Jamie Thorns, Personal Tutor & Subject Tutor Economics

 

'Can Pastoral/Curriculum Shadowing Raise Student Achievement?'

BACKGROUND:

• The aim of the project is to raise student achievement through an improvement in the communication link between student, subject teacher and tutor.
• The idea has been piloted through an internal project carried out earlier in the year that involved tutor shadowing, formalised 3 way meetings and the imposition of structured study periods to consolidate learning.
• The Action Research Project will allow for the continuation and development of such initiatives across curriculum and faculty areas, as well as enabling more detailed and comprehensive qualitative and quantitative research analysis.

KEY ACTIONS:

• A team of staff from student services and across a range of curriculum areas will be involved in the project, with the shadowing programme to commence from this half term. The aim of the tutor shadowing aspect of the project will be for subject teachers to gain a deeper insight into the nature of pastoral support within the college and for tutors to gain a greater understanding of the challenges faced within curriculum areas. Such a two way objective is imperative for the project to be successful and establish a more formalised link between pastoral and curriculum provision.
• Tutorial shadowing
• Interview shadowing
• Shadowing students services and tutorial team meetings
• ‘Day in the life of a tutor session’
• UCAS/Careers session
• After identification of targeted shared students put in place formalised meeting structure and registered one to one sessions