What is a supplementary school?

Supplementary schools are run by community groups, meeting after school on weekdays and/or at weekends. Currently, over 30 groups run supplementary schools in Kensington and Chelsea. The supplementary schools coordinator, Val Patterson, organises training and supports supplementary schools with quality assurance standards and fundraising.

A supplementary school may offer any or all of the following:

• Formal revision or booster lessons in English, maths, science: one teacher and one topic usually chosen with or by students, explanations and lots of practice
• Informal revision or homework sessions: any subject; lots of one-to-one help using teachers and volunteers
• Lessons in mother tongue, cultural studies: usually formal in style, the most effective lessons follow the framework for mother tongue teaching produced by CiLT)
• Religious classes in any religion: possibly associated with a particular church, mosque or gurdwara, but may be organised by parents
• Sports: football, skating, bowls, climbing, dry skiing, keep fit, weights, swimming – regular sessions or one-off outings
• History, arts and special projects: summer trips, storytelling, mosaic, drama, IT courses, cooking, drumming
• Support with transition from primary to secondary phases
• Residential trips

Benefits of supplementary schools:

• Being able to speak two languages improves a child’s ability to use and learn a language in general
• Reports by UK school inspectors recommend building on pupils’ linguistic and cultural diversity to improve attainment in English. Appropriate use of the home language can improve literacy and understanding
• Family relations are enhanced if children can communicate well with grandparents and other family members
• A national survey found that eight out of ten pupils who attended a supplementary school felt it helped them with their mainstream schoolwork
• There is some recent empirical evidence that suggests children attending supplementary schools attain one grade level higher at GCSE

We hope to keep you informed of the activities and news from the partnership and its supplementary schools.

WELCOME TO OUR FIRST TERMLY UPDATE !  

Please click here to view our Partnership of Supplementary Schools Update Autumn term 2011

Click for more information about supplementary schools in England and Wales. For the supplementary school programme click Supplementary booklet 09-10.

If you would like to volunteer with a supplementary school please email thaataja@westway.org

For more Support and Resources click here.