Pupils offered Home Study Support sessions

Schools across Kent are being asked to encourage pupils to take advantage of a new free “Home Study Support” offer.

Following two pilot phases to test and refine the project, the Invicta National Academy has been commissioned to deliver a full-scale Home Study Support offer accessible to all pupils in Years 5 and 6 at primary schools and all KS4 (GCSE years) pupils at secondary schools.

Home Study Support, which is funded through KCC’s Reconnect programme, gives virtual access to a qualified teacher two evenings a week. Starting this week and operating throughout term time in terms 4, 5, and 6, there will be:

• Upper KS2 – one-hour sessions on both Maths and English each Tuesday and Thursday evening, starting at 5pm.
• KS4 – Maths and Science sessions every Tuesday, and Maths and English sessions each Thursday evening, all one hour in duration, starting at 5pm.

These are group sessions, not individual teaching opportunities, but pupils will have the opportunity to ask for help with any subject-related question or specific issue via a Q and A facility.

The pilots have shown good levels of pupil participation, with KS2 pupils preferring to use microphones, while KS4 students tended to favour the anonymity of the chat function. The pilots have found some are using these as drop ins to get help with a specific aspect of the topic, while others have stayed for the whole session to help build their overall understanding.

Pupils/parents can register directly with Invicta.

Timings for this term:

Upper KS2 maths 5-6pm Tuesdays and Thursday

Upper KS2 English 6-7pm Tuesdays and Thursdays

KS4 Maths 5-6pm Tuesdays and Thursdays

KS4 Science 6-7pm Tuesdays

KS4 English 6-7pm Thursdays

Schools are being advised that if they have a pupil who does not have adequate access to a digital device to enable them to participate in this support offer, the school can make a referral for them to receive a free device via Digital Kent’s Hardware Access Scheme Hardware Access Scheme (digitalkent.uk).

Shellina Prendergast, KCC’s Cabinet member for Education and Skills, said: “We know that many students have been affected by the way the pandemic has impacted on their learning over the past wo years.

“So I am delighted to see that, following the successful trials, we are now able to offer this extra support and I hope as many children as possible will take advantage of it.”