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Our warmest congratulations go to Rebecca, our Director of Studies and Lead Tutor of Science and Reasoning, who got married this month!

From all of us at Trefoil Tutors, we would like to wish Rebecca and her husband Alex a lifetime of love and happiness.

The American Library Association has announced the 2023 winners of the Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery and Caldecott medals, and the Printz award. These are some of the oldest and most prestigious awards in children’s literature; the Newbery and Caldecott medals have been awarded for over 80 years.

To read more about the Young Media Awards, please visit The American Library Association’s website here: https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2023/01/american-library-association-announces-2023-youth-media-award-winners

Happy reading!

In this week's Senior Tutor Update video, Vivek, rather unconventionally, begins with a quote. Vivek uses this to reflect on an exciting start to 2023 and celebrate the exceptional levels of consistency and hard work that have underpinned our lessons so far this Half Term. Vivek reminds our Year 11, 12 and 13s that their assessments this week may be a little longer, in the style of more summative mock exams. Vivek discusses "the fear" that is often associated with external examinations and how to embrace this and use it as a positive rather than something constricting. Vivek further reminds all students that they will have their next assessment in Week 6.

In preparation for these, our Director of Studies Rebecca reminds students how important the revision for the Week 6 assessment is and suggests the red-amber-green (RAG) revision strategy as a helpful approach. Finally, Trefoil Tutors have a number of teaching and administrative vacancies that we are looking to fill in the upcoming weeks; please do visit our website for more information.

We are delighted to share with you the positive feedback contributed by the parents of students who have attended our group lessons and found these enjoyable and beneficial to their learning.

“I have two sons who are both really happy and impressed with the friendly atmosphere here at Trefoil Tutors. One of my sons has been with Trefoil Tutors for over 5 years now and has enjoyed every bit of it. As parents, we can see he’s achieving much higher results in his academics at school.”

We would like to remind students and parents that this is the final week of group lessons before our Half Term break. Please note that no group lessons will be taking place between Monday, the 12th February and Sunday, the 20th of February as we close for the Half Term break, with the exception of the rescheduled Science lessons that will take place on Sunday, 19th of February.

Enjoy your Half Term break and we look forward to seeing you in Week 7!

As we begin the final week of lessons before the Half Term break, we would like to remind students that they will be sitting a 30-minute assessment in their lessons this week. Students in Years 11, 12 and 13 may be given longer, summative assessments. Reasoning students will be sitting a 50-minute assessment.

For Science students who will attend a rescheduled lesson on the 19th of February, Assessment Week is delayed until then.

Remember to follow Vivek and Rebecca’s advice in this week’s Senior Tutor Update video and the Welcome Booklet on how best to revise for these assessments!

University of Oxford has released the first two weeks of lectures of the first year Oxford Mathematics degree on YouTube, alongside some accompanying materials. For students considering applying for the course, this is an indication of the mathematics covered at the start of the course.

According to the University, “Much of the context will be familiar from high school, but the way we think and write about it, and construct arguments and proofs, will be more rigorous.”

To watch the eight lectures, please follow this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4d5ZtfQonW1xKVEtYJd1iu9m52ATG7SV

Trefoil Tutors are delighted to share a vacancy for a part-time Tutor of Mathematics to join our team in August 2023.

We are currently looking for an experienced Mathematics tutor to teach six to eight small groups of up to six students. The tutor will specialise in teaching students from Year 4 to Year 11.

The ideal candidate should have extensive experience in planning, teaching and evaluating outstanding Mathematics lessons and have demonstrated a passion for their subject. FQT status and school teaching experience are preferred but not essential.

The successful candidate must be able to start the role in August 2023 and commit to the position for the full academic year. The successful candidate should also be prepared to conduct online lessons via Skype if necessary.

To apply for the role, please send your CV and a cover letter to our Director of Studies, Rebecca Wolffe, at jobs@trefoiltutors.co.uk by Sunday, the 19th of February. Applications will be reviewed as they arrive, and we reserve the right to close this vacancy sooner; please apply as soon as possible.

For more information about the role, please visit the Vacancies page on our website: https://www.trefoiltutors.co.uk/tutor-vacancies/

We look forward to hearing from you!

Trefoil Tutors are delighted to share a vacancy for a part-time Tutor of English to join our team in August 2023.

We are currently looking for an experienced English tutor to teach six to eight small groups of up to six students. The tutor will specialise in teaching students from Year 4 to Year 11.

The ideal candidate should have extensive experience in planning, teaching and evaluating outstanding English lessons and have demonstrated a passion for their subject. FQT status and school teaching experience are preferred but not essential.

The successful candidate must be able to start the role in August 2023 and commit to the position for the full academic year. The successful candidate should also be prepared to conduct online lessons via Skype if necessary.

To apply for the role, please send your CV and a cover letter to our Director of Studies, Rebecca Wolffe, at jobs@trefoiltutors.co.uk by Sunday, the 19th of February. Applications will be reviewed as they arrive, and we reserve the right to close this vacancy sooner; please apply as soon as possible.

For more information about the role, please visit the Vacancies page on our website: https://www.trefoiltutors.co.uk/tutor-vacancies/

We look forward to hearing from you!

Trefoil Tutors are delighted to share a vacancy for a Tutor of Biology to join our team in September 2023.

We are currently looking for an experienced Biology tutor to teach two or more small groups of up to six students. The tutor will specialise in teaching Key Stage 5 (Year 12 and Year 13).

The ideal candidate should have extensive experience in planning, teaching and evaluating outstanding Biology lessons and have demonstrated a passion for their subject. FQT status and school teaching experience are preferred but not essential.

The successful candidate must be able to start teaching the Biology group lessons in September 2023 and commit to the position for the full academic year. The successful candidate should also be prepared to conduct online lessons via Skype if necessary.

To apply for the role, please send your CV and a cover letter to our Director of Studies, Rebecca Wolffe, at jobs@trefoiltutors.co.uk by Sunday, the 19th of February. Applications will be reviewed as they arrive, and we reserve the right to close this vacancy sooner; please apply as soon as possible.

For more information about the role, please visit the Vacancies page on our website: https://www.trefoiltutors.co.uk/tutor-vacancies/

We look forward to hearing from you!

We are delighted to introduce you to the newest member of our Accounts team, Esther, who has joined us as our new Registrar.

Esther joins us with a wealth of experience in the education sector as well as a BA in Childhood Studies from the University of Bristol. Without a doubt, parents of both new and existing students will get to know Esther very well in the coming months as she manages new enquiries and liaises with parents of new and existing students. In her role as Registrar, Esther is also coordinating our Alumni Association as well as communicating with the Senior Leadership Team in implementing long-term strategic objectives.

Welcome to the team, Esther - we are delighted to have you on board!

With school strikes taking place across England today, we know that many students are spending the day at home and many parents are seeking high quality learning materials that would keep students engaged academically.

At Trefoil Tutors, we regularly prepare additional revision materials that are academically engaging and tailored to each year group's curriculum in Mathematics, English and Science for students between Year 3 and Year 13. We are delighted to share these free resources with you in order to help keep students engaged on a day when regular learning may not be taking place. These assignments and corresponding answers are available on our website.

To access these free resources, please follow the link: https://www.trefoiltutors.co.uk/free-holiday-materials/

These materials might also be useful for siblings, your friends and neighbours. Please do feel free to share the link to these resources with whoever you feel would benefit from them!

In this week's Senior Tutor Update video, Vivek reminds students, parents, tutors and the office team to look after their energy levels and take time to rest if needed; there is no harm in walking in order to prepare for a sprint finish. As students revise for the upcoming examinations, Vivek advises them to be selective about the revision content they use to make sure it is of a high academic standard. Vivek highlights the need for students to have aspirational and realistic target grades. Additionally, our Director of Studies Rebecca will review students' current attainment and compared them with stated academic aspirations - she will be contacting parents of students who are currently not on track to achieve those targets. Finally, Vivek welcomes our new Registrar, Esther, who starts- her work with us this week.

We are delighted to share with you the positive feedback contributed by the parents of students who have attended our group lessons and found these enjoyable and beneficial to their learning.

"My son Anthony is in Year 11 at HABS. Before starting at Trefoil, I wasn’t very sure about doing group sessions, but Anthony gave it a go and really enjoyed it. Learning Maths with Vivek has helped him a lot, and he is getting consistently good grades in his tests at school. In fact, he was so happy at Trefoil, that we decided to register him for English and Science lessons here as well. English, in particular, has been a great success. He has found the group sessions in English useful since the students can share ideas and that is something that he wouldn’t benefit from if he went to a one-to-one session. Overall, he is very happy with Trefoil, it has helped him to improve his exam technique and he is very happy with that, and so we are as well."

The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge commences today, with Year 10 and Year 11 students competing for gold, silver and bronze certificates across the country.

We would like to wish the best of luck to all our students who are sitting the Challenge today. Remember that it is not an exam, but a challenge - so stay calm and enjoy the process!

Today, we begin celebrating National Storytelling Week!

National Storytelling Week takes place every year and is a celebration of the power of sharing stories.

We would like to say a big congratulations to all the students who have sat their 11+ entrance exams this year and successfully got through this demanding process. Very well done; we are all really proud of you!

If there is anything we can do to help with upcoming interviews, please do not hesitate to get in touch!

Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day. The theme for 2023 is Ordinary People.

We would like to take this day to remember, and pay tribute to, the 6 million lives lost during the Holocaust.