From our experience of teaching children in this age group and from feedback from teachers in schools, it is clear that they have many gaps caused by the missed schooling during Covid. By no fault of their own making, students, who are now in Years 3 and 4, had their vital early years in school interrupted by the pandemic and are still trying to catch up now. When the schools initially closed, they were just beginning their school journey and learning the very building blocks of reading, phonics, writing and basic number. This has had a significant impact on their progress and attainment.
As a result, schools have been required to adapt their curriculums and spend large chunks of the school day, revising objectives from previous year groups as well as trying to squeeze in the current learning. Of course, the SATs they sit at the end of Year 6 will still be the same… Having gaps in understanding, severely hinders progress and limits access to what should be a very broad and balanced curriculum. For instance, if you are in Year 3 (having missed grasping the important basics in Reception and Year 1) studying equivalent fractions, is a huge challenge, with children becoming despondent and losing confidence. The National Tutoring Programme (NTP)was put in place to try to overcome this but, as with many such schemes, there is not enough to go around, and many children have been left struggling.
Only too aware of the negative impact of missed schooling, we made the decision to teach our students online throughout the lockdowns. We started the week the schools closed when very few children were getting any work from school at all. It has been reassuring to see that those students, most of whom are still with us today, appear far less affected than many of their less fortunate peers. Take some time to read some of our glowing customer reviews on Trust Pilot.
Apologies for all the doom and gloom – the good news is that it is very easily rectified with the right intervention and that is where we come in! Our aim has, and always will be, to make tuition available for all. Our group lessons for maths, English and creative writing for Years 3 and 4, cover all the key learning objectives and being priced at just £10 per 45-minute class, makes them more accessible than most.
Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions from parents in this age group. We hope you find them useful and applicable when supporting your own child.
- Online learning didn’t work for my son in lockdown. Do you offer face to face?
This is an understandable concern and one we hear often. It is true that many children had a poor experience of online learning during the pandemic, with schools hugely unprepared for such a change in their structure and teaching methods. My answer is always the same- online works every bit as well as face to face when it is done properly. Our lessons are taught by fully qualified teachers and the fact we are online means that location is no barrier to working with the very best practitioners. We have been teaching this way for almost three years now; our students enjoy their interactive and engaging lessons and make incredible progress. With shared whiteboards, online videos and games, chat functions and screen sharing – every child participates fully and has the same experience as they would if the teacher was sat right next to them. In fact, in many cases, it works better as children are in their own familiar home environment and parents can be as involved as little or as much as they like. My advice – take advantage of a complimentary trial lesson and you will never look back!
- Why is my child having to do a multiplication check in Year 4? What does this involve?
This is a relatively new initiative and was brought in to identify children who need extra help in this area before they do their SATs in Year 6. For more information, please click here.
- I’m finding it challenging when helping my daughter with her homework as everything is so different to when I was at school. Can you help?
If you are struggling to tell the difference between a fronted adverbial and a subordinate clause or are confused by dividing using the “chunking” method, don’t panic. One enormous benefit of our online lessons is that parents/ carers can see what their child is doing and how they are being taught. When we drop our children to school, the gates close and we have limited knowledge to what happens during the school day. Our fabulous team of teachers follow the same curriculum and use exactly the same teaching styles and methods as they do in schools, so this not only allows continuity for our students, but allows their parents to pick up some tips too!
- Will I have to buy any resources?
Students are required to have a device in which to access the lesson (laptop, tablet or smartphone) and ideally need some paper and a pencil too. We provide everything else, including worksheets to complete during the session and consolidation homework. These can be printed out in advance but if this is not possible, it is not a problem because the teacher displays it on their screen for online annotation anyway. We have lots of recommendations for free resources on our Year Group pages too.
In the week beginning 31st October 2022, we will be offering FREE taster classes to children in Years 3 and 4. To register your interest, please email alison@goldenbrainacademy.com or contact us by clicking here.
