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The Anchor Role: How to Support Your Child During Exams
A few thoughts about the parent’s role as the child prepares for examination I’m writing to share one or two thoughts with you about your child’s education as I believe that you are one of those parents with high expectations for your offspring. This particular message is not necessarily about the courses we offer or directly related to the message we sent to parents recently about revision for the summer examinations. This conversation is broader, and it’s really […]
The First Milestone: Why GCSE Results Matter for University
Why GCSE Results Matter for University: Some things in life never change as it has always been the case that society makes judgement about people’s intelligence based on how many subjects they do well in at the age of 16. In the modern British education system, it is called GCSE but until the early to mid 1980s, it was called O levels. There are other variations, which I’ll speak about later in this article. The pass rate at GCSE has […]
The Foundation Years: Why is Key Stage 3 Important?
Definition of KS3 Officially KS3 is supposed to be the first three years of secondary school – called Y7 to Y9 in all state schools and most independent schools. There used to be an exam in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science at the end of KS3 but that was abandoned in 2008 – leaving the GCSE, which is taken a couple of years after KS3 to be the first and only major examination that teenagers take. Since […]
The Gold Standard: Analyzing the Benefits of A-levels for University and Career
Benefits of A-levels for University and Career For young people who are taking A-level in the summer, the importance of the next four or so months cannot be overemphasised. The discipline and the focus that has to be assigned to cope with rigour and the academic demand of the A-level, though, is worth its weight in gold. It is common knowledge that not all universities are the same, as employers in particular and the wider society, value academic qualifications from […]
The “Mocks” Conversation: How to Help My Child with Mock Exams
A conversation with a caring parent – exam success is not everything in life but it’s important … We are now at that time of the year when the results of the mock exams have just been released for those students who are taking either GCSE or A-level exams in the summer. You may be right in thinking that this only applies to 15 to 18 year olds; however, in reality – even for younger children in secondary school, […]
The Master-User Protocol: How to Focus While Studying with Technology
How to Focus While Studying with Technology Whilst I embrace technology and appreciate its importance as a vital learning tool; I also think there are aspects of the traditional learning experience that is irreplaceable. One main one is day to day interaction with printed text – usually books, which I can touch, feel and smell. I’m one of those people who do not throw away books or resell them as I’ll rather keep books on the shelf than get rid […]
Tool or Trap? Analyzing the Impact of Technology on Student Learning
Impact of Technology on Student Learning Like any good thing in life, it is not usually the technology itself but how people choose to use it. I have about 5 smart phone and tablets – iPhones, iPad and Samsung for my personal use and I use about three to four of them every day. Does it mean that I spend a lot of time on my smart phone? Certainly not. The way I manage myself includes having a phone for […]
Balance and Focus: The Real Role of Technology in Teaching and Learning
Role of Technology in Teaching and Learning As far as schooling and education is concerned, both teachers and students abuse technology in all sorts of way. For too many teachers, there is over-dependence on technology and they cannot teach any lesson without using a computer or going onto the internet. Whenever there is no access to the computer or the internet they can’t teach, which is rather sad. When I was teaching in the classroom I found using a computer […]
The Evidence Base: Benefits of Small Group Tuition vs One-to-One
Benefits of Small Group Tuition in Britain, at least a quarter of young people have been provided some sort of extra tuition at some point in their education. This could be in the form of extra teaching support in school or from a private tutor. In London and the south east of England, where there is a little more aspiration for high achievement, the figure is almost double, as it is well over 40%, with much higher figures amongst more […]
The Tutoring Debate: Is One-to-One Tutoring Effective or Is There a Better Way?
Is one-to-one tutoring effective? One way of defining this rather widespread phenomenon is as a focused teaching session whereby a student is tutored by a teacher in the absence of other students. In the way it is performed in schools, particularly in the primary sector, the teaching can be by a teaching assistant and not a fully qualified teacher. For older pupils of secondary school age, who are studying for GCSE and A-level, it is usually performed by a qualified […]
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