Why Entrepreneurship Needs To Be Included In The Curriculum

by GT Scholars Entrepreneurship Parents What's new?

There are so many entrepreneurs in the world that offer a wealth of inspiration to young people. From Richard Branson to Bill Gates to Oprah Winfrey, the success stories of entrepreneurs can be inspiring and motivating, which can help young people to achieve their goals.

Beyond inspiration, learning about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship offers valuable skill-building opportunities and life lessons. Here are just a few of the many reasons why entrepreneurship should be included in the curriculum.

Confidence
Taking a business idea and turning it into a profitable enterprise takes far more than just hard work. Entrepreneurs have to believe in their idea so that they can convince others that it will work and also keep themselves motivated. If an entrepreneur does not believe in their own idea, no one else will either. This self-belief takes a whole lot of confidence and self-motivation. Entrepreneurship can instil confidence in young people, teaching them how to be self-reliant, resilient and motivated. Confidence will also prepare them for any challenges they may face and also keep them going when things change such as moving from school to university.

Passion
Paired with confidence, passion is one of the most important traits an entrepreneur must possess. A business leader’s passion can convince top employees to join a company or convince investors to invest in their business. Passion is also important when convincing clients to try a product or service. Entrepreneurship offers a dynamic and interactive way to engage students, cultivate their interests, and open potential academic or career paths that they might not have known about or considered before. Lessons in entrepreneurship can expose them to a variety of topics, sparking their interest and helping them discover and develop their passions and future aspirations.

Resourcefulness
Entrepreneurs continually seek ways to improve their products, services, and businesses, even in the face of significant challenges such as budget constraints, time crunches, and small teams. In these situations, they have to use their resourcefulness and quick thinking to ensure success. Entrepreneurship can be used as a tool to teach young people how to use the resources they have at their disposal to make an idea or plan work. Lessons in entrepreneurship can also be individually tailored to help young people to use fewer resources, develop new resources or think out of the box to solve a business challenge. Resourcefulness will teach young people to think fast, come up with innovative solutions to problems, and to be resilient.

Social Skills
From networking to nurturing relationships with customers or investors, entrepreneurs need social skills to help accelerate the development of their company. Social skills will help young people with their interpersonal relations, social interactions and leadership skills. This will always be valuable since interacting with people is something they will always encounter at university or in the workplace. Having good social skills also means that you will be a better leader which will help you to be more successful.

Teamwork
Entrepreneurship teaches young people about the value of collaboration and teamwork and how important it is to work with others to reach a specific goal. In every stage of life, from school to university to the workplace, young people will have to work with other people, so it is important for them to start building their teamwork skills as soon as possible. This will make them more effective in teams which can also make them stand out as leaders and thought leaders.

Financial Education
Entrepreneurship is a useful tool that can be used to educate young people about important financial topics. These topics will give them the necessary skills to become successful adults. Some topics that can be taught through entrepreneurship include budgeting and saving, how to avoid or handle debt, and understanding taxes and insurance. This will equip young people with the skills and knowledge that will need to deal with various things in their daily life – from student loans to life insurance.

As you can see, including entrepreneurship in the school curriculum offers an impactful way to teach young people many important skills that they will use for the rest of their lives.

Entrepreneurship activities can also be found in after-school programmes such as the GT Scholars Dragon’s Den Challenge. This annual workshop takes place during Global Entrepreneurship Week and is based on the world-famous TV show. This gives young people a taste of what it takes to be an entrepreneur, and it involves them coming up with a business idea in a specific amount of time and pitching it to a judging panel. This will provide them with hands-on experience in entrepreneurship while teaching them simple business principles, teamwork, presentation skills, and effective time management.

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise and registered charity. We run after-school and weekend programmes that help young people achieve their academic and career aspirations. Our programmes include tutoring, mentoring and enrichment sessions for young people aged 11-18. Contact us if you would like to know more about any of our programmes and courses.

What Parents Need To Know About State Boarding Schools In England

by GT Scholars Independent school scholarships Parents Scholarships What's new?

With state-of-the-art facilities, highly-qualified teachers and a wide range of extracurricular activities, boarding schools in England are among the most prestigious and sought-after in the world. In addition, young people who attended boarding schools frequently go on to study at top-ranked universities.

However, boarding schools can be really expensive. Fees vary widely from school to school, but the average boarding fees per term for pupils at boarding schools across the prep, senior and sixth-form age groups in 2016 was £10,317. This makes it really difficult for young people from low-income homes to access a boarding school education.

But there is good news! In England, there are at least 38 state-funded boarding schools that offer the full boarding school experience at a fraction of the cost. Normally, these schools will offer tuition for free, and parents will just need to pay for boarding, which can be as little as £4,000 a term. This means that young people from various socio-economic backgrounds are able to attend a boarding school if they wish. Here are a few reasons why parents need to know about state boarding schools in England.

Stability
A boarding school offers your child a stable environment that is conducive to learning. Many young people who travel to and from school struggle with focusing at school, understanding difficult topics, and getting homework and assignments done. A boarding school works around such challenges by providing ongoing, often individual, support and attention that can ensure that your child feels completely supported in their learning. This makes it easier for them to reach their academic and attainment goals.

Path to university
The learning environment and highly-qualified staff at boarding schools make it easier for young people to reach their attainment goals so that they can get into university. However, it extends beyond their attainment as boarding schools also offer specialised university support for their students that will help them with the application process and securing their place in the university of their choice. As a result, boarding schools often have high numbers of pupils who go on to attend top universities across the country.

Personal development
Boarding schools directly and indirectly promote the personal development of your child. A recent survey from The Association of British Boarding Schools revealed that 70% of students believe boarding school has helped them develop self-discipline, maturity, and independence, as well as valuable critical-thinking skills. Being away from home gives them the space to develop their independence and responsibility, which makes it easier for them to adjust when they leave school. They can also develop other valuable soft skills such as time management, leadership and self-confidence, which will help them in their future.

Social development
Living in away from home with like-minded, highly motivated individuals with similar goals and ambitions, young people will be able to form strong connections with classmates from different backgrounds all over the world and establish friendships that last long after they leave school. This is important for developing their interpersonal skills which makes them into well-rounded and self-confident individuals. Interpersonal skills are valuable in the workplace and in social settings and it makes them more personable, easygoing and it boosts their self-esteem.

Extracurricular activities
Boarding schools in England offer a wide range of extracurricular activities and opportunities. With hundreds of clubs and activities, boarding schools offer much more compared to local schools, from various sporting disciplines to cultural pursuits like music and art. Being exposed to this diverse range of extracurricular options encourages students to try things they never would have before, helping them to develop their range of interests and grow into more well-rounded individuals. This diversifies their experience and skills, which makes their CV stand out when applying to university or for a job.

As you can see, boarding schools offer a wealth of benefits for young people and with state boarding schools, many more young people are able to access these benefits. There are also a variety of options for different age groups and either mixed or single-gender schools. So if you would like your child to attend a boarding school, find out more about state boarding schools in England here.

How Have GCSEs Changed Over The Past Few Years?

by GT Scholars What's new?

In an effort to raise the standard of education in England, the government has revised the 30-year-old GCSE system. This new system is the result of a long process of reform that began in 2011 with the national curriculum review in England, involving extensive consultation with schools, further education, higher education, and employers on the principles of reform and subject content.

The new system has proven to be more demanding, but the idea behind this is to enable young people to be fully equipped with all of the necessary knowledge to compete in the increasingly competitive global job market. According to Michael Gove, former secretary of state for education, making GCSEs more demanding and more fulfilling will give young people the broad, deep and balanced education which will equip them to win in the global race.

These changes have been taking place since August 2017 and by 2020 all new GCSEs will be graded using the new system. The main changes to be aware of in this new system are the new exam and assessment procedures, the new grading system, the exam scopes, and the effects this has on job and university applications.

What are the new exam and assessment procedures?
Under the new system, pupils will sit for their exams at the end of the two-year period. This is in contrast to how pupils used to take several exams spread out during the course of their GCSE education, which covered various sections of the curriculum.

This new examination system will, of course, affect the content that pupils need to study for their GCSE exams. For example, the new English Literature and History GCSEs require pupils to study the entire curriculum, whereas the previous exam only required pupils to cover a narrower range of content.

The content of each subject will also be more challenging, with more substantial texts in English literature and a number of new topics in maths. The exams will also look different and will have fewer ‘bite-sized’ questions and more essay-style questions.

Coursework assessments and other controlled assessments will also be used less in most subjects, except for practical subjects such as art, drama and dance. In addition, every pupil will also be required to do at least two science GCSEs with single science options having been dropped a while ago.

What does the new grading system look like?
The most noticeable change with the new GCSEs is the grading system. Previously GCSEs were graded with letters ranging from A* – G. However, the new grading system is arranged in a number system ranging 9 -1.

The new grading system will look as follows:

9 is higher than the current A*
8 is between and A* and A
7 is are equal to an A
6 is equivalent to a high B
5 is between a B and C (strong pass)
4 is equal to a grade C (standard pass)
3 is in between a D and E
2 is between an E and F
1 is a G
U refers to an ungraded paper

As you can see, the new grading system has more range than the old system which can narrow how young people are assessed. This also means that far fewer pupils will end up achieving the very top grade available, and many who would have been A* students under the old system could wrongly regard a 7 or 8 as a failure.

How will GCSE resits work?
For pupils that need to resit their GCSEs, they will be able to resit only maths and English in November, with no resits available for any other subjects. Grade 4 will remain the level that students must achieve without needing to resit English and Maths.

How will this affect university and job applications?
The new system will change the way universities and employers will assess their candidates. This will also rely on further education routes such as A-levels and the new technical qualification called T-levels that will be implemented soon.

Overall the new system will be more challenging for young people, but not impossible as future cohorts will adjust to the new changes. The important thing to focus on is how these changes will set up young people in the global market so that they are able to compete with young people from countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore where the education system is extremely challenging. This will allow young people in the UK to access more rewarding career prospects around the world.

Should We Focus on Schools or The Home to Improve Social Mobility?

by Sarah-Jane Tollan Corporate Social Responsibility Social mobility What's new?

With a leadership election and a cabinet reshuffle looming, the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds MP’s speech at a Reform event last week on social mobility will likely be his last. It continued to be shaped around his flagship “seven key truths about social mobility” that he pioneered while chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility. It focused on five areas of disadvantage: ethnicity, language, place, the home and childhood adversity. Most significantly, Hinds placed emphasis on the influence of the home (“the last taboo in public policy”) that he had noted a year previous as having the strongest influence on disadvantage. But what was new in this speech, what will be the legacy of Theresa May’s Government on social mobility and where does the future lie?

Home is where the disadvantage is
A heavy emphasis was placed by Hinds on early-stage development – if, what and how children are taught in the home via their parents. Hinds used an eye-opening statistic: Children who experience parental disengagement at home are the equivalent of nine grades lower across eight GCSE subjects than their peers. The promise on how this will be resolved was an ambiguous, but not “patronising and lecturing” programme to help support parents that will arrive in July. This follows on from Hinds’ promise last year, made during his first few months as Secretary of State for Education at the Resolution Foundation, that the development of apps to help parents create a home learning environment for children would be encouraged. The result of that reached its first stage in February 2019, where parents in 12 pilot areas across the country were given interactive learning tools and tips via text message to help support their children’s early language and literacy development.

There was also a heavy emphasis on mental health, with Hinds celebrating the increased attention given to the issue across all cross-sections of society. Mental health is a much-needed area of focus that has also been given heavy significance by the review of the Government’s Children in Need policy paper, which focuses on the most vulnerable children. Measures announced to support children included a plan to ensure new teachers in England are trained in how to spot the early warning signs of mental illness, with better sharing of information between councils and schools and tackling of absence and exclusions.

The elephants in the room
Yet the elephants in the room were apparent: positive and encouraging moves in early stage development and mental health are only being hindered in other ways. Hundreds of children’s centres which are key support systems for disadvantaged families and key environments for early investment in children are being closed across the UK as a result of cuts to council funding. Total school spending per pupil has also fallen by 8% between 2009-10 and 2017-18, and schools have only been too vocal about the limit this has placed on support staff such as school counsellors in what has been deemed a “mental health crisis” in schools.

Too cool for school
While Hinds is correct when he states that “schools cannot do everything”, they are just as character-forming and as developmental a space as the home. When schools remain underfunded, they won’t be able to even meet the margins of their responsibilities towards disadvantaged students, and most importantly the generations of disadvantaged students of today who are too late to garner the benefits of early development initiatives. Without adequate levels of funding for schools and local councils, the positives of the Government’s measures will only be cancelled out.

This is viewed only too clearly through the establishment of the Pupil Premium, brought in in 2011 as a grant to help schools in England decrease the attainment gap for the most disadvantaged children. Despite this, school funding has been cut back since 2010 and according to Education Datalab, in 2017, the attainment gap between the long-term disadvantaged (those on Free School Meals) and other groups grew.

There is also the argument used by the All-Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility in its 2019 report, ‘Closing the Regional Attainment Gap’, that stated that evidence was growing behind the stance that the “single most important factor” in raising a disadvantaged pupil’s attainment is the “quality of the teacher providing the instruction”. Hinds’ “seven key truths about social mobility” also points to the fact that education can break the multigenerational cycle of disadvantage and that the most important factor in education is the quality of teaching.

But schools in England continue to face teacher shortages, with teacher-pupil ratios rising from 15.5 pupils per teacher in 2010 to 17 in 2018. Teachers also face heavy workloads, and many Science & Maths teachers were found to not have the relevant degrees. While the Education Endowment Foundation recently published new guidance for schools on where to invest the Pupil Premium and identified investment in teachers as the first tier of investment, this is limited to primary and secondary education. The needs of higher education and specifically colleges, which a high proportion of disadvantaged students attend, are neglected.

The two sides of progress
There have, of course, been steps made towards social mobility in the past year, most notably the commitment made by UK universities to invest in programmes aimed at widening access, which Hinds challenged them to last year. There has also been an increase in awareness and interest towards apprenticeships and further research commitments to understanding social mobility and its web of influencing factors. Hinds’ commitment to exploring this web of factors – the complex interplay between home and school – is a positive and encouraging approach to social mobility rather than just being purely focused on academic learning. However, focusing on one to the detriment of the other is an injustice to the millions of disadvantaged students in underfunded schools today, and replacing positive initiatives solely with apps is an injustice to the millions of disadvantaged families both in the present and the future.

Shortly before Hinds’ speech in April, the Social Mobility Commission’s annual ‘State of the Nation’ report rang loudly in the ears of all working towards social mobility with its statement that social mobility has remained stagnant for the past 4 years. As Theresa May exits No 10 with her legacy of £27bn for education in the next spending review in tatters, and the sound of leading man Boris Johnson’s pledge to ensure every secondary school in England receives at least £5,000 per pupil (despite the fact that schools are already supposed to receive a minimum of £4,800 per pupil), it remains to be seen whether progress on social mobility will be music to the Government’s ears in the future.

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise and registered charity. Our after-school tutoring, mentoring and enrichment programme is designed to help young people aged 11-18 achieve their academic and career aspirations. Visit our website if you’d like to know more about the GT Scholars Programme and how you can make a significant difference in young people’s lives.

The Importance Of Tutoring For Your Child

by GT Scholars Improving academic attainment Parents

Accessing university or an apprenticeship has become a very competitive process. This means that young people will need to stand out from the crowd, which means going over and beyond just getting good grades.

To make their CV stand out, they need to have widespread experience, from sporting activities to music lessons, to work experience and volunteer programmes. With this, they also need to ensure that they find some down time to relax and develop strong friendships.

They are now often kept busy with so many extracurricular activities that keeping track of their school work can become increasingly difficult, especially since they only spend a limited time at school. So how can they cope with their school load and be able to keep up with the rest of the class or even become the top achievers of their class?

This is even more important when we factor our own busy lives into the equation. You have a busy lifestyle of your own, so you may not have adequate time or knowledge on the subject to assist your child. You will need someone who can help your child with all their learning needs.

A tutor can be a valuable asset to ensure that your child gets the best professional assistance for their school work. As a tutor, their only job is to ensure that your child gets the attention they deserve for all their learning needs. Here are some reasons why it is so important to have this extra-curricular learning.

One-to-one interaction
Sometimes classes are so full that a child can get lost in the crowd. Generally, the teacher goes at a pace that accommodates the average of the class. But what if your child is just behind the average and has a difficult time catching up, or what if they cannot grasp an area of the subject that most of the class understands. The teacher may pause to explain but then they will have to go on. Large classes can also cause distractions which is not conducive for learning.

On the other hand, tutoring can be one-to-one. The tutor will be wholly focused on your child’s individual needs and will tailor the lessons specifically for your child. They will also be able to spend more time on more difficult concepts to ensure that your child understands.

Working at their pace
Each student learns and grasps concepts at a different pace. Some learn faster while others can be slower. This does not mean that the slower student is unable to understand the subject being taught but it merely means that they require more attention in a certain area. Tutoring can help your child to learn at a pace that is comfortable for them. Since it is tailored to their pace, they will also feel more relaxed and they will not feel anxious or stressed that they may be left behind. This is conducive to better learning. The tutor can also ensure that your child is able to fully understand a section and can even go over that section again until your child is ready to move on to a new section.

Balancing strengths and weaknesses
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and this also applies to subject areas. Some areas or subjects may seem easy to some students, while others may seem more difficult. This is because we all think and process information differently. With tutoring, your child can make it clear what they need more help in and what they don’t need extra help in. This will give them more time to focus on addressing and understanding difficult topics.

This can also be applied to whole subjects. For example, some students may find a specific subject such as maths difficult to grasp. Other students may find maths easy, but then they may struggle with languages. With tutoring, you can find someone to help your child with specific subjects so that they can spend more time on getting better at that subject.

Homework and revision for tests
In a class setting, the teacher will allocate a certain amount of time for revision but some students may require more time than others. This is a great area for a tutor to assist in. They can set mock papers and quizzes for the student to go over. The tutor will also be able to give the student useful tips on how to go about completing their tests or examinations that a teacher may not always have the time to discuss. Students that complete more mock tests in preparation for their exams have a greater chance of understanding a problem or question in their final exams or tests.

We all want the best for our children, to see them succeed and to be happy. If they are able to get their good grades and do all of their extracurricular activities, they will definitely be able to reach their academic and career aspirations.

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise and registered charity. We run after-school and weekend programmes that help young people achieve their academic and career aspirations. Our programmes include tutoring, mentoring and enrichment sessions for young people aged 11-18. Contact us if you would like to know more about any of our programmes and courses.

10 Tried and Tested Study Methods

by GT Scholars What's new?

For some young people, studying can seem like such a daunting and impossible task. However, the good news is that studying can be easily done if you figure out ways to study that work for you. When it comes to studying, there is no one conventional way to study, and what may work for someone else may not work for you.

Here are some useful study methods that you can explore to help you get the most out of your study sessions.

Know yourself
Before getting into a study routine or practice, it is good to understand and know how you operate with regards to studying and what things work best for you as an individual. You can do a short S.W.O.T (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of yourself and your academic career and from there determine how best to proceed with applying certain study methods to suit you.

Create a productive environment
Where you study is just as important as how you study. Finding a productive place to study really does make a world of difference between a progressive study session and one where you are wasting your time. It is always helpful to filter out things that can distract you like TV, your cellphone, areas where there is too much noise etc. Find a study spot in places like your school library, a quiet room at home, an empty classroom after school, a quiet cafe or a quiet area in your schoolyard. However, don’t limit yourself to one study space. A change of scenery once a while will also keep your mind refreshed and energized.

Create a study schedule
This might seem like added work but this is another useful approach to studying. Having a pre-planned study schedule helps your mind to be better prepared to study and creates a routine that you can adjust to. Consistency is key, and setting aside a specific time to study is very important. The hours that you choose to allocate to studying depend on you as a person and how long your concentration can keep up.

Set goals for your study session
Write down the topics or sections you wish to cover during each study session, and in doing so, you can monitor your progress and learn to manage your time effectively. This becomes very effective when taking your tests or exams, as you are better prepared with allocating time to certain questions and not panicking about whether the time given in your tests or exams is enough. It is also helpful for you to know the subjects and topics you are strong in and those that you need to work on so that you can decide how much time you will spend working either one.

Take short breaks
Do not overwork yourself and allow yourself to take much needed short breaks. When you do feel you are repeating certain information and there is no progression, take a 10-15 minute break and give yourself some time to regroup and rest your brain. Remember, it is about productivity and maximising on the studying. Rushing to complete your studying without retaining any of the information is pointless. Work hard, but also work smart.

Take practice tests
Most schools do make past test and exam papers available. Use these to practice and apply the knowledge you have retained from your study sessions. You can either take a past test/exam paper after every study session or take one at the end of the week to also gauge how well you are able to remember all the work you have covered in the last week. You can also ask your teachers to make mock tests/exams if they are able to and this will give you good practice and a good general idea of what to expect in the final test/exam paper that will be set.

Get into a study group
Study groups are very useful as they provide several benefits that studying alone may not. For one, you and your fellow study peers can each designate set topics and subjects to cover and when you reconvene to discuss, you are able to share and cover more information collectively and have open discussions about subjects and topics you may not understand. Study groups also help with regulating your study sessions and incentivising you to do the work allocated to you because you are accountable to not only yourself but to your peers as well. Another benefit is that these particular group sessions help with teaching you how to work together in a group context.

Make study notes
This may or may not seem obvious but some students think reading the material once or twice over is sufficient enough. However, taking notes and phrasing them in ways that are easier for you to remember is an effective way to not forget what you have read. You can make your own small study flashcards which you write on and can carry with you. When you have a moment and feel you want to refresh your mind and you’re not in your usual study space, you can take them out and go over the content you wrote. Flashcards are convenient because you don’t have to flip through pages to find what you want. You can highlight the topics on the cards and make the cards as fun and easy to read as you want. You can even put some of them up in your room for the subjects and topics that you need to constantly go over.

Revise your work
Getting yourself to study is only part of making yourself more effective and familiar with your subjects and topics. You also need to revise the work continually in order to maintain your momentum as well as progress with retaining the information and improving overall. There are different ways you can do this. You can go over the work you have covered out loud in the comfort of your room or get a family member or friend to listen to you while you go over what you remember. You can also get them to ask you questions and with some of the content, you can record or get an audiobook and listen to it. What is important is making sure that you revise and go over your work often.

Have confidence in yourself
You have probably heard the popular phrase “nothing will work unless you do,” and this is definitely worth remembering. Have the confidence to believe in yourself in order to get the best out of what you are applying your mind to. Some study sessions may seem like a drag or difficult but always remember that you can do anything you apply yourself to, it is just a matter of trying and asking for help when you need it. You got this!

If you do find that you are not sure how to get started with a study schedule or how to approach studying as a whole, GT Scholars offers programmes that will definitely help you gain the confidence to approach studying, as well as tutors to help you make the most out of your study sessions. Contact us if you would like to know more about any of our programmes and courses.

Life is not fair and other messages parents and private tutors need to start telling their kids

by Marilyn What's new?

As parents we love our kids and we want to protect them from some of the harsh realities of this life and the disappointment that goes along with it. But, an overprotective parenting style can have some negative effects in the long run and may leave our children unprepared for the real world.

According to Julie Lythcott-Haims, author of How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success, parents have the very best of intentions, but when they over help, they deprive their children of the chance to learn the important things in life. Here are a few basic fundamental principles to teach our children that life is not always all that fair.

Hard work pays off: Teaching children the importance of determination and hard work is essential. Especially in this era where we are continually exposed to convenient and easy ways of doing things, such as information that is easily accessible on the internet or microwave-ready meals. Parents must make more of an effort to ensure that they can still raise independent beings who are able to go out in the world and fend for themselves. You can do this by praising their effort more than their achievement or put them in difficult but achievable situations. Children need to understand that when an effort is being made to achieve a goal, great benefits can be reaped. Furthermore, teaching children self-perseverance is extremely important for their social and emotional development.

Teach them to take responsibility for their own actions: As a parent, you often have to administer penalties to your child even though they may feel equally daunting to you. Through this they will learn an important life lesson – there are consequences to every action. You can demonstrate this by connecting the action and consequence using real-life examples. For example, because you did not go to bed early last night you am tired today and can’t focus, or because you spent your money carelessly you can no longer afford the new laptop you had your eye on. Forcing responsibility onto children has never been proven to be effective, so children need to be taught life skills and responsibility will naturally follow. If children do not have responsibilities they might feel entitled and start adopting the-world-owes-me-something mindset.

Learn the importance of education: Children need to know the importance of obtaining education and how a good education can be their ticket to their desired life aspirations. They need to grasp that good grades are necessary for college acceptance and that their grades are a reflection of who they are to the admissions board. They need to understand that not working hard in school will result in poor grades which will then, in turn, result in only being qualified for low paying jobs.

Failure is part of life: Teach children that life is full of challenges, and that some of these challenges often result in failure. It is important that your child learns how to deal with failure and process the emotions that come with it. Failure can also be a part of learning as it teaches perseverance and appreciation for achievements. Remember parents set the example so be careful how you act in front of your child when you deal with failure, whether you scream at the sky or laugh, this will be the example your child sees.

Independence is invaluable: It is always a great idea to encourage independence. An easy way to do this is by giving children guided choices and respecting their choices, such as letting them decide on a family activity on a Sunday. You can also involve your children in making plans or coming up with solutions, such as working out a quicker route to school or setting up a chore roster. Learning simple life skills, for example, doing the laundry, working with money, or planning grocery shopping will be a great skill to have in the long run. Children must be able to look after themselves mentally and physically.

The list above is not all of the tips that you as the parent may consider to prepare your child for the realities of life out there, but they most definitely will be helpful in the initial steps of preparation.

Get started by looking into GT Scholars programmes that support your child in reaching their full potential. The GT Scholars programme helps young people aged 11-16 to achieve excellent grades and reach their future goals. Contact us to find out more.

An Interview With Our Founder, Temi Kamson

by GT Scholars Our story Social mobility Volunteers What's new?

If you ever wondered about the story behind GT Scholars and how it was founded, then watch this interview with our founder, Temi Kamson.

Temi has a Masters in Civil Engineering from the University of Nottingham and a PGCE in Mathematics Education from the University of Cambridge. Having worked in state and independent schools, she set up the GT Scholars Programme with the goal of helping ambitious young people achieve their full potential, regardless of their socio-economic background. In this video, she also talks about her personal experience with the education system, why scholars enrol in our programme, what scholars will gain from the programme, and what makes our scholars successful.

If you prefer you can read the full interview below:

Why did you start GT Scholars?

I started GT Scholars based on my own personal experience of growing up in South London. I grew up in a single parent home, grew up in council housing and went through the state school system. I remember one of my teachers from primary school, Miss Bickersteth, telling me ‘’Temi, you can be anything you want to be.’’ That statement was so powerful that it stayed with me for the rest of my life, it is still with me today. There were so many times that I wanted to give up but I was really fortunate enough, especially towards the end of my school years to have right opportunities come along at the right time, and that really helped me. It really supported me in those final years when I was thinking about university but not thinking I was good enough. I was really lucky, I went off to university, I studied engineering but later on, I decided to retrain and become a teacher in the hopes that I could give back and make a difference in someone else’s life.

It was while I was teaching, working with young people, that I really wanted to inspire them and raise their aspirations. What I realised while I was teaching was quite profound. Many of the young people that I worked with were already really ambitious. They wanted to do well; they wanted to get good grades at the end of school. But many of them they just didn’t feel confident, they didn’t feel that they had the ability within them. These beliefs were so deeply ingrained that many of them thought that even if they did their very best; the best they would ever be able to achieve was a C-grade. Some of them felt that they did not have the right background and that certain opportunities were only available for the privileged few. After some time, I realised that young people needed more than just good teachers. They needed people to support them in terms of seeing the opportunities available to them and supporting them to make the most of these opportunities.

Why do young people join GT Scholars?

So at the moment in England, only about 1 in 3 young people from low-income homes, are able to leave school with 5 GCSE’s or above and this is, of course, actually quite disheartening. There are many young people who would love to achieve better grades by the end of school, access top universities get into competitive careers but often what happens is that they genuinely have no idea how to do this. The saddest part is that many of them are so full of self-doubt that they don’t even believe that they are capable of achieving this.

What do young people gain from GT Scholars?

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise and registered charity. We run after-school courses, workshops and programmes for young people, particularly young people from low-income homes. Our goal is to give them the support they need so they can achieve their academic and career potential. Scholars on our programme receive academic support through tutoring. They also receive coaching or mentoring from undergraduates, graduates and professionals from top universities and leading organisations. Our scholars also get to take part in enrichment activities such as visits to the city, visits to universities and the aim of that is to help them understand the opportunities that are available to them. We also run skill building days, again, with the aim to help them and support them so they know how to make the most of these opportunities.

What makes your scholars successful?

Over the past few years, we’ve had support from organisations such as Charities Aid Foundation, School For Social Entrepreneurs and The Young Foundation. Our scholars that have been on the program have been able to move an average of 2 grade points in a year and we’ve even had some of our scholars move from a predicted D grade to achieving A-grade within a year of being on the programme. We are really proud of that. What makes GT Scholars successful is the genuine belief that our tutors and mentors have in our scholars. They invest their time and energy supporting our scholars and building positive relationships with them. This, in turn, helps our scholars believe in themselves and that helps them realise their strengths and ultimately helps them improve their grades and career prospects. I know I wouldn’t be here today if not for the role models that supported me and believed in me when I was growing up. So if there is anything I have learned over the past through years it is that anyone can make a difference. An hour a week may seem so small, but those few hours could have such a positive influence on a young person’s life.

GT Scholars is a not-for-profit social enterprise that provides tutoring, mentoring and enrichment that is designed to help young people aged 11-16 achieve their academic and career aspirations. Contact us if you would like to know more about the GT Scholars Programme and how you can join.

Meet one of our volunteer mentors – Jason

by GT Scholars Other Volunteer Roles Volunteers What's new? Young people

Our volunteers are amazing people that are passionate about making a difference in education. We would like you to get to know who they are and what they do at GT Scholars, so every few weeks we conduct an interview with one of them. Here is the most recent interview with one of our volunteer mentors, Jason Luu.

Why did you decide to volunteer with GT Scholars?
I decided to volunteer with GT Scholars to make a difference in my local community. Having already done some work to help other communities in different countries, I came to the realisation that I should also be contributing to my local community. I also recognised that providing support to people when they are still young can make a significant difference, as this is something that I was not fortunate enough to have when I was younger. If I had the opportunity to be mentored when I was a teenager, I can only imagine how much more I could have achieved by now or how many disasters I could have avoided.

Tell me a little bit about you and what got you to where you are today?
I was born in London, my parents were refugees from another country. This had a huge impact on me and my upbringing. When I was younger, I was embarrassed by my heritage because it was so foreign to western culture. But as I got older and matured, I embraced my background and decided to stand up and stand out rather than follow the crowd. I more took control of my life and did not live according to other people’s expectations. This has become a big factor in getting me to where I am today. It turns out that my own expectations for myself were wildly beyond other people’s expectations of me.

I also have role models who I can look up to and inspire me. Some of them are alive today and some are historical figures. Having these role models allow me to draw energy, ideas and behaviours from. If anyone reading this doesn’t have a role model, then you better start looking.

Why do you think mentoring is valuable to young people?
Traditionally, mentoring is something that has been reserved for older, professional and sometimes even wealthy people. Many of the most powerful leaders in our society have or had mentors. So why can’t the rest of us have access to this resource?

Many young people today from my local community have parents who are very busy working or studying, and their friends are usually in the same boat as them. Thus, having a mentor who has the right experience would really help with some of the things that they struggle with, and would help to develop smarter behaviours and habits. This additional guidance and development can really help a young person to be successful in all that they do. I really believe that if I had a mentor when I was younger, I would not have had to experience so many difficulties in my life. I would have been able to get where I am today sooner or even be more successful sooner. It is the aim of all good mentors is to guide their mentee to reach their full potential.

What part of the volunteering process have you found the most fulfilling?
Seeing students and their parents working together, and it provides extra support to traditional parenting.

What do you think is the most important skill to have as a volunteer mentor?
I think showing a genuine interest in someone else’s future and actually caring about their happiness is an important skill. It is not just about making sure that they are successful, but also about helping to define what true happiness means to them and their family.

Jason briefly attended university before deciding to drop out and start his professional life earlier. He now works in the headquarters of the Department of Health, holding CEOs, directors and major leaders in healthcare and education accountable to the taxpayer as a Senior Contract Manager. He has spent the last 3 years dedicated to promoting equality and fighting social injustice at his place of work and at home in his local community.

GT Scholars is a social enterprise that provides tutoring, mentoring and enrichment to young people from a range of backgrounds. To find out more about our volunteering opportunities, please get in touch with us.

7 Personal Qualities of a Good Tutor

by GT Scholars Other Volunteer Roles Private tutoring Volunteer tutors Volunteers What's new?

Tutors have risen in popularity over the past few years due to a growing need for personalised learning and the noticeable benefits of one-on-one teaching. According to a report done by a social mobility charity, Sutton Trust, the number of 11 to 16-year-olds in England and Wales who receive extra tuition rose from 18% in 2005 to 25% in 2016. In London, the figure is even higher at 42%. They also noted that this private tuition mostly benefitted students from high-income backgrounds, widening the gap between students from different backgrounds.

Many parents want to ensure that their child does not fall behind, while students want to have a tutor that can support them with the subject knowledge, guide them through the challenging topics, and ultimately help them finish the year with a grade that they can be proud of.

Additionally, it is evident that a good quality tutor can be the difference between passing or failing at GCSE level, which can have a huge consequence on the student’s future. Therefore, a tutor needs to be good at what they do if they want to make a positive and lasting impact on a young person’s life.

Tutoring is not just about having the subject knowledge. One-on-one tutoring requires a certain amount of patience, adaptability and tenacity. Thus, it takes a special combination of personal qualities to be someone who can help a child to improve academically. So if you want to make sure that you have what it takes to be a good tutor, here are seven personal qualities that you should aim to improve:

Patience: Every student is different, and not all of them will grasp a concept easily or learn quickly. It is also most likely that the student that really needs tutoring is a student that is struggling. Thus, tutors need to be very patient. Since schools have larger classes, everyone is more or less taught at the same pace. On the other hand, tutors need to teach slowly and at a pace that the student is comfortable with – it is the main point of one-on-one tutoring. Tutors must not rush through course work or get visibly impatient with a student that is struggling. This will discourage the student from learning.

Expertise: A tutor needs to have a good understanding of the subject knowledge, but also needs to have the skills to teach it. They must be confident in their knowledge of the subject and be able to explain concepts easily. Good teaching skill is being able to take the subject knowledge and explaining it in such a way that the student understands it. This will include knowing where to start, being able to pace the work correctly, always checking that the child understands, being interactive, and simplifying difficult topics if need be.

Adaptability: Tutors must be able to adapt themselves to every student that they work with. Since there is no universal formula, your approach must depend on the student’s individual need and the particular difficulties he or she experiences. Throughout the sessions, the tutor will have to keep track of the student’s progress and determine if you need to change your plan or approach if it is not working.

Energy: The student must be kept attentive to make sure that they are absorbing everything that they are being taught. This will need for the tutor to be energetic and enthusiastic. Tutoring sessions should not just be like classes at school. Tutors should be interactive, and make the coursework interesting to inspire active interest in the student so that they can do well and overcome the discouragement by school and his or her bad grades. Being energetic also motivates the student to aspire to do better.

Openness: Tutors need to be active listeners and demonstrate a level of openness that makes them approachable and accessible. Listening to the needs of the child will also help you to better understand the student’s situation so that you can come up with an effective plan. The tutor’s active involvement and openness will offer comforting support for a student in trouble and will make the student feel valued. Tutors can demonstrate openness by being visibly dedicated to making a difference in the student’s academics.

Maturity: Tutors need to display maturity to make them a good role model to their student and to make them trustworthy to the parents of the student. Parents will not trust their children with you if you are impolite, cannot pay attention, or talk about inappropriate things. It is important to note that maturity has nothing to do with your age, and everything to do with how you carry yourself. You cannot carry yourself around your student like they are your friend, no matter how easygoing and open the tutoring is.

Passion: Great tutors are passionate about the subject they teach and about making a difference in the student’s academic life. You need to love what you teach and show this passion by always being interested and eager. You want your students to feel that their success is important to you and that what you are teaching them is important. Passion should also be the main motivation for you to become a tutor, not money or experience.

Tutoring is important for a student’s academic development and success in their future. As you can see, tutors need to have a combination of the above good qualities to ensure that they are making an effective difference. The student is the focus and point of tutoring, and their needs to be met well.

The GT Scholars tutoring programme is designed to support young people with improving attainment in English, Maths and Science. Our volunteer tutors ensure that tutoring sessions are personalised and tailored to each student and that we give young people the support, skills and strategies that they need to achieve their ambitions. Contact us for more information about how to become a tutor with us and make a difference in a student’s life.

The GT Scholars Programme

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