Tutor Trust Impact Report 2023/2024 - Report - Page 23
How we work
Case study
Cassidy: tutoring skills to power a teaching career
Cassidy Graves joined our tutor community
in late 2022 while studying for her degree
in English Literature and History at the
University of Leeds. Since then, she has
delivered a staggering 219 hours of tuition
in schools across the Leeds city region.
Her own experience at school was
a strong driving force behind her
becoming a tutor:
When I was growing up, I could
“
have bene昀椀tted from extra tutoring,
so knowing I can help pupils feel
more con昀椀dent in their learning
is a great motivator.
”
After a 昀椀rst assignment supporting
Year 6 readers at Co-op Academy
Brownhill, Cassidy moved to Whingate
Primary School to support Year 5
pupils with maths. She delivered
tutoring on one of our Leeds summer
school programmes, supporting Year 7
and 8 pupils at Bishop Young Church
of England Academy, before returning
to Whingate in Autumn 2023. In her
昀椀nal few months as a tutor, Cassidy
supported their Year 6 learners with
maths, some of whom she had already
worked with in Year 5.
Building trusting relationships with her
tutees has always been key, she says,
and understanding them as individuals
enabled her to tailor the sessions to
meet their needs. It’s this kind of valuable
insight that Cassidy will be taking with
her when she steps into the classroom
as part of her teacher training.
knock-on e昀昀ects in terms of how they
connected with her as well.
Cassidy believes her positive classroom
experiences have made a huge di昀昀erence
to her own life too.
I think tutoring prepared me for
“
the world to come once I 昀椀nished
university. The Tutor Trust team
and the teachers at the school I
worked at were so respectful and
had found a great balance between
trusting me and supporting me
when I needed it. Tutoring taught
me how to be more responsible
for myself and the pupils.
”
Feedback from her pupils has been
just as positive:
My tutor is amazing and very
kind and helpful. She helps me
when I struggle to do a task and
she has helped me a lot to get better
at maths and fractions. She is an
awesome maths teacher.
“
”
Her experience as a tutor fuelled her
ambition to become a teacher when
she graduated. She has now moved
on to study with TeachFirst and we
wish her luck.
TutorTrust helped with this
“
decision, as it made me realise how
much I enjoy not only teaching but
also the lasting impact of working
with young people who need a little
extra support.
”
As tutees began to understand
di昀昀erent mathematical concepts,
their self-con昀椀dence grew, and with
it their engagement, says Cassidy.
Looking back, she says she noticed
that that greater understanding had
Tutor Trust Impact Report 2023/24 23
