Step Ahead Tutoring And Educational Services

STEP AHEAD IS GOING NATIONAL

As announced here in April, as winners of an Enterprise competition we were awarded consultancy time, and as a result we have been using our experienced Management Consultant, Katrina Wilkinson, to help us advance our expansive plans to start offering our outstanding services across the country.

Already possessing as good a reputation as any of our competitors, we have a brand of which we are very proud, and we are in the process of planning to franchise ourselves throughout Scotland over the next year or two.

More details in due course ------- but for now it is time to re-charge the batteries.  Let's hope the sun continues !   Enjoy the summer !

See you in August.

Special Youngsters

As we approach the school summer holidays, it is good to reflect on some of the wonderful achievements of pupils.

Regular readers will have heard about Sam Pope, but he has surpassed himself recently with an incredible performance in a Standard Grade Maths Non-Calculator Paper where he dropped only one mark.  4th Year secondary pupils normally take such a paper - but Sam is still at primary school !

At a time when spelling is not being given much of an emphasis in many schools, P5 pupil Rory Philip is tackling comfortably words designed for 12-13 year olds, and often mis-spelt by much older youngsters and adults !

Tutees who have impressed greatly recently include 6 year old Max Yeoman;  nine year old Peter Bery;  Kincardine lad Caine Dooley; 11 year old birthday boy Grant MacDonald;  and two lads in Midlothian, from Penicuik Allan Macdonald and Queensferry-based Sam Pearson.

Warm STEP AHEAD welcomes to :  Archie Grieve,  Liam Murray and Lewis Shiel, who have all hit the ground running ! 

Research Findings

A report has revealed that white boys are virtually bottom of the class in schools throughout Britain.

They do WORSE in exams than children from almost EVERY other group in the country.

Caribbean, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, black African and Chinese pupils, as well as girls from any background, are all well ahead of them according to latest research by government education chiefs.

Only gypsy and traveller children or those in care - that is, kids whose educations are routinely disrupted - come below white boys.

These findings are based on exam results from the nation's 30,000 schools.

Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, pointed the finger of blame at white mums and dads who didn't give their sons the educational support they needed.

"Chinese and Indian youngsters do well because they are pushed by their parents to do well and have supportive families - but many white British males don't have this," he said.

A spokesman for the Department for School Children and Families (DSCF)-who produced the report- admitted "underachievement, regardless of background or ethnicity, can only be tackled by changing the aspirations of young people, their parents and the education system."

The report found that both white boys AND girls did worse than other racial groups-but white boys in particular were found to be especially poor.

Mastering Maths

 

MATHEMATICS should be one of the most useful subjects children learn in school –

yet thousands leave school each year unable to use simple mathematical methods.

Worse, they are traumatised by their experiences in maths classes.

 

This results in many adults being left vulnerable, not only to financial ruin, but in any

situation involving mathematical thinking or reasoning.

It should be the right of all children to be given a basic but sound mathematical

knowledge and understanding. Yet thousands of students actually fear or hate maths.

Children also suffer because they come to believe that maths achievement equals

intelligence, and to fail at maths is a sign of being stupid. This idea serves to erode

children's confidence in their ability to think, and it is the reason so many children

feel traumatised when they don't do well in maths.

 

There is a pervasive view in the UK that only some children can do well in maths;

this is wrong and damaging.  It is really important that children know that everyone

can be good at maths and everyone can reach high levels.

There are many ways in which parents can help their children, particularly through

encouragement and support. 

 

Negative comments to the youngster do not help;  similarly avoiding saying, "I was

terrible at maths at school," as research has found that when mothers say this to their daughters, their expectations fall." 

 

Mathematical success can be helped by puzzles and games worked on at home within

the family such as sudoku (there are many children's versions around), snakes and

ladders (for early number work), Rubik's cubes, jigsaws, draughts, chess, dominoes,

Connect 4 and any logic puzzles.

 

The above is part of a new section being prepared for our web-site, highlighting subjects tutored by STEP AHEAD.

Bear is The Chief

I was interested and delighted to see such an imaginative and innovative appointment made this week by The Scout Association to their titular Head - the Chief Scout.  Survivalist and TV adventurer, Bear Grylls has been named the youngest ever Chief Scout. 

I have been fortunate enough to have been introduced to and get to know a previous holder of that position, Sir Garth Morrison, as well as having been presented (45 years ago!) my Queen Scout Award by Sir Charles Maclean who was Chief throughout the 60s.

I am sure countless youngsters will be inspired and motivated by Bear who will be seen as modern and exciting, and, providing more adult leaders can be found, the Movement can again go from strength to strength.  Go Scouting, Go !

Advancements

Following 'our appearance' in "Scotland On Sunday" earlier in the year, STEP AHEAD has again hit the papers, following an article about "STEP AHEAD means BUSINESS" in last Friday's "Scotsman".

Here is the link : Download StepAhead2009_05_15

 

I accepted happily an invitation last week to spend some time with John Robertson, The Rector of Dollar Academy, one of Scotland's finest schools.  This year STEP AHEAD prepared successfully no less than 24 pupils who will shortly attend Dollar, and it was an opportunity for discussions of mutual advantage.  Having had similar occasions involving senior staff at George Heriot's, Edinburgh, and St Leonard's, St Andrews, I am very keen to extend my knowledge of other major institutions for the benefit of our tutees and their parents.

 

New School Curriculum

A radical new curriculum set to be adopted by Scottish schools could tarnish the reputation of the exam system, a union leader has claimed.

Ann Ballinger, president of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, said class teachers may mark more exams under the new system.

She warned this could lead to pressure on staff to "massage" the results.

Ms Ballinger is due to address the teaching union's annual conference in Peebles on Friday afternoon.

She will tell delegates that teachers have welcomed aspects of the Curriculum of Excellence, which aims to provide continuous education from ages three to 18, with an emphasis on cross-curricular teaching and independent learning.

But she will warn that one of the unintended consequences of the new system could be the possible removal of the external verification "which gives Scottish qualifications their deserved reputation for consistent quality".

Ms Ballinger will say: "Internally assessed qualifications, no matter how rigorously applied, simply do not have the reputation or the guarantee of quality common to all Scottish externally assessed and marked qualifications. "

"Leaving aside the obvious question of what is to be removed from the working time agreement to allow time for these internal assessments, we must have guarantees of national standards rigorously applied to ensure that no teacher faces pressure to massage the results from either a pushy parent on the school board, from a head teacher under pressure from HM Inspectorate of Education, or from a misguided local authority concerned solely with league tables."

The Curriculum of Excellence could also result in children following a narrower range of subjects, Ms Ballinger will say.

She will also warn that long hours are leaving teachers under increased strain in both their professional and personal lives, with 50 or 60 hour weeks becoming the norm, and weekends spent catching up on administration tasks or marking.

'Unable to function'

"Far too many [teachers] have retired early, exhausted by the workload, made ill by the stress and in some cases unable to function due to fear," Ms Ballinger will say.

The new curriculum, which has been billed as the biggest shake-up in education for a generation, will see a new single exam introduced to replace Standard Grades and Intermediate exams, which are normally taken in fourth year.

The first pupils are due to sit the new exam in 2014.

Ministers have also proposed literacy and numeracy tests for 15-year-olds.

A Scottish Government spokesman said an announcement on the "next generation" of national qualifications would be made in June.

"Final decisions have still to be taken," he said.

"Whatever the nature of future arrangements, the rigorous application of national standards will continue to be a key feature of Scottish qualifications.

"It is important to note that internal assessment is already a well-established feature of existing national qualifications."

Exam Prayer

With lots of cramming taking place right now, how about the following little prayer for anxious parents :

"Dear Lord,  Help us stay calm when he has lost his maths jotter, especially when it is the night before the maths exam !

Give us the strength we need to avoid a cardiac arrest when we find her listening to her iPod in bed late the night before her English paper !

Show us how to sound sincere when telling them : 'Just do your best, and if you blow this fantastic opportunity, don't worry, we won't mind ' !

Finally, Lord,  lead us not into temptation - and bribery - eg  ' Pass all your exams and we'll buy you a motor bike / sound system / iPhone.'

Amen." 

WE ARE COMPETITION WINNERS

FREESPIRIT ENTERPRISE : "providing support for businesses" - announced this week that STEP AHEAD TUTORING AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES had been awarded first prize in their 2009 competition. 

We are very excited and gratified by this result and are looking forward to gaining the benefits of their business review and report, followed by consultancies and numerous business coaching sessions. 

More to follow...

Home Schooling

Essex County Council has agreed to pay over £10,000 to six families in which the children are being home educated.  The parents were refusing to send their children to their local school and had hired tutors.

The National Union of Teachers at their annual conference have complained about the dumbing down of the curriculum, the concerns of literacy hour in primary schools, the scarcity of places in sixth forms and colleges, the undue importance being placed on certain tests and the emphasis on league tables.

Essex appear to be admitting that some schools are actually condemnations to low achievement and that by taking children out of them shows a desire by parents to do the best for their offspring. There appears to be a tacit agreement that home education can be as good as, or better than, the schooling offered by the state.

It is clearly an indication - and one which we at STEP AHEAD are seeing more and more - of how parental attitudes have changed.

If you have an example of such a change, please feel free to contact us.

To be continued.........