This is a case study of a young person who was referred to Randstad for support by her local authority. To view our main Tuition Services page, click here.

setting the scene

Alice's educational journey has been challenging from very early in her life. Living in a residential home, Alice had to endure a grueling three-hour daily commute to school, which proved impractical. As an alternative, her education was pieced together using BBC Bitesize, worksheets from her enrolled school and educational trips to museums. However, this makeshift solution was far from ideal and a solution needed to be found to keep Alice motivated to learn and on track to make progress. The local authority got in touch with Randstad to initially provide some basic tuition support, just three hours of tuition per week. Once discussions regarding Alice were underway, Randstad suggested that Alice’s needs were far greater and agreed with the local authority to increase her support to 15 hours per week, providing her with a consistent and engaging learning environment.

initial challenges

When Alice first started tuition sessions it was clear to her that she needed more than just academic support. . The manager of her Care Home (NAME) described it as "extremely difficult" to get Alice to engage with any tutors initially. Due to her complex needs, Alice struggled to form and maintain relationships, and was therefore often resistant to new approaches and was extremely reluctant to engage. In light of this, Randstad carefully selected an appropriate tutor, Jenny, who we knew would work well with Alice.

innovative approaches to engagement

Jenny has extensive experience teaching in both the UK and international schools. She recognised that Alice required a unique approach. "On my first visit, Alice stayed about 3 meters away from me, wouldn't lift her head, and the most I could get out of her was a grunt or a shrug."

Understanding that traditional methods were unlikely to work, Jenny chose to start with something non-confrontational and engaging for her first activity - cooking! We made some Chocolate Krispies, and I talked to her as though she was my daughter, not as a teacher," Jenny explained. This activity allowed Alice to participate without the pressure of direct interaction and provided Jenny with the opportunity to assess her skills subtly.

Jenny's approach was meticulously tailored to Alice's needs, with lessons designed to ensure early success, gradually increasing in difficulty. "I do spend a lot of time preparing lessons so that each day there is an opportunity for the student to succeed at the start and then I stretch the student to the next level but always in small increments,".

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