Oldham college tutor wins national Let Teachers SHINE competition

Date published: 01 June 2021


A college tutor from Oldham has been awarded £16,000 in a national competition to find innovative ideas in education.

Doug King, assistant principal at Oldham Sixth Form College, is one of the winners of this year’s Let Teachers SHINE, a competition run by the education charity SHINE and supported by Tes (The Times Educational Supplement).

The funding will be used to create a new way of engaging parents in their children’s education.

Doug’s project, Flipped Tuition, will use text messages and web-based resources to build the knowledge and confidence of parents to have positive discussions at home about studying.

They will be offered support and advice that they can pass on to their children, helping to develop independent study skills and habits that can be used in all subject areas to help support students through their education.

“I’m really pleased to have been given the funding and excited because it gives me an opportunity to start to develop ideas that began when I was involved in part of the Oldham Opportunity Area project,” Doug said.

“My idea, which is based on evidence informed practice, is all about helping parents to get more involved in a positive way.

“In general, as students get older, parents don't always know what to do to help and support their child’s studying.

"And the research shows that, in fact, students don't want direct subject help and support, they just want to know that somebody at home is there they can turn to for general help and advice.

“With Flipped Tuition, I am looking at simplifying the research and thinking about how we communicate to parents to ensure maximum engagement.”

Doug says that because of Covid, the programme could be particularly useful.

“Our students coming into Year 12 in September have had so much disruption to their education," he added.

“The transition from school to college and to A-level study is a massive leap anyway, but it’s even greater because of the pandemic.

"These students won’ have done external exams, they will probably have fallen out of some good, effective study habits, and I think there will also be quite a lot of parental anxiety as well.”

Flipped Tuition will combine supportive and informative text messages, with online resources and activities that parents can access, making them feel part of their child’s education, and more able to support them as they complete their studies.

Doug believes it is an innovative approach that will focus on the attainment of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Helen Rafferty, Interim Chief Executive of SHINE, said: “Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s Let Teachers SHINE competition.

"The awards were held during some of the most challenging times teachers have ever faced, making the quality of the applications all the more impressive.

“Each of the teachers who took part in the competition demonstrated their innovation and commitment to really make a difference to the futures of children from low-income families.

“We look forward to working with the winners to help them develop their ideas and help hundreds of children to succeed at school.”

As well as financial support, SHINE provides Let Teachers SHINE winners with free access to a range of development workshops and coaching opportunities to help develop their ideas. 

As well as financial support, SHINE provides winners with free access to a range of development workshops and coaching opportunities to help develop their ideas. 

Since August 2000, SHINE has invested more than £31 million in projects benefiting almost 1.4 million children from over 20,000 schools.


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