The Powerful Impact of Homeschooling
The Challenge
To ensure a student moved successfully from a troubled school setting into a homeschooling placement.
The Result
GCSEs, A-Levels & Biology at University
The student had recently moved to the UK, but not settled well, as several serious behaviour incidents within the first 6 months meant a real risk of school exclusion.
Our Approach
This student needed a consistent and reliable presence he could trust.
The mentor was highly attentive and responsive due to anger management issues, and showed great empathy and support in order to help the student make progress. Flexibility was paramount, with short-notice bookings (online and in-person) accommodated to support the student during term time and school holiday periods.
In 2019, an Educational Psychologist’s report was produced, which detailed:
Very low scores in academic achievement for Maths - dyscalculia
Very low processing speeds
Difficulties with executive, behavioural and emotional functioning and with attention and working memory
The need for psychologist support
With the report’s recommendations in hand the mentor guided the other tutors in the team to adjust their teaching strategies accordingly, and a reward system was implemented to encourage the student to fulfil weekly actions and show positive progress in key areas of behaviour. Twice a week the student worked through the adjustment cycle, with the mentor questioning and challenging to help the student make connections between feelings, behaviour and performance, and over time develop their own ideas as they began to see things from a different perspective. With actions planned and reflected on each week, a consistent approach was formed across all subjects and tutors on the placement.
Success
GCSEs / A-Levels / Biology at University
As tutors worked hard to build subject knowledge, weekly adjustment cycles helped strengthen various personal skills. In particular the first couple of years saw the student make great progress in terms of taking responsibility for his actions, setting realistic short and long-term goals, and managing stress around workload. The student achieved a grade 5 and above in all his GCSE subjects, which was a staggering set of grades.
This gave him access to an excellent 6th Form college. The family decided they wanted mentoring support for the transition to A-level. Since then the family have recognised dramatic growth in personal skills such as using his initiative and problem-solving, as well as becoming a better self-motivator and reflective student. A*CC at A-level has propelled the student on to realise his dream of becoming a microbiologist at university.
