Month: December 2021

Sugarman, part of Affinity Workforce Solutions (AWS), is delighted to announce we are an approved tuition partner on the National Tutoring Programme (NTP).

The NTP was set up by the Department for Education, as part of the Government’s £1 billion funding package, to help students whose education has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and offers extra support they need to succeed.

As a Tuition Partner, schools can work in partnership with Sugarman to provide one-to-one and group tuition for pupils in specific subject areas, across Primary and Secondary schools and academies, either face-to-face or via our brand-new online platform, Affinity Tutors.

There are different funding pillars under the NTP – two of which are the School Led Tuition Grant and the Tuition Partner Pillar. Sugarman is hosting a webinar on Tuesday 18th January at 9.30am to explain the different funding pillars and explain how schools can capitalise on the subsidies and grants available by using their ‘recovery premium’ funding.

Alex Champion, Group Operations Director at Affinity Workforce Solutions, said: “We are delighted to be a supplier on the NTP to support pupils to continue to grow, develop and learn. The pandemic affected the younger generation massively and we are committed to ensuring that students have access to specialist tutors so they can achieve their potential.”

Sugarman provides additional tutoring either face-to-face or via our online platform Affinity Tutors. All our tutors are experienced educators with up-to-date knowledge of the current curriculum and are registered with Sugarman Education with Gold Standard in Safeguarding. Our tutors have completed a rigorous compliance process that is in line with Keeping Children Safer in Education and hold a current enhanced DBS.

Alex added: “Having spoken to the schools we work in partnership with, we feel it is beneficial to explain the different funding opportunities and how schools can utilise these making their funding go that bit further. That is why we are hosting the webinar on the 18^th January to give schools more guidance and clarification.”

If you would like to register to join our NTP Q&A Engagement webinar or for more information about the NTP, you can call the branch or email info@sugarmaneducation.com

It is a new year and a fresh start for those in education. We hope you had a relaxing break and are now ready to take on the next school term. After another uncertain and tumultuous year, some may find it difficult to head back into a school routine.  As a teacher, it is important to relax and refresh during the school holidays, whilst planning for both yourself and your pupils.

We have put together a few tips on how you can prepare to take on 2022…

Prepare

Re-organise your wardrobe a few days before school starts and swap your loungewear for your work attire. Planning your outfits for the first week of school will eliminate the panic of putting an outfit together in the early hours and throw you off for the day.

Set your alarm

Try and slip back into your routine beforehand and wake up early a few days before you are due to head back to work. This will make the school day a much smoother transition and will leave you feeling less tired during your first week back.

To-Do List

It is a good idea to make a list of what needs to be done before you return to the classroom. It can be overwhelming to forget where you left off before Christmas and you want to ensure your pupils have some structure as they learn to adapt to school life after a break. You want to feel prepared that you are not walking into an unorganised classroom.

Start slowly

Just like teachers, students will take some time to ease back into learning after a long break. Try not to overwhelm them and start with some easy assignments during their first week. Maybe they can write a piece about what they did in the holidays? Or share a presentation? Schedule a task that may take a couple of days.

Stress Management

As teachers, it is easy to take on too much work at once, especially when you are planning for a new term. Be sure to take time out for yourself every day, whether it be a 10 min meditation or a walk in the fresh air. This will help to relieve stress and clear your mind.

We hope you have a successful and stress-free 2022! If you would like to find out about the opportunities we have for next year, check out our latest jobs here

In this month’s blog, I reflect on the time I have spent teaching so far and what you can expect when the time comes to take full responsibility for your class for the first time…

After having spent the first half term mainly observing my mentor teach, between October and Christmas, I began to take up more teaching time. This is something that increases slowly as you begin to gain confidence and although becoming responsible for the learning of 30 children sounds daunting, I have learned so much already.

My first lesson was a “team teach” lesson whereby my mentor and I shared the teaching between us. This was a good way to ease into teaching and develop a class presence. Once I felt comfortable in doing so, I planned and taught my very first solo lesson. Don’t panic – you will not be thrown in at the deep end! Your mentor is there to guide you through the process. They will assist you with your planning and will be in the classroom with you to guide you or to jump in if anything goes awry.

At the end of each lesson, your mentor gives you constructive feedback and you are encouraged to reflect on your teaching too. This is a crucial part of becoming a professional teacher – by reflecting on our practice we learn from our experiences and this helps us to become better teachers. It’s helpful to start thinking about reflection early on, even if you are just undertaking work experience or simply observing a lesson. Think carefully about the lesson you have seen.

As you become more confident with your teaching, you will begin to take up more teaching time. By the end of this term, I will have observed a lesson in almost every subject and taught all three core subjects (English, maths and science) as well as some foundation subjects (Art, D&T, history).

One of the most important aspects of delivering a successful lesson in any subject is to have effective planning. At university, we use a planning proforma which encourages us to break down our planning by looking at the area of the curriculum we are teaching, thinking about the learning objectives and learning outcomes, and by considering the pedagogical choices and teaching steps.

Translating the planning into practice is the best part. You have 30 children relying on you to really ‘know your stuff’ and help them to learn it too, and this level of responsibility is really exciting. This is not to mention all the other elements of the lesson you will have to juggle including managing behaviour, ensuring all pupils can access the lesson and all other manners of other things that are part and parcel of being in the primary classroom. Every single day you overcome a new challenge and learn something new. There is a lot of ‘thinking on your feet’ as the lesson progresses so being alert and flexible is so important as things may take a different route than what you had initially planned for.

For me being able to witness that ‘Eureka!’ moment a child has when something you have taught them finally clicks, is priceless. I had a pupil come up to me during one of my recent lessons and tell me that he was so excited about what we were learning he felt like he was going to burst! These are the moments you have to treasure and remind yourself of when things aren’t going according to plan.

In next month’s blog, I will be reflecting on the run-up to Christmas in school! It’s the time of the year I have been looking forward to and I cannot wait to tell you all about it. I will also be looking ahead to my upcoming “away placement” and discuss how I have been preparing for that. In the meantime, if you would like to follow my teacher training journey and get more insight into the things I’ve been up to, follow me on Twitter at @BAFTeacher.

In 2020, Sugarman Education became part of the Affinity Workforce group. Affinity Workforce is a fresh, bold and innovative business with a rich and impressive heritage. Formed from a group of established, trusted brands, and previously part of Capita plc, we are now one of the largest privately owned public service recruitment specialists in the UK.

In January 2020, Affinity Workforce Solutions successfully implemented a CCS Lot 2 Managed Service with Northern Education Trust in the North East of England. During the first 3 months of the service, we were able to release just over £113,000 of cashable savings vs. the same period prior year and we would project circa £350,000 of savings annually.

If you are looking to make significant savings on your agency supply spend here is why you should consider Affinity Workforce Solutions’ managed service offering:

• Significant savings on your current agency spending
• Ring fenced talent pool for all your schools
• Specific recruitment campaigns for your Multi Academy Trust with no temp to perm fees
• In depth and LIVE management information charting your spending per school and by candidate type
• 1 monthly invoice for all of your schools

Affinity Workforce Solutions are a committed provider of temporary staffing to multi academy trusts in the UK. We are reaching out to gauge your interest in rationalising supply spend through the CCS framework. Affinity Workforce Solutions consists of three brands – Monarch Education, CER Education and Sugarman Education, each with strong heritage in their respective locations and as a CCS Lot 2 provider we have the facility to implement a managed service solution for any sized multi academy trust.

Check out our case study here: Crown Commercial Service

Please get in touch with Alex Champion, our Group Operations Director to discuss further our managed service offering: Alex.champion@affinityworkforce.com