ClassCover Tutor provided 6000 hours of catch up learning for disadvantaged children
ClassCover’s tutoring arm, HomeTeacher, started operating in May 2020 in immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic and was created to connect ClassCover’s large pool of casual teachers to students in need of online learning support during school lockdowns.
ClassCover’s tutoring platform, now called ClassCover Tutor, has since grown to provide thousands of hours of catch-up learning to children in need through The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program and have recently been approved by the NSW Department of Education as an official supplier of COVID ILSP tutors to Public Schools across NSW.
How ClassCover’s crew of tutors improved learning outcomes to 100 financially disadvantaged students
The Smith Family, Australia’s largest education charity, successfully partnered with ClassCover’s tutoring platform to implement one-on-one online tutoring with 100 of the financially disadvantaged students it supports through its long-term educational scholarship program, Learning for Life.
The program, made possible by the generous support of the Origin Foundation, ran for 20 weeks and provided 6000 hours of outcomes focused online tutoring to students in the program in years 3-9 and was delivered by a team of 60 tutors.
ClassCover’s tutors were based in locations around Australia and provided the tutoring online. Each student was provided with an individualised learning program based on their areas of need and supported by their tutor with the aim to demonstrate a clear improvement in each students’ outcomes.
“The move to remote or home schooling necessitated by COVID-19 is predicted to exacerbate existing learning gaps for children growing up in disadvantaged circumstances. Left unaddressed this situation will have long-term negative impacts for these children and young people including; poorer employment, reduced life income, poorer health and wellbeing and higher levels of social exclusion.” – Wendy Field, Head of Policy and Programs of the Smith Family
How the program performed
- 51% of our students achieved “much higher than expected” progress in Literacy over a 20 week period. The norm is 10%.
- 71% of our students achieved “higher than expected” or much “higher than expected progress” in Literacy over a 20-week period. The norm is 15%.
- 95% of our students achieved “expected”, “higher than expected” or “much higher than expected progress” in Literacy over a 20-week period. The norm is 75%.
- 50% of our students achieved at “higher than” or much “higher than expected progress” in numeracy over a 20-week period.
- 98% of tutors believe their student has increased their love of learning in our program
- 98% of the tutors felt that students were placed appropriately to match the skills/experience of the tutors in our program.
The research is clear in terms of demonstrating that education is a fundamental pillar in creating a more just and equitable society. Through partnering with The Smith Family, ClassCover Tutoring aimed to ensure that these Australian children are provided with every opportunity to excel at school in order to give them the best possible chance in life.
Building learning confidence with our team of dedicated tutors
Over the course of the 20-week period, ClassCover received positive feedback from The Smith Family on the improvements to students’ learning and confidence.
“Tom*’s mum cannot speak highly enough of Tom’s tutor Trent and is so appreciative of the opportunity that Tom has been given. Josie* tells me that not only has Tom started working at a level similar to his Year 5 classmates (he was previously working at Year 3-4 level), but his classroom teacher noticed the huge difference and asked what was happening at home to support Tom’s learning! Josie says she barley recognises her son anymore – he has so much more confidence and will look people in the eye when speaking to them. He no longer gets upset when he doesn’t know something or doesn’t understand something, but just tells Josie he will ask Trent about it at the next session. Josie really wanted to make sure that The Smith Family and ClassCover know just how much of a support this program has been for her son.” *Names changed to protect identity.
“Partnering with The Smith Family for the catch -up education project is one of the proudest achievements in ClassCover’s history. Not only are we helping school aged students across Australia to improve their learning outcomes, we are matching these students with expert teachers who are enthused to make a difference and to earn valuable additional out of school hour income that will go some way to making up for loss of teaching opportunities during the halt to face to face learning during the Covid19 pandemic. It is one of the most logical relationships we’ve created at ClassCover and we thank the supporters of the program” – Ben Grozier, CEO of ClassCover
