Oscar joined us in Year 13, studying Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A-level, with aspirations to study physics at university.
We asked him to share more about his experience tutoring with Team Up:
I’ve always loved teaching and mentoring, and providing someone with an opportunity to achieve their potential was something I was greatly interested in. My motivations for teaching aligned perfectly with the mottos of Team Up, drawing me to volunteer for them.
I was grouped with a lovely girl in year 4, who was very eager to learn and clearly seemed to like problem solving in maths. She was always very bubbly and motivated, and a pleasure to tutor despite the unnatural circumstances due to COVID. The switch to online tutoring was a respectful challenge, however my tutee and I were very understanding and patient with each other while getting to grips with the new style of tutoring.
We would start by chatting about our weeks, then discussing the lesson plan as a whole. We then would address anything she was academically struggling with in school, and then proceed with the lesson plan. The maths material was always very interactive and provided great foundation materials for learning - all provided by Team Up. Most importantly, we would bond over the breaks doing things she enjoyed the most.
Every week during our breaks I would teach her how to make a new origami model, which she certainly enjoyed doing. Best of all, that made her especially focused in class. My favourite part of the whole experience was the concept of bringing someone from a state of non-understanding to a state of total understanding just through effective communication, which I find very fulfilling and satisfying.
I have always had an incredibly busy school life regarding extracurricular activities and studies, so the variety of placement opportunities at Team Up was definitely very useful for keeping myself organised. It has also been lovely to meet like minded people on the same program who have the same interests as me. I have also found myself with stronger leadership and communication skills as a result of Team Up, developing these in order to deliver fun and engaging lessons with my pupil.
I would 100% recommend the Team Up programme to those who have the drive to deliver their ambitions across to students, and who genuinely care about pupil’s wellbeing and their progress. As well as making a difference to someone’s life, it engages incredibly important life skills that will be useful in your future.
On behalf of the Team Up team and pupils, we say: Thank you Oscar!