How does Schools Plus work?
Oxford is a very unequal city – 64% of pupils on free school meals fail to attain the expected standards in reading, writing and maths. We take essential steps to tackle these issues by providing free tuition to children in Year 3 - Year 13 who will benefit. We match volunteer tutors with children who are referred to us – often from schools where pupils are at risk of not achieving their potential due to indicators of disadvantage.
Schools Plus is aimed at young people in Oxford who do not have the familial resources to access private tuition. We provide free tutoring to KS3, KS4 and KS5 pupils in English, Maths, Foreign Languages, Humanities and Science, in addition to tutoring to KS2 primary school pupils in Maths, Science, and Literacy. Our tutoring pairs meet for two 30-minute sessions a week for a minimum of 3 months.
Sign up now to tutor a child in Oxford and help them reach their academic potential!
Meet some of our members!
Kat
Kat is helping two local pupils with their KS2 English, Maths and Science.
“I strongly encourage anyone to try out tutoring – it can be a fantastic source of confidence and community, as well as being a source for understanding your skills and yourself better.”
Oliver
Oliver is working with his tutor on Year 5 English and Maths!
“He absolutely loves it and there is much laughter during the sessions” — Oliver’s school teacher
Ellen
Ellen has been tutoring a student preparing for their GCSE English!
“I’d really recommend tutoring, because so few children get the 1-to-1 learning they deserve, and even just being asked questions, reading aloud, and explaining their thoughts to another person who is solely focused on them can be such a useful experience.”
Get involved!
Become a Tutor
We are currently recruiting tutors! To become a tutor, you must be a current University student, a University graduate or a qualified teacher. Tutors are required to complete:
An Enhanced DBS Check
Level 1 Child Safeguarding Certificate with OSCB
Schools Plus tutor training
Follow the link below to sign up and you can find out more about the tutor onboarding process here. If you have any questions about becoming a tutor, please email us at [email protected].
Refer a Child for Tutoring
Schools Plus provides supplementary tutoring which helps guide pupils' learning outside the classroom. We can offer tuition to pupils in Year 3 to Year 13 who have an interest to learn and motivation to attend tutoring sessions.
Sessions are currently taking place online over Zoom. At the moment, we have 65 active pairings tutoring in Oxfordshire!
We are currently only accepting referrals for pupils from teachers, social workers or youth workers. If you are interested in referring a child or young person please follow the link below or contact [email protected].
Schools Plus Primary Twinning Programme
We have launched the Primary Twinning Programme to ‘twin’ Oxford University Colleges with local primary schools to help close the attainment gap in the city.
Colleges will provide extracurricular activities and academic support to the students of their twinned primary school.
The Primary School – College pairings are:
John Henry Newman Primary – Exeter College
St Christopher’s Primary – Trinity College
St Frideswide Primary – Somerville College
Wood Farm Primary – New College
Orchard Meadow Primary School - St Edmunds Hall
St John Fisher Catholic Primary School - Mansfield College
St Francis C.E. Primary - Magdalen College
Rose Hill Primary - Wadham College
We hope that these partnerships will help to close the attainment gap in Oxford city, by providing Primary Schools with opportunities to engage with an Oxford College, including the support of an enthusiastic cohort of volunteer tutors and extracurricular activities in facilities which the school would not otherwise have access to. This partnership will help to inspire local children with a passion for learning, encourage their curiosity, and support them to fulfil their potential.
Find out more about the Twinning Programme here! If you have any questions, contact [email protected].
FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL PARTICIPANTS ONLY:
Click the button below for the About Me Survey
Schools Plus FAQs
Safeguarding
All of our tutors:
Hold an enhanced DBS check from within the last two years
Have a Level 1 Child Safeguarding Certificate from OSCB
Have been trained in effective communication, lesson planning and delivery
Are briefed in raising causes for concern with our safeguarding leads
Follow the Oxford Hub Code of Conduct for Staff and Volunteers.
We require permission from primary caregivers to provide tutoring to pupils under 16 years old.
Tutors will not receive pupils’ contact details but instead will make contact through caregivers. We ask primary caregivers to meet tutors during the first tutoring session.
Our tutors use Zoom to deliver online sessions for pupils. With caregiver consent, all online sessions are recorded and stored for safeguarding purposes.
For further information on our safeguarding guidance, please click here. If you have any questions about Schools Plus safeguarding procedures, please email [email protected].
How can I refer someone to Schools Plus?
We are currently only accepting referrals from teachers, social workers or youth workers. If you are interested in referring a child or young person please fill in the form above or contact [email protected].
Once you’ve made a referral, we may need to contact you to discuss the details of your referral if we feel we need more information. Once we have all of the information we need, we will select one of our trained tutors to provide academic support to the child you have referred. We will then put the tutor in touch with the child’s parent/caregiver who will get in touch to introduce themselves.
How does online tutoring work?
Tutoring sessions take place through the video conferencing platform Zoom. Tutors are able to use a virtual whiteboard, share resources via the chat and share-screen functions and can use educational resources from One School.
As Covid-19 restrictions continue to lift, we will be able to support our pairings to meet up in-person! If you have any further questions about this, please get in touch.
Accessibility
Oxford Hub is committed to making our activities inclusive to all members. We will make reasonable adjustments to application processes, training sessions, volunteering projects and other activities, and we pay back volunteer expenses such as bus tickets. If you have particular accessibility needs, including special educational needs, you can let us know what adjustments we can make to support you on the application form. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.
How can I get in touch?
If you have any questions about Schools Plus which haven’t been answered here, please get in touch with our team. Carmen is the Schools Plus Programme Manager - you can get in touch with her at [email protected].