We’ve been using Third Space Learning for a couple of years now
It wasn’t a necessarily conscious decision at the trust level to go with an external provider, but individual schools used it and then word got out that it was having a positive impact.
Outwood Academy Carlton were one of the first schools to have Third Space Learning and their children relished in that opportunity. We then obviously wanted a piece of the action as well!
If somebody’s found something that works and you know that you can trust them as well, you’re not going to shop around. We’d also already used and been impressed by the resources.
We’ve found that if you choose the right children, it has a big impact on their journey
For the schools I work with, we look at the children aiming for grade 4 and 5. It works particularly well for the grade 4 children; the ones where we can say “we know you can do it, and we’re going to show you that you can do it.”
These children were underachieving in Year 9 and 10 and now we and they can see the light at the end of the tunnel that they’re going to get a 4 or a 5.
One student in particular was on a grade 2 and he ended up on a grade 4. He went to every single session and would come and tell me about them after. He was really keen.
One to one time that makes students feel important
With Third Space Learning, they have an opportunity to feel important. Having that one to one time means they feel it’s all about them.
They appreciate that they do the assessment at the beginning so they can get the exact support they need. They felt they were being focused on, and it was a personal time for them to get their revision done.
The personalisation is second to none, and this is the only opportunity they’re going to get to have that one to one experience.
It’s a QLA per child, and having their sessions focused on that.
Hearing the same information from somebody else is good. It might be that their tutor can explain it to them in a slightly different way, or that they just didn’t understand it in the classroom. Being able to go through it again on a one to one basis really helps.
“The academies have done the data analysis and made the decision that this is something they want to continue with. If it’s not had an impact then they wouldn’t go ahead and do it again. We also will add pupil places as we have more need. When word gets round the children come and ask ‘can I have a session?’. I know a couple of parents have rung in to say that they’d heard about it and ask if their children could have it too.”
If it didn’t have impact, we’d go back to the drawing board
We would always want to see how much progress they’ve made. From Year 7-11, or throughout Year 11.
We tend to measure the progress through each assessment block. Our heads of department do a summer report based on what interventions certain children had and whether it had impact.
We know it might not just be Third Space and it might be a combination of things, but we’ve done the data analysis and made the decision that this is something we want to continue with. If it’s not had an impact then they wouldn’t go ahead and do it again.
We also use the resources regularly – there are so many on there!
The best thing about the secondary resources is that they’re separated into exam boards, and that they give answers. They save a lot of time.
Watch a session in action
See how Skye guides pupils through a full one-to-one session.
