Taking the pain out of the three Rs

A time-served teacher who took early retirement is bringing a globally successful learning technique to the North East, to help children from five to 18 who are struggling with their education or who want to stay one step ahead of their peers.

Carol Milne took voluntary redundancy from St Joseph’s Academy in South Tyneside and used her redundancy money to set up the Gateshead East franchise of the Kip McGrath Education Centre. The centre, one of more than 500 run by experienced, professional teachers in 20 countries including the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and Singapore is based on the teaching techniques of Australian educationalist Kip McGrath.

It focuses on a traditional curriculum approach to teaching English, reading, spelling and maths that motivates children to overcome any difficulties they are facing learning at school. All children are pre-assessed and learning starts at their individual level of study.

Tuition takes place one to one in a small group environment designed to build the student’s confidence, independence and self-esteem and equip them with social skills they can use in the classroom.

As centre director, Carol is a professional teacher who only employs fully-qualified, DBS-checked teachers who have worked in schools.

She said: “The difference between coming to the Kip McGrath Centre and using a tutor to help your child catch-up or gain a greater understanding in maths and English is that we are all qualified, experienced teachers who use resources aligned to the national curriculum.

“We start at the child’s current ability level and progress at their pace without peer group pressures. We allow time for all the concepts to be understood before moving on to the next.”

Carol lived in New Zealand when she was first married and went back to research the Kip McGrath system when she was considering her new venture. She visited a number of centres and the philosophy, the 80-minute after school or weekend sessions and weekly homework tally of one to three pieces of work struck a chord with her.

Carol is also keen to dispel the belief that tutoring is just for posh kids.

“That’s absolutely not the case,” she said. “The vast majority of five to 18-year-olds we teach have working class parents.”

Because Kip McGrath is an Ofsted registered child care provider, you can get 70 per cent of the cost back through Child Tax Credits. You can also pay for it through salary sacrifice schemes at work.

Parent Carly Hullock said: “My daughter has been attending for quite a few weeks now but I wanted to get a good feel before I left a review. I can’t believe the difference in Ruby’s attitude to school work since starting!

“Maths was always a sore subject and causing a recurring weekend tantrum when it was time to do homework. Carol has really helped Ruby with her confidence in the subject and it’s lovely to see Ruby sit down by choice to do her homework.

“I can’t recommend Carol enough Ruby already adores her and she made her feel special and at ease from the very first time they met.”

The centre is currently tutoring around 50 children and is on course to meet Carol’s 10-year plan of teaching 300 students by its fifth year and 500 by its 10^th year.