What we do to close gaps in learning

We accept that they are there and we actively search for them. 

Our classroom culture is to check for understanding throughout our lessons, to address these swiftly at the first opportunity and at a granular level. There isn’t time to reteach everything so we have to find the highest leverage blocker to success in any given area and reteach to close gaps.  We don’t take it for granted that the gap will be closed – we note the gap and then we check systematically that it’s closed. .  You can find out more about this on our curriculum and culture page – it's at the heart of who we are and what we do.

Key features of work to close gaps include beyond the data-driven instruction work we do in classrooms on a daily basis:

Virtual Aldridge: fully-funded and free of charge to parents, this provision offers small group remote tutoring from well-trained specialist tutors in English and Maths for students in years 7-11.  See the impact report on our website to see how that is going.

Intervention tutors in schools: many of our schools employ intervention tutors to support students face to face on Saturdays or outside of timetabled hours.

Century Tech: our schools purchase Century Tech, a self-taught online tuition programme which uses artificial intelligence to direct students to the gaps in their knowledge and understanding. All our pupils can access this at any time – there’s no limit to the amount of time students can spend using it!