So, it’s officially autumn. Google’s said so*. And here at UFA we’re well into the swing of it – from UFA National and the many programmes we’re out delivering in schools this term, our Top Tutors team who, from September, began providing tuition services in Birmingham as well as London and our regional NCS teams are out spreading the word in schools and colleges about our National Citizen Service programmes running over the Autumn School holiday.
But at UFA we’re all about reflection and we thought we’d just take a moment to share with you some of the fantastic feedback we’ve received over the summer months about our programmes and teams.
NCS:
We’ve had another brilliant NCS Summer! Here’s a few highlights from our Summer graduates:
“Before starting NCS I felt worried that I wouldn’t enjoy it or that I wouldn’t make new friends, but at the same time I was excited about being given the opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone and experience something new. My favourite part of NCS was during phase 1 when we went gorge walking. It was our first activity and it definitely helped us bond as a group as we all helped each other climb up the waterfalls, trek across rocks etc. If one of us couldn’t quite get up, we’d reach out our hand and help pull them up.” Megan Glanville, UFA NCS Durham.
“I would definitely recommend NCS to a friend because not only does it look good on a CV, but I have learnt new skills, developed new friendships and accomplished things that I never thought I would be capable of.” Anna Britton, UFA NCS Durham.
“There is no doubt in my mind that I would complete NCS again as it has been an incredible experience that has taught me to be independent and how anyone can make a difference to the community.” – Robbie Seal, UFA NCS Northampton.
“I have gained confidence entering new situations with people I don’t know. NCS gives you so many skills and experiences.”- Abigail Passmore, UFA NCS Northampton
“NCS has changed me, I don’t know how but I just know it has! It has made me grow as a person. I would definitely recommend it to a friend because you learn loads of different skills and become confident as a person”. Jake Lewellyn, UFA NCS Northampton.
Top Tutors:
Top Tutors spent the Summer waiting to hear back from parents and students after GCSE and A Level results day. Here’s feedback from one very proud parent of a GCSE student:
“I am writing to give feedback on the Tutor that you supplied me with to support my son Luke with his GCSE English language and English Literature exams this summer. He was always polite , professional and extremely knowledgeable. In the short time he tutored my son, he managed to plug some missing gaps, develop my son’s confidence and most importantly imparted his sheer passion for English. He was always extremely well prepared and related all lessons to examination technique.
My son was predicted a C grade in both English Language and English Literature, which would not be high enough to secure a place at his choosen sixth form place. With Daniel’s hard work and dedication our son Luke managed to achieve a very high B grade today in both the English Language and English Literature exams, which has resulted in him being excepted into his chosen sixth form. Without Daniel’s support it would be unlikely that this outcome would have been achieved, especially as he had seven English teachers across Year 10 and 11 at school, which was an insufficient provision.
I want to extend my gratitude namely to Daniel but also yourselves in putting us in contact with such a brilliant tutor and enabling this fanatic outcome to be achieved!”
UFA:
The National UFA team have also received fantastic feedback from programmes ran in the last academic year. Here are a few quotes from young people from Eckington Secondary School in Derbyshire.
“I’ve learnt that when I am given feedback I need to work on it and develop through how my peers think I should improve.”
“I have learnt to believe in myself because I learnt that people can believe in me.”
“I’ve learnt that I can be there when people are in need of guidance and I am important in many ways for many people. I feel like a valuable lead peer tutor and that I could make a difference to many lives.”
And after filming a year long project with The Merers Company, we’ve got two fantastic films showcasing our Peer Tutor programme in Primary and Secondary schools. We’ll be sharing them soon – so watch this space!
We all feel privileged to do the work we do and it’s feedback like this that makes it all worthwhile. So thank you everyone in the UFA team for an amazing Summer, bring on Autumn and the year ahead!
*September 22nd 2016 – just in case you were wondering the official date from Google.