UNIVERSITY bosses have welcomed a Government bid to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged students in local schools and colleges
The Department for Education has called for universities to introduce activities such as tutoring and summer schools, as well as supporting curriculum development.
Summer schools have been run at the University of Worcester for several years while its original University Diploma in Tutoring was launched in 2017.
Subsequently, a Postgraduate Certificate in Tutoring and Coaching – delivered wholly online – was developed, which currently has 66 students studying for the award. The aim of this course is to upskill people to be able to go out and work as tutors, helping children in schools and the wider community.
Catriona Robinson, head of the university’s School of Education, said: “We have always worked with our communities to ensure we provide the best education and support to help schools thrive.
“Little did we know our foresight to create courses tailored to developing tutors would be quite so pertinent given the disrupted education that our children and young people have experienced during the pandemic.
She added: “We also run an annual STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) summer school for Year 6 pupils transitioning into secondary school over the summer to address and improve education attainment.
“Last summer the school workshops were a particularly huge success, and we are expanding our offer in 2022.
The University of Worcester is one of the country’s leading providers of teacher education, with more than seven decades of experience in training outstanding professionals to work in schools and education settings locally, nationally and internationally.
Founded in 1946 as a post-war emergency teacher training college, the University is now one of England’s top 15 initial teacher education providers and is the second largest in the West Midlands. Annually, more than 600 student teachers choose the University of Worcester due to the long-standing reputation of its PGCE and Undergraduate routes.
Mrs Robinson added: “Our region, and country as a whole, requires more high-quality trained teachers as they are critical to children’s lives, from the earliest years.”
