HIRING - Trustees

Having turned six years old in February 2020, we are at an exciting stage of growth and have ambitious plans to scale our impact and reach. This coming academic year, we are supporting over 1500 pupils. Currently working across London, the West Midlands and the South West, we are looking to thoughtfully scale our academic programmes into hard-to-reach deprivation areas; develop a primary strand to our work; and increase the impact of our programmes.

As we transition from a social enterprise to a charity we are looking for individuals who share our values and ambition to make social mobility a reality. Over the next three years, we want to quadruple our reach, grow a fundraising arm to our work and increase our advocacy work.

As a trustee, you will be responsible for supporting the Chief Executive and the team to help challenge social inequality.

We are particularly looking for those with experience in finance, HR law and fundraising expertise.

More information here.

Deadline to apply: 30th October 2020.

RESULTS DAY 2020 - Where do I go from here?

TO OUR YEAR 11s

Results day is inevitably a stressful time for students up and down the country.

This is even more so the case in the unprecedented times that we find ourselves in!

The government’s decision to use teachers’ predictions for results is particularly welcome, after the controversial algorithm led to nearly 40% of A-levels being downgraded. 

Feeling nervous about results day is perfectly natural, but do not keep your emotions to yourself! Do remember to:

• Talk to your peers about your worries - they are probably feeling the same as you! 

• Ensure you are well-rested

• Take the time to do something to help you unwind before tomorrow that will distract yourself.

If you achieve the grades you hoped for - congratulations! However, if you are disappointed, have a chat with your teachers or ring The Exam Results Helpline (0800 100 900, 8am-10am), who can advise you about further education routes.

All in all, this was a hugely difficult year for all students. We are proud of each and every one of you and are always here for support should you need it! Details of how to get in touch with us are below.

YEAR 13s - UNIVERSITY - WHAT HAPPENS NOW? Clearing and more. 

We know that it can feel like that one little piece of paper you’re about to open will govern your entire future from here on out. Emotions run high as the elation of getting that grade you so desperately wanted and securing that university place or new career becomes a reality.  But this is not the case for everyone. We know of course that some of you will not have received the results you expected or wanted and so were forced into the stress lottery that is clearing.

Some of you will have managed to secure a place through clearing. University life will likely be very different than in previous academic years, but you should be proud of your achievements. If you’re the first person in your family to go to university, then an even bigger congratulations is in order. This is a strange time, but you deserve to celebrate your success in the context of such adversity.

For those of you who have not yet secured a university place through allocation or clearing, DON’T WORRY! We know how hollow that might sound, but we really mean it. The situation is changing all the time, and although that is going to feel incredibly stressful for many of you, it also means that the normal rules do not apply. With teacher estimates being used for grades rather than the algorithm and exam appeals being free for schools, this is by no means the end of the road. Many universities are honouring their conditional offers based on teacher estimates, so you may yet be able to secure a place. If you still don’t meet the terms of your offer, or if places at all of your choices are full up, you still have options. 

Here are a few links we’ve found which may shed some light on your next steps:

Clearing FAQs

A-level results 2020: What's next for university students

Covid-19 A-level support from the Student Room

Mental health advice from the Student Room

The most important thing to remember is that you should not be too hard on yourself. The word unprecedented seems to have lost all meaning, but this really is a situation no-one has ever experienced before. Perhaps there are fingers to be pointed at the powers that be for a lack of foresight, but if anyone should get the blame, it is not you. This situation is not your fault and whatever grades you received, they do not represent you as a person, merely a part of you.

WHAT WE SAY

Our CEO and Founder, Robin Chu, has been working with other organisations to highlight the importance of supporting young people through this difficult period:

“We welcome the government's decision to revert to teacher estimated grades rather than using an algorithm based on a school's prior performance data as this provides a higher level of equity for young people. The results period has highlighted the growing inequality gap between the rich and poor. Unfortunately, we know this existed long before the pandemic as today's Teach First report highlights only 45% of disadvantaged pupils achieve a pass in GCSE English and Maths compared to 72% of pupils from more affluent backgrounds. This figure has remained stubbornly the same since 2017.

Still now in 2020, where a young person was born (their postcode) has a huge determinant on that person's lifetime earnings, quality of life and health. At CoachBright, we believe the disadvantage gap is becoming a gulf and radical action is needed to break this cycle. The creation of a National Tutoring Programme (NTP) is a welcome step - we think this needs to be longer and extend to Year 12 and 13 to ensure it is sustainable. Internally, we are officially launching a primary strand to support young people earlier in their school journey at Year 5 and 6 as we know that work around this transition period is important to maintain attainment trajectories through secondary schooling and beyond”

As always, the CoachBright team are here to offer support to our alumni. If you’re having difficulties figuring out the next step for you or need someone to chat through options with - we’re just an email or phone call away. 

To get in touch, email us at team@coachbright.org

CoachBright calls to expand the National Tutoring Programme

Disadvantaged students waiting for GCSE results face huge challenges ahead with the leap to A-levels after months off school. With fellow education charities, we’re calling for the National Tutoring Programme to include Years 12 & 13. Read our letter to Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee, below

Dear Mr Halfon,

We welcome the recent decision by the Government to provide additional funding for 16-19 year old students to receive English and Maths support to help them catch up after COVID. We are grateful for the tireless efforts you have put into advocating for the National Tuition Programme (NTP) on behalf of students across the country.

We write to you as a coalition of charities who are keen to expand the scope of NTP so that all students can benefit fully. We are concerned that the extra funding for 16-19 provision has not been routed through the NTP, meaning that education providers will not be able to access subsidised tuition, and will therefore access less support for 16-19 yr olds than they otherwise could. We know this age group (especially those starting Yr 12 in September) will face particular challenges in the transition to higher study, and increasingly independent learning.

We are also concerned that if the National Tutoring Programme intervention is not sustained long term then there is the very real possibility that a generation of young people will be left behind. Without ongoing support, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds will have even less chance than they did previously of successfully continuing their education. We want to ensure that the NTP goes far enough not just to help mitigate the lost learning from school closures, but also to close the attainment gap further.

Our organisations run impactful tutoring programmes that help thousands of disadvantaged young people to improve their grades and reach their full potential every year. In many cases we see them transitioning successfully to further and higher education. We know that the best way to achieve this is with a consistent, multi-year intervention. For example, a recent study of the work of The Access Project by FFT Datalab, shows that a one year intervention at GCSE helps to improve a student’s progress by 3 months, whereas a 2 year intervention improves a student’s progress by 5 months.

The forced closure of schools because of COVID-19 means that all young people will have missed out on learning. In particular, Year 11s moving into post 16 education may have had minimal teaching for several months. Extended breaks in learning are known to have an impact on progress and for the most disadvantaged students this is particularly true. That’s why we owe it to students to take an evidence based approach to any catch up plan.

We are calling for the government to make a commitment to make the National Tutoring Programme multi-year, and to include 16-19 year olds in the National Tuition Programme. We would urge you to consider backing this call.

We would be grateful for the opportunity to speak with you further about this. The charities in this coalition would also be happy to appear before the Education Select Committee to discuss the evidence behind our recommendations. Students are at the forefront of our minds in all of this and this generation needs our backing more than any in recent history.

Yours sincerely,

Ashley Hodges, CEO, AccessEd

Nathan Sansom, CEO, The Access Project

Susannah Hardyman, CEO, Action Tutoring

Alex Charalambous, Head of Education Development, The Children’s Literacy Charity

Robin Chu, CEO, Coachbright

Paul Singh, CEO, Equal Education

Adam Alagiah-Glomseth, CEO, TalentEd

Reposted via the Access Project. See original post here.

CoachBright welcomes a National Tutoring Programme

At CoachBright, we welcome the announcement from Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Education, for a £1 billion Covid catch-up plan for schools. £350 million pounds of that will go towards a National Tutoring Programme (NTP) - a tutoring scheme to provide schools with heavily subsidised one-to-one or small group tutoring to help the most disadvantaged young people catch up.

CoachBright has been lobbying for a National Tutoring Programme since March co-authoring a paper on the need for a service as a result of Coronavirus with Professor Lee Elliot Major OBE and Emily Tyers, Teacher at Ivybridge Community College. See paper here.

Alongside this, a coalition of education leaders and third sector organisations came together to lobby the Department of Education and Treasury for the NTP. This included Robert Halfon (Chair of the Education Select Committee), Anne Longfield (Children’s Commissioner for England) and similar tutoring organisations in the social sector who care deeply about supporting disadvantaged pupils and have a track record of support in this area.

This includes Action Tutoring, Access Project, The Tutor Trust, Equal Education, Get Further, Literacy Pirates, Team Up, TalentEd, Future Frontiers and West London Zone. All are members of the Fair Education Alliance who spearheaded the campaign. Together, we signed an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education calling for a NTP.

We know school leaders in their individual context know their pupils best, which pupils should be targeted, and what topics the sessions should cover. We believe additional high quality 1-1 tutoring that is designed with the school can be a real silver bullet for many pupils from disadvantaged communities.

We welcome the announcement the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), Impetus, Sutton Trust and Nesta will be leading the formation of the NTP as we believe evidence-based quality first implementation will be key.

CoachBright’s own online tutoring pilot

Since 18th March, when schools were told to close, as a social mobility organisation we started providing impactful support for disadvantaged pupils during this time through online tutoring. We know the effects of the virus will have far-reaching learning consequences for our most disadvantaged pupils - upwards of 5 months of learning loss.

Over the last 2 and a half months, we have created and delivered our first ever online tutoring programmes (our previous 6 years of work had been face to face). A university student one-to-one supporting a disadvantaged school pupil in a key subject. We are delighted to have supported over 30 schools and 220 pupils of 1-1 subject specific support during Covid-19.

For context, this academic year we have supported over 1500 pupils from disadvantaged communities.

What we know about 1-1 academic tutoring in our CoachBright programmes:

• CoachBright pupils make a third of a grade more progress than their disadvantaged peers in a similar setting.

• 89% have become a more independent learner as a result of coaching

• 91% believe the programme has made them more motivated to succeed in their studies

Priya, Year 11 at West Walsall E-ACT Academy says: "With CoachBright, we actually got to have that online support so we could talk with the tutor and get the support that we needed during lockdown. For me, it was in Chemistry. The chance to speak 1-1 was really useful. I just wanted to thank CoachBright for this opportunity because I feel like it's been amazing, I've learnt a lot and it's been a real support really, so thank you very much" 

Mark Perry, University of Birmingham student who was a volunteer tutor says "Coming from an underprivileged background myself growing up in Birmingham, I was aware of the barriers which discouraged me to progress into higher education. This amazing experience allowed me to watch my pupil develop leaps and bounds."

At CoachBright, we are absolutely focussed on ensuring the disadvantage gap does not become a gulf. CEO, Robin Chu says: "We know the challenges Covid-19 will have in creating a widening class divide between the haves and have-nots. We're delighted we can offer high quality and low cost tuition for disadvantaged pupils through schools.

We also appreciate pupils from low income backgrounds enjoy the routine, opportunity to interact with a relatable role model and most importantly the attainment benefits of having a tutor/coach. For a National Tutoring Programme to succeed, tutors will need to be rigorously trained, supported and coordinated alongside excellent school staff to be effective. We endorse the announcement of a National Tutoring Programme and believe quality implementation will key to its success.”

More information on the National Tutoring Programme is available on the EEF’s website here.

My Experience: Virtual Coaching

When I first volunteered with CoachBright, it was out of a passion for social mobility and supporting students to achieve their best. I volunteered as a Virtual Coach for the same reasons. Focusing on social mobility felt particularly relevant at a time where disadvantaged students could be left even further behind because of school closures.

Though I was already familiar with the structure and expectations of the CoachBright programme, virtual coaching was a brand-new experience for me. Coaching a student remotely posed some unique challenges and had some surprising highlights.

Relationships

One of my favourite parts of being a Coach is the relationship that you form with your Coachee. I was worried that I might not be able to create the same type of bond through virtual coaching.

Apart from an occasionally temperamental internet connection and the ‘surrealness’ of seeing your own face on video every week, I was relieved to find that virtual coaching did not hamper the relationship I formed with my coachee. If anything, the strangeness of the whole situation was something to bond over.

Checking in with my coachee and sharing the highlights of our week helped to humanise the process of virtual coaching. I also found that being patient, giving praise, and using positive body language were incredibly important to show my personality and my investment in the sessions with my coachee. Not only did these behaviours help my coachee to feel comfortable talking to someone they had only ever met through a screen, they also boosted her confidence and excitement for the sessions ahead.

Resources

As an English Coach, I love pen and paper interactions with my coachee. In the past, I have tended to build my sessions around activities that could only be done in-person. Though I initially worried that I would miss my usual style of coaching, virtual coaching actually enhanced the way that I interacted with my coachee.

With traditional pen and paper no longer an option, I had to be more creative with the resources I used in sessions. I created a presentation – with lots of colours and images – to talk through dramatic devices and paragraph planning. I enjoyed the process of creating digital resources so much that I almost wish I had been more adventurous!

Uploading PDFs to the Bramble classroom was especially useful. I could plan, write, and edit paragraphs with my coachee in real-time. This not only gave me a sense of her writing process, but also ensured a good dialogue between us about what worked for her and what did not.

I appreciated the diversity of resources that could come into play through virtual coaching – something that I will definitely take forward in all future coaching sessions.

Community

I love volunteering because you can support others while connecting with like-minded individuals. As with doing anything remotely, it is easy to feel isolated from people and as though there was a lack of real human contact.

CoachBright have worked hard to keep everyone updated and involved throughout the programme. I have really enjoyed the Coaches’ Corner webinars on Thursdays and know that I can reach out for support at any time.

As a result, virtual coaching has demonstrated to me how keen and motivated students are to achieve their academic potential – and how willing people across the country are to support them. Despite these uncertain times, the determination and generosity they have brought out has been inspiring.

—

Blog Post by Amirah Muhammad, London Head Coach and Academic Coach

How to Stay Motivated at Home

Have you ever woken up with the feeling that you didn’t want to get out of bed due to a lack of motivation to do anything?

Or, perhaps you felt the opposite: you might have felt really excited to do lots of things but ended up getting distracted? Maybe your friend sent you a meme and now you find that you’ve spent the whole day scrolling through Instagram or watching TikToks. Sound familiar?

As the day passes by, your motivation for that task, especially if it’s school related, may fade away.

Despite the pandemic, I still have coursework and exams to prepare for and sometimes it can be difficult to stay motivated, especially while you’re stuck at home. Yesterday, I sat at my desk trying to write an essay and managed to write 2 sentences before I started to spin around on my chair looking at the ceiling for 30 minutes!

Here are 3 of my top tips on how you can stay motivated:

1.     Create a routine. Try to organise your week and the tasks you would like to get done. Be flexible with this too, it’s ok to change your routine to adapt to how you’re feeling that day. I also like to set myself one goal for the day (e.g. write 250 words for my essay). It may seem small at the time but by the end of the week I will have achieved 5-7 goals. A little work each day goes a long way!

2.     Get others involved. FaceTime your friends and do things together! My friends and I divide topics between us, create revision resources for them, and share this with each other. It can help to reduce your workload and motivate you to help others who go to school with you.

3.     Make time to do the things you enjoy! Whether it be playing games, watching films or spending time with your family. Try to use this as a motivation for you be productive or to learn something new. For example, I enjoy dance in my free time so I try to learn a new routine each week that I can show my family.

I know it’s hard, and it may take some time, but motivation is still possible! I hope that these top tips can kick things off for you.

Stay safe and motivated! :)

—

Paula Kastrati, CoachBright Academic Coach

Self-Isolation & Productivity - our tips!

“Don’t worry if you are not being as productive as you usually are in the midst of a GLOBAL PANDEMIC!”

While lost in the twittersphere last week, I came across the above tweet and found it somewhat reassuring. Having just finished my third week of isolation, I am still somewhat trying to get to grips with this bizarre new reality and world we live in. Until earlier this week, I had spent most of the time questioning myself on why I was not being as productive as I usually am, with work, with studies and with those 400 projects I keep meaning to start. I felt that if anything, this was the perfect opportunity to do everything that needed to be done and smash them out one by one.  The truth is though, the uncertainty of our current situation carries a weight with it that I’ve been feeling but trying hard to ignore and maybe this is the same for you reading this. As such I have decided to be less hard on myself given the situation and I’m now slowly adjusting to the new normal - fortunately it appears the rest of the world is too. 

This week I hosted our weekly coach corner series, this is where we bring everyone together once a week and discuss a different topic (every Thursday, 2pm - 3pm). On Thursday, we were joined by most of the CoachBright team, along with several coaches and focussed on how everyone else has been adjusting to their own isolation journey. Together we shared tips, advice and stories on what we’ve personally been getting up to, from learning a new language to just taking some time out to breathe and relax.

Although society has taken a pause for the time being, both people and organisations from across the world are demonstrating their resilience during this time and changing the way they do whatever it is they do. For example, the talented body coach Joe Wicks has been leading the nation in virtual morning workouts helping millions of people in the UK stay fit (albeit, I am not one of them yet!), the UK based Stand Comedy club is streaming live shows every Saturday to thousands in their living rooms and virtual pub quizzes have taken off with some small local pubs now hosting their weekly quizzes to over 300’000 teams across the world. At the end of the day, we are all in the same boat and people are coming together to make sure that we stay afloat and eventually get to shore intact. 

As a team we all took something away from this week's coach corner and I wanted to share with you some of what was discussed so you can hopefully take away something too. See below for our collective decisions and ideas:

1. Take time to join a fitness, exercise or yoga class. Whether that is inviting friends to work-out with you (virtually!) or joining a streamed class, there are lots of options available during this time. From Joe Wicks mentioned earlier to a range of personal fitness trainers and closed gyms streaming live from instagram. A list of 25 different online fitness classes can be found here. 

   2. Reconnect with old friends and family members. Use this opportunity to get in touch and check on those people you haven’t spoken to in a while. I’ve personally been doing this a lot over the past few weeks and it’s really helped in adapting to the situation. Send them a message or an invite on houseparty! (auto-correct wanted me to change that to ‘invite to a houseparty’ - definitely don’t do that)

   3. Do a quiz! So many quizzes have gone online and can be done by yourself or with a virtual team. Check out some topic specific quizzes live streamed most days here (from Harry Potter to Friends). My local quiz from back home is now also online and attracting thousands of people every day, check it out here. Alternatively, why not write your own quiz and invite friends to join? Find some questions here. 

   4. Go for a (socially distanced) walk! Make sure you get out if you can, even if just a short walk around your neighbourhood or a small park. Breathe that fresh non-polluted air in.

   5. Get into cooking or baking new recipes! If you’re like me and not the world’s greatest cook, now could be a time to learn a couple of new recipes. The Vegan Chef kitchen has launched daily live streams here, as have Bread Ahead Bakery here. Even Italian Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura has started hosting himself cooking dinner for his family each evening here. 

   6. Learn something new. I have recently purchased a Ukulele guide for beginners (I actually think it’s aimed at children) and plan to spend some time kicking off my professional musical career (or more likely just learning one tune to justify my spontaneous Ukulele purchase 5 years ago). During our coach corner, one of our team members suggested learning a new language through the various lessons and cartoons available on youtube or by downloading duolingo (or downloading duolingo yet again..for most of us). 

   7. Don’t be hard on yourself. These are strange times and it’s important to accept that you won’t always feel 100% - that’s the same for everyone else. If you want to do something new then go for it, if not, then just take the time to pause, relax and take it slowly in what is usually a very fast paced world. 

You got this! 

Seriously, you’ll be fine :)

William

Virtual Coaching - Our Why

During Coronavirus, we have launched a series of free measures to support schools during this uncertain time. This includes pro-bono executive coaching for school and social leaders, a partnership with SSAT to run a project based learning scheme via Google Classroom where pupils can think about their future aspirations, a donations campaign supporting local food poverty charities and transferring our 1-1 coaching programmes online which will be free for any school for 7 sessions who signs up in April. Our Head of London, Patricia Mbangui explains the reasoning behind that virtual coaching decision.

For millions across the country, this has been a time of high anxiety, confusion, pause and uncertainty. For pupils that has been amplified tenfold. The anxiety that they have faced over the past few weeks is one that as school leaders, teachers, and staff in that school community has been unlike any other. For the first time, all of us find ourselves unable to give definite answers, unable to assure them of their academic future, academic success as we ourselves do not know the answer. And it is in this time of uncertainty that we have worked hard to ensure that we can still be a support to all our  school communities through virtual coaching.

Coaching has always been for us the best way to engage pupils as it encourages them to take action, be independent and confident learners. To gain resilience in the face of academic challenges. This is why we have now moved this online. We believe that it would be a disservice to those pupils not to encourage them to be independent, not to help them gain confidence in their academic abilities and also keep up those important skills that without the daily intervention of school may be lost.

This generation of pupils will face the biggest challenge going forward and we hope we can be a support through virtual coaching in preparing them for those challenges. We believe, now more than ever, our approach of helping pupils to develop a growth mindset, improve their metacognition and become that bit more self-aware as to what they want to achieve is vital.

Virtual 1-1 coaching with a university student will be focussed on:

• Independence: helping pupils build and restore academic confidence and cement independent learning skills

• Resilience: helping year groups bridge the learning gap to their next level of learning whether that is transitioning year groups or Year 10 to Year 11.

• Intrinsic Motivation: encouraging students to consider what their future options are in terms of university or apprenticeships and what really drives them

• Subject-specific support: tutoring around key topics and areas pupils need support in

The sessions will take place over Zoom over seven weeks for an hour each week where pupils will be coached 1-1 in a subject of their choice. The day will be selected by them but the time will be 3pm-4pm (unless a school specifies otherwise) from Monday to Friday. We ideally want to focus on Years 9-13. For year 11 and year 13, we recommend they choose a subject that will help as a bridging gap toward their next level of study. 

They will be coached by one of our amazing community of university coaches who will be trained and DBS checked by us and be paired according to subjects. These sessions will be recorded by safeguarding purposes.

During April, for any school that signs up this will be free for 7 sessions. Our aim is to do our best to support schools up and down the country as much as possible during this time of uncertainty.

If you have any questions, please check out the FAQ attached as well as the mock coaching video which should give a sense of what the session will feel like.

If you still have any questions beyond this or of course you want to get signed up, feel free to get in touch at patricia@coachbright.org.

Coaching for our Partners and Leaders

To our school partners and social leaders,

We are reaching out to you to support you during these uncertain and difficult times.

We are aware of the many challenges you are facing in dealing with the current COVID-19 situation, and we appreciate all of the effort you have been dedicating to help your various communities.

As a team of trained and accredited executive coaches, we wanted to offer free executive coaching to help leaders doing valuable work navigate these tricky times.

We coach leaders to think through who they are and how to make better, more impactful decisions. If are looking to take some time away from it all through the support of a listening ear, some reflection, or a boost in your self -awareness, we would love to chat with you.

During these challenging times, the accredited coaches at CoachBright are offering complimentary sessions that can take place over video call or over the phone.

To qualify for these sessions, you must be a leader in the education or social sector and be willing to learn about yourself. If this is of interest to you or someone in your network, please click on the link below to book in a telephone call to get started.

Book in time (click names below) with:
· Robin Chu (CEO and AOEC Practitioner Diploma)
· Carole Reniero (Coaching Lead and AOEC Practitioner Diploma): 

Both are accredited coaches with the Academy of Executive Coaching (AOEC). If we don't get to chat, do know we are rooting for you and the incredible work you are doing for us.

We wish you all the best in the days and weeks to come.

If you would like to arrange a separate time email robin@coachbright.org.

Thanks,

The CoachBright Team

Letter to Year 11's and 13's

Dear Year 11 and Year 13,

There are no amounts of words that can do justice or provide comfort or even tell you how gutted we are that this is the way you had to say goodbye. That this is how you would remember the end of your school journey. We as your coaches, your teachers, your mentors are devastated for you but also ultimately proud.

Despite all the uncertainty, it is you that kept focused, you that tried your best and worked hard. You who turned up each day talking about TikTok and that programme that is way too young for us to watch. You that talked about becoming that banker, that doctor, that politician, that lawyer, that teacher, that good person. You who thought you couldn’t do it because Maths wasn’t for you but you believed and you thought and you realised Maths is for everyone willing enough to work hard for it.

And for that we thank you, we celebrate you for all your hard work which I promise has not gone unnoticed and will not be forgotten. And even though you have said goodbye, know that we as a community are always here believing in you and will be here for you for whenever you need us.

We’re on team@coachbright.org if we can help.

The CoachBright Team x

How Can I Manage my Learning at Home?

How will I revise for my exams? How can I make sure I remember everything? How can I find something that works for me? Are there any English videos on Youtube for Macbeth?

These might be questions you are asking yourself at the moment. With the news of schools closing because of coronavirus, some of you may be nervous or scared about how to manage your learning at home. 

Managing Your Day

We have all had times when staying at home when we woke up at 12pm, watched some Youtube videos until 3pm and then maybe did some studying before going back on Youtube to watch more videos. 

Part of making sure you manage your learning at home is keeping to a routine. Getting up at the same time every day will help you to sleep regularly an ensure you are still keeping on top of your own revision schedule. 

Another factor is also making sure that you are taking regular breaks, getting out of your pyjamas into different clothes and finishing in the afternoon. At school, breaks and lunchtimes and even transition times are there to help you take a pause between activities. When studying and revising, make sure you are taking time between tasks, whether it by by getting a snack, watching a fun Youtube video or just standing up to stretch your legs.

Looking After Your Wellbeing

Studying can be fun but also stressful particularly when preparing for exams especially when you have to manage it alone. That’s why it is so important to take care of yourself - this is what we mean by wellbeing. Ways to do this is: every 40 mins take a 5 minute break, ensure you take an hour for lunch, talk to people at home or if you can chat to your friends.

Online resources

As you probably already know, the internet is filled with various types of websites, apps and videos that you can use so that when you are in charge of your own learning at home, you can still make progress, still get the grade that you want and still keep aiming high. Below are some examples of resources available to you online and for FREE. Some may need you to create an account, while some you may have a login already so it’s worth checking if you do. 

We will be updating this list as we go along but we would love to hear from you should there be any resources you would like going forward.

—

Name: Seneca

Website: https://www.senecalearning.com

Great For: Making sure you are able to remember all the information you have learnt

Subject: All

Name: CorbettMaths

Website: https://corbettmaths.com (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Worksheets on different areas and topic - Past papers and worksheets also have answers!

Subject: Maths

Name: MathsGenie

Website: https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Past exam style questions

Subject: Maths

Name: MathsBot

Website: https://mathsbot.com (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Skills practice, a variety of questions to practice for exams - also gives you the answers

Subject: Maths

Name: ExamSolutions

Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/ExamSolutions (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Going over exam style questions

Subject: Maths

Name: BBC Bitesize

Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Learning individual topics and bits of information

Subject: All

Name: BBC Teach

Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/secondary/zkqp47h (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Teachers use this mainly but it doesn’t mean you can’t! Many videos for you to teach yourself

Subject: All

Name: Quizlet

Website: https://quizlet.com/en-gb

Great For: Quick speedy tasks to test one’s knowledge

Subject: All

Name: Sparknotes

Website: https://www.sparknotes.com (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Study guides for all texts

Subject: English

Name: Video sparknotes

Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/VideoSparkNotes (Mobile friendly)

Great For: If you would like to watch some videos on the text you are reading

Subject: English

Name: Kahoot

Website: https://kahoot.com (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Quick quizzes - You can use this to revise with your friends when you are at home!

Subject: All

Name: PhotoMath

Website: https://www.photomath.net (Mobile friendly)

Great For: Solving equations when feeling stuck

Subject: Maths

We hope these are all useful!

The CoachBright Team

FAQs for CoachBright and COVID-19

1) What is coronavirus?

This is a new illness that affects a person’s lungs, airways, and primarily causes a cough and high fever. Please have a read through this nhs page if you would like to gain more clarity on the symptoms or context.

2) What if one of our pupils has coronavirus?

In this case, we are not in the best position to answer that question. The best thing to do would be to check with your school’s policies and updates.

3) What is CoachBright's current policy on COVID-19 (coronavirus)? 

Our policy is in line with the latest governmental updates as well as our own to ensure the safeguarding of all the pupils we work with, our volunteers and our community of partners. We will be sending regular updates with regards to this situation and ensure that everyone understands the next steps.

4) Are there going to be any more CoachBright sessions? 

At the moment all of our sessions and graduation events have been postponed until after the Easter holidays. This is in line with the latest university and school closures and recent changes the government has announced as of 20/03/2020. 

5) What should I do if I am a Coach and I am ill? 

We advise that if you are feeling unwell and are showing any of these symptoms, please self-isolate for 14 days. If you are living in a flat with other people, they will have to self-isolate as well. For more guidance, we encourage you to contact your university directly.

6) Why have the graduations been postponed?

Due to many universities deciding to close doors to face-to-face coaching and encouraging every student to stay at home, it is safest for us to postpone our events for now and wait for further updates before we decide to run our events. 

7) How long will graduations be postponed for?

At the moment, it is very hard to tell. We are monitoring the government's decisions very closely, and we are committed to celebrate the successes of the pupils when it is safe to do so. At the moment graduations have been postponed until after Easter, but this could change in the next few days and weeks. 

8) What are the next steps from today?

We will follow all new governmental updates closely and continue to communicate with schools and volunteers on a regular basis to support each other's safety and understanding amidst this time of uncertainty. 

9) Can I still continue Coaching?

YES! We would love to receive your support in the coming days and weeks, as we will continue to support our pupils virtually through online learning. Please fill in our quick form if you are interested and we will get in touch to let you know the next steps.

10) I will be travelling to another coronavirus affected area in the coming weeks. When should I come back to the UK?

We advise that you follow the guidelines set out on this page of the government's website. Every country will have its own policies and the situation may look very different when on the ground. Should you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to make it back for future CoachBright sessions or events, please inform your Head of Region as soon as possible. 

The CoachBright Team

Guidance for Coaches: COVID-19

Coronavirus Support for Our Coaches: Remembering What is Important

Coronavirus is at the front of everyone’s mind at the moment. Discussion of the virus currently dominates our news, conversations and thoughts, with an overload of information available at every turn. Amongst this climate of distress, it’s important to focus on what is important.

At CoachBright, our wonderful community of social justice warriors are of paramount importance to us. This is what has been at the heart of our decision to postpone the remainder of our programmes and events. 

Our amazing coaches are in a unique position of largely living in temporary locations close to their universities, often away from their loved ones and in sometimes unfamiliar surroundings. We have had so many lovely messages from our coaches updating us with their travel plans and sharing their appreciation for being part of our programmes. This has brought so much joy to us across our regions and this is a huge testament for what kind people you all are. Thank you all for joining us with such enthusiasm, compassion and diligence in fighting for social mobility and social justice throughout the UK. 

We are indeed living in unprecedented times and we would like you all to remember the following three aspects to focus on what is important for you.

Mental Health and Wellbeing  

Often the most neglected area amongst global panic, it is essential to remember to look after your mental health and wellbeing in however works best for you. We recommend:

-       Getting fresh air and appreciating natural beauty wherever possible. Could you take 5 deep breaths at your front door/an open window in the morning? Could you take time to appreciate the night’s sky?

-       Increasing digital connection with those closest to you through regular online check-ins and sharing positive content. Could you send a song of the day to your loved ones?

-       Limit exposure to new updates as much as possible. Could you implement a news-free hour a day? Could you follow @thehappynewspaper on Instagram for positive updates?

Personal Health and Safety

-       Please follow Coronavirus advice from the NHS online

-       Make sure you are aware of how to stay safe at home

-       Keep updated with latest Government guidance

Maintaining the Safety of Others and your Community

-       Always remember to be kind and think of the effects on those less fortunate.

-       Support those in your local vicinity wherever possible. Could you text your neighbour to check how they are doing?

-       Think about acting in a way that best supports everyone you live with, especially those who are more vulnerable.

What’s next for our programmes you may ask? All graduation events will be rearranged for a later date that will be communicated to you all at first instance.

JOIN THE CAMPAIGNS

In light of current events, we’re also launching a couple of campaigns and would love your help in rallying for the cause!

Virtual coaching

We’re currently looking into the best way for us all to be able to continue to support our pupils no matter where we are. This will be through virtual/online coaching! You can sign up to join the coach community and provide valuable help at bit.ly/virtualcoachbright. We’d also love your friends, family and anyone else that can help out to sign up and help us make this a (virtual) reality.

Campaign against holiday hunger

We’ll be writing another blog post soon about our campaign to help reduce the holiday hunger that will undoubtedly be faced by our free school meals/pupil premium pupils in the coming weeks. You can find out more by keeping up to date with us on social media, through this blog and by checking your whatsapp groups/emails.

The CoachBright Team

Guidance for School Partners COVID-19

To our school partners,

We understand that we're negotiating difficult times at the moment amidst the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation. As this continues to develop, please be assured that we remain committed to safeguarding the health and security of pupils, our volunteers and everyone else in partnership with CoachBright. We are keeping up to date with policy changes and are adhering to the latest government guidelines and university policies across the UK. 

We want to reassure our partner schools that we will shed as much clarity as possible as soon as there are updates. This blog will help us to send out these updates in real time. 

For the time being, CoachBright has made the difficult decision to postpone all current and future sessions and events in London and Plymouth until after the Easter holidays. Sessions in Birmingham and Exeter will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and in line with school visitors guidance. This is based on yesterday's briefing from the PM on 16/03/2019 alongside many universities closing doors to face-to-face teaching. 

We understand the big impact that this situation is having on schools and communities at the moment, but most importantly on the pupils. For all of our pupils, but particularly many of the year 11s/13s that we work with, times are difficult and uncertain. At CoachBright we want to try to play a part in making some of this a little easier. 

In the coming days and weeks, we will be emailing our partner schools with resources, websites and links that might be useful for moving to online learning. We'll also be starting a campaign to tackle the 'holiday-hunger' aspects of isolation that will no doubt have an impact on many of our pupils, particularly those who rely on your school for meals during the day. You can expect emails from Jen, Trish and the rest of the team with news on this. 

Of course at this time, we want to support our partner schools as much as possible.  If there is anything you need from us, please do not hesitate to contact us through your head of region (details below). 

Thanks, 

The CoachBright Team 

Jennifer Love, jennifer@coachbright.org, 07384 113269 - West Midlands and South West

Patricia Mbangui, patricia@coachbright.org, 07511 982773 - London and South East