2020 with  ‘InSight into the Civil Service’, with other instalments this year due to include journalism, law, teaching, nursing, paramedicine, dentistry, tech and engineering.  

Edition 2 - InSight into Medicine

In our second edition, we explored Medicine with Steve and Amber who are both currently working in hospitals in the West Midlands during the pandemic. 

Steve gave us a breakdown of what a night in the life of a junior doctor looks like as well as an unconventional route into medicine after getting B,C,C at A-level. 

Amber talked us through some common ups and downs of working as a doctor, whilst giving us some ideas of where people can take their career. Highlights included working as the solo doctor on a ship in Antarctica and medicine in the Honduran rainforest. 

“There’s a real scope to do whatever you want with medicine, that’s one of the things that is so good about it - everyone in the world needs a doctor” - Amber

Both doctors give a detailed and honest account of what studying medicine and working as a doctor is like. The webinar covers topics including pay, holidays, what to expect on a shift, exams to be taken, patients you might see and what it’s like sleeping during the day. 

If you’re considering a career in medicine (at any point) - we’d highly recommend a watch! 

LINK to webinar here

Watched and still have questions? 

We’re keen to answer as many questions as possible to help you find out the things you want to know. 

If you have anything that you’d like to ask Steve or anyone in medicine, please follow the link below to submit it to us and we’ll get an answer to you asap! 

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS

Links to other editions of the InSight series

Here’s a list of all of our editions so far, and the links to access the webinar recordings:

Civil service

Medicine

Sixth Form whole trust wide partnership with Academies Enterprise Trust (AET)

One of the largest academy trusts in the country - Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) - is teaming up with us at CoachBright to help students from predominantly disadvantaged backgrounds progress to university.  

Sixth formers across all AET sixth forms will be paired with a university student to help improve their academic grades, confidence, independence and awareness of higher education. Sixth Form students will be tutored by a current undergraduate student from the academic discipline they are interested in.

Undergraduate tutors will support sixth form students with their academic studies as well as provide a personal insight into the university application system and student life.

AET and CoachBright had already successfully worked together in a pilot programme before Covid19 and are now rolling out this support across all of its Sixth Forms this academic year as we return not to a ‘new’ normal but to a ‘better’ normal. This collaboration is crucial in helping to inspire pupils about what is possible in the future and to make them aware of the pathways available.

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) announced in their Annual Report on Education in England that the disadvantage gap between those from poorer backgrounds and the rest is no longer closing and both AET and CoachBright are determined to work together to address this.

The university tutoring programme will consist of weekly after-school tutoring sessions, group workshops and a visit to a local university campus. All university students take part in a CoachBright training programme to make sure they are rigorously equipped to understand how to lead effective tutorials, build relationships with a young person and handle safeguarding concerns.

The students will be from universities across the country including the University of Oxford, University of Birmingham, University College London, King’s College London, Plymouth University and the University of Exeter. 

CoachBright has been running tutoring, coaching and leadership programmes in UK schools for six and half years. They mainly work across the West Midlands, South West and London area. Since March, CoachBright has been running online tutoring programmes to help young people through lockdown. The organisation also hopes to be part of the government’s National Tutoring Programme launching later this year.

David Hatchett, National Director of Secondary Schools at AET, said: “I am delighted that we are working in partnership with CoachBright to improve the life chances of the young people in our care. Supporting and increasing the number of our pupils, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, who progress to University is a key part of our five year strategy as we help inspire our pupils to lead a remarkable life. Tutoring and support from undergraduates who have themselves made the transition from sixth form to a high performing University will help raise our pupils’ aspirations of what is possible.  I am excited at the prospects of what we can achieve by working together”.

The CEO of CoachBright Robin Chu said: “It’s crucial that young people are given the support they need to catch up after being out of the classroom for six months. By being paired with a university student these young people will get extra academic tuition to improve their grades, receive support on choosing their next steps after school and gain further understanding on what university life is like.

“We are delighted to be supporting AET, a truly inclusive Trust, on their journey to helping as many young people achieve their future dream destinations at the university of their choice.”

For more information about the partnership please feel free to email Robin at robin@coachbright.org

CoachBright selected as approved Tuition Provider for National Tutoring Programme

We’re delighted to announce that we have been selected as an approved tuition provider for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP)!

As a Tuition Partner, we’ll be providing high quality tutoring to schools in the South West, West Midlands, London, South East and East of England, using our experience in improving attainment, confidence and independence to provide tutoring to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and help widen access to tutoring.

Our tuition through the NTP will be subsidised by 75%.

Our programmes will support Primary and Secondary schools specifically targeting pupils in Years 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11. The subjects we will offer tutoring in is English, Maths and Science (only Secondary).

As a social mobility organisation, we know the effects Covid-19 has had on our most disadvantaged pupils in disrupting their learning. We believe outstanding small group tuition can boost grades and also help pupils develop trusting, responsible learning habits which will set pupils up beyond the classroom.

Having supported over thousands of pupils, we know, when done right, our programmes can have a life changing effect on a young person’s trajectory with many of our pupils being the first in their family to go to university.

At its core, our programmes help pupils improve their grades, confidence and independence.

Last year we supported 1,229 pupils in our secondary school programmes. These pupils - on average - improved in their tutored subject by 0.44 of a grade more than their non-CoachBright Pupil Premium (PP) peers in the academic year 2019/20 and similarly over a third of a grade more in the academic year 2018/19 compared to their non-CoachBright PP peers.

During the initial phase of lockdown, we moved our tutoring online for the first time and commissioned the evaluator ImpactEd to assess the effectiveness of non-cognitive outcomes around metacognition and grit (full report here).

The evaluation found the increase of 17% in metacognition was statistically significant and meant CoachBright pupils scored significantly higher on metacognition than the national average at the time.

Considering the Education Endowment Foundation’s research that ‘metacognitive strategies’ can be worth the equivalent of 7+ months progress when used well we were thrilled with our findings.

As an approved National Tutoring Programme Tuition Partner, we welcome the chance to join the national effort to ensure young people from disadvantaged backgrounds get the support they need.

If you would like to speak directly about bringing our programmes to your school please email our CEO Robin at robin@coachbright.org. We also have list of FAQs here too.

To learn more about tutoring and the NTP in general, visit the NTP website.

HIRING - Finance Manager

We are looking for our first ever Finance Manager!

You will join the senior leadership team and report directly to the CEO. You will have day-to-day responsibility for the organisation’s finances, working with colleagues to set and manage budgets, maintain accurate financial records and ensure all financial and compliance requirements are met.

We need an outgoing, self-motivated person to enhance our internal financial capacity and, alongside the CEO, determine long term financial goals and strategies to meet our mission. The individual will manage the organisation’s financial operations and flourish in a small dynamic team. 

More information here.

Deadline to apply: Friday 13th November 2020

HIRING - Trustees

Having turned six years old in February 2020, we are at an exciting stage of growth and have ambitious plans to scale our impact and reach. This coming academic year, we are supporting over 1500 pupils. Currently working across London, the West Midlands and the South West, we are looking to thoughtfully scale our academic programmes into hard-to-reach deprivation areas; develop a primary strand to our work; and increase the impact of our programmes.

As we transition from a social enterprise to a charity we are looking for individuals who share our values and ambition to make social mobility a reality. Over the next three years, we want to quadruple our reach, grow a fundraising arm to our work and increase our advocacy work.

As a trustee, you will be responsible for supporting the Chief Executive and the team to help challenge social inequality.

We are particularly looking for those with experience in finance, HR law and fundraising expertise.

More information here.

Deadline to apply: 30th October 2020.

RESULTS DAY 2020 - Where do I go from here?

TO OUR YEAR 11s

Results day is inevitably a stressful time for students up and down the country.

This is even more so the case in the unprecedented times that we find ourselves in!

The government’s decision to use teachers’ predictions for results is particularly welcome, after the controversial algorithm led to nearly 40% of A-levels being downgraded. 

Feeling nervous about results day is perfectly natural, but do not keep your emotions to yourself! Do remember to:

• Talk to your peers about your worries - they are probably feeling the same as you! 

• Ensure you are well-rested

• Take the time to do something to help you unwind before tomorrow that will distract yourself.

If you achieve the grades you hoped for - congratulations! However, if you are disappointed, have a chat with your teachers or ring The Exam Results Helpline (0800 100 900, 8am-10am), who can advise you about further education routes.

All in all, this was a hugely difficult year for all students. We are proud of each and every one of you and are always here for support should you need it! Details of how to get in touch with us are below.

YEAR 13s - UNIVERSITY - WHAT HAPPENS NOW? Clearing and more. 

We know that it can feel like that one little piece of paper you’re about to open will govern your entire future from here on out. Emotions run high as the elation of getting that grade you so desperately wanted and securing that university place or new career becomes a reality.  But this is not the case for everyone. We know of course that some of you will not have received the results you expected or wanted and so were forced into the stress lottery that is clearing.

Some of you will have managed to secure a place through clearing. University life will likely be very different than in previous academic years, but you should be proud of your achievements. If you’re the first person in your family to go to university, then an even bigger congratulations is in order. This is a strange time, but you deserve to celebrate your success in the context of such adversity.

For those of you who have not yet secured a university place through allocation or clearing, DON’T WORRY! We know how hollow that might sound, but we really mean it. The situation is changing all the time, and although that is going to feel incredibly stressful for many of you, it also means that the normal rules do not apply. With teacher estimates being used for grades rather than the algorithm and exam appeals being free for schools, this is by no means the end of the road. Many universities are honouring their conditional offers based on teacher estimates, so you may yet be able to secure a place. If you still don’t meet the terms of your offer, or if places at all of your choices are full up, you still have options. 

Here are a few links we’ve found which may shed some light on your next steps:

Clearing FAQs

A-level results 2020: What's next for university students

Covid-19 A-level support from the Student Room

Mental health advice from the Student Room

The most important thing to remember is that you should not be too hard on yourself. The word unprecedented seems to have lost all meaning, but this really is a situation no-one has ever experienced before. Perhaps there are fingers to be pointed at the powers that be for a lack of foresight, but if anyone should get the blame, it is not you. This situation is not your fault and whatever grades you received, they do not represent you as a person, merely a part of you.

WHAT WE SAY

Our CEO and Founder, Robin Chu, has been working with other organisations to highlight the importance of supporting young people through this difficult period:

“We welcome the government's decision to revert to teacher estimated grades rather than using an algorithm based on a school's prior performance data as this provides a higher level of equity for young people. The results period has highlighted the growing inequality gap between the rich and poor. Unfortunately, we know this existed long before the pandemic as today's Teach First report highlights only 45% of disadvantaged pupils achieve a pass in GCSE English and Maths compared to 72% of pupils from more affluent backgrounds. This figure has remained stubbornly the same since 2017.

Still now in 2020, where a young person was born (their postcode) has a huge determinant on that person's lifetime earnings, quality of life and health. At CoachBright, we believe the disadvantage gap is becoming a gulf and radical action is needed to break this cycle. The creation of a National Tutoring Programme (NTP) is a welcome step - we think this needs to be longer and extend to Year 12 and 13 to ensure it is sustainable. Internally, we are officially launching a primary strand to support young people earlier in their school journey at Year 5 and 6 as we know that work around this transition period is important to maintain attainment trajectories through secondary schooling and beyond”

As always, the CoachBright team are here to offer support to our alumni. If you’re having difficulties figuring out the next step for you or need someone to chat through options with - we’re just an email or phone call away. 

To get in touch, email us at team@coachbright.org

CoachBright calls to expand the National Tutoring Programme

Disadvantaged students waiting for GCSE results face huge challenges ahead with the leap to A-levels after months off school. With fellow education charities, we’re calling for the National Tutoring Programme to include Years 12 & 13. Read our letter to Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee, below

Dear Mr Halfon,

We welcome the recent decision by the Government to provide additional funding for 16-19 year old students to receive English and Maths support to help them catch up after COVID. We are grateful for the tireless efforts you have put into advocating for the National Tuition Programme (NTP) on behalf of students across the country.

We write to you as a coalition of charities who are keen to expand the scope of NTP so that all students can benefit fully. We are concerned that the extra funding for 16-19 provision has not been routed through the NTP, meaning that education providers will not be able to access subsidised tuition, and will therefore access less support for 16-19 yr olds than they otherwise could. We know this age group (especially those starting Yr 12 in September) will face particular challenges in the transition to higher study, and increasingly independent learning.

We are also concerned that if the National Tutoring Programme intervention is not sustained long term then there is the very real possibility that a generation of young people will be left behind. Without ongoing support, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds will have even less chance than they did previously of successfully continuing their education. We want to ensure that the NTP goes far enough not just to help mitigate the lost learning from school closures, but also to close the attainment gap further.

Our organisations run impactful tutoring programmes that help thousands of disadvantaged young people to improve their grades and reach their full potential every year. In many cases we see them transitioning successfully to further and higher education. We know that the best way to achieve this is with a consistent, multi-year intervention. For example, a recent study of the work of The Access Project by FFT Datalab, shows that a one year intervention at GCSE helps to improve a student’s progress by 3 months, whereas a 2 year intervention improves a student’s progress by 5 months.

The forced closure of schools because of COVID-19 means that all young people will have missed out on learning. In particular, Year 11s moving into post 16 education may have had minimal teaching for several months. Extended breaks in learning are known to have an impact on progress and for the most disadvantaged students this is particularly true. That’s why we owe it to students to take an evidence based approach to any catch up plan.

We are calling for the government to make a commitment to make the National Tutoring Programme multi-year, and to include 16-19 year olds in the National Tuition Programme. We would urge you to consider backing this call.

We would be grateful for the opportunity to speak with you further about this. The charities in this coalition would also be happy to appear before the Education Select Committee to discuss the evidence behind our recommendations. Students are at the forefront of our minds in all of this and this generation needs our backing more than any in recent history.

Yours sincerely,

Ashley Hodges, CEO, AccessEd

Nathan Sansom, CEO, The Access Project

Susannah Hardyman, CEO, Action Tutoring

Alex Charalambous, Head of Education Development, The Children’s Literacy Charity

Robin Chu, CEO, Coachbright

Paul Singh, CEO, Equal Education

Adam Alagiah-Glomseth, CEO, TalentEd

Reposted via the Access Project. See original post here.

CoachBright welcomes a National Tutoring Programme

At CoachBright, we welcome the announcement from Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Education, for a £1 billion Covid catch-up plan for schools. £350 million pounds of that will go towards a National Tutoring Programme (NTP) - a tutoring scheme to provide schools with heavily subsidised one-to-one or small group tutoring to help the most disadvantaged young people catch up.

CoachBright has been lobbying for a National Tutoring Programme since March co-authoring a paper on the need for a service as a result of Coronavirus with Professor Lee Elliot Major OBE and Emily Tyers, Teacher at Ivybridge Community College. See paper here.

Alongside this, a coalition of education leaders and third sector organisations came together to lobby the Department of Education and Treasury for the NTP. This included Robert Halfon (Chair of the Education Select Committee), Anne Longfield (Children’s Commissioner for England) and similar tutoring organisations in the social sector who care deeply about supporting disadvantaged pupils and have a track record of support in this area.

This includes Action Tutoring, Access Project, The Tutor Trust, Equal Education, Get Further, Literacy Pirates, Team Up, TalentEd, Future Frontiers and West London Zone. All are members of the Fair Education Alliance who spearheaded the campaign. Together, we signed an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education calling for a NTP.

We know school leaders in their individual context know their pupils best, which pupils should be targeted, and what topics the sessions should cover. We believe additional high quality 1-1 tutoring that is designed with the school can be a real silver bullet for many pupils from disadvantaged communities.

We welcome the announcement the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), Impetus, Sutton Trust and Nesta will be leading the formation of the NTP as we believe evidence-based quality first implementation will be key.

CoachBright’s own online tutoring pilot

Since 18th March, when schools were told to close, as a social mobility organisation we started providing impactful support for disadvantaged pupils during this time through online tutoring. We know the effects of the virus will have far-reaching learning consequences for our most disadvantaged pupils - upwards of 5 months of learning loss.

Over the last 2 and a half months, we have created and delivered our first ever online tutoring programmes (our previous 6 years of work had been face to face). A university student one-to-one supporting a disadvantaged school pupil in a key subject. We are delighted to have supported over 30 schools and 220 pupils of 1-1 subject specific support during Covid-19.

For context, this academic year we have supported over 1500 pupils from disadvantaged communities.

What we know about 1-1 academic tutoring in our CoachBright programmes:

• CoachBright pupils make a third of a grade more progress than their disadvantaged peers in a similar setting.

• 89% have become a more independent learner as a result of coaching

• 91% believe the programme has made them more motivated to succeed in their studies

Priya, Year 11 at West Walsall E-ACT Academy says: "With CoachBright, we actually got to have that online support so we could talk with the tutor and get the support that we needed during lockdown. For me, it was in Chemistry. The chance to speak 1-1 was really useful. I just wanted to thank CoachBright for this opportunity because I feel like it's been amazing, I've learnt a lot and it's been a real support really, so thank you very much" 

Mark Perry, University of Birmingham student who was a volunteer tutor says "Coming from an underprivileged background myself growing up in Birmingham, I was aware of the barriers which discouraged me to progress into higher education. This amazing experience allowed me to watch my pupil develop leaps and bounds."

At CoachBright, we are absolutely focussed on ensuring the disadvantage gap does not become a gulf. CEO, Robin Chu says: "We know the challenges Covid-19 will have in creating a widening class divide between the haves and have-nots. We're delighted we can offer high quality and low cost tuition for disadvantaged pupils through schools.

We also appreciate pupils from low income backgrounds enjoy the routine, opportunity to interact with a relatable role model and most importantly the attainment benefits of having a tutor/coach. For a National Tutoring Programme to succeed, tutors will need to be rigorously trained, supported and coordinated alongside excellent school staff to be effective. We endorse the announcement of a National Tutoring Programme and believe quality implementation will key to its success.”

More information on the National Tutoring Programme is available on the EEF’s website here.