Empathy the key for academic coach helping children read and write

As a way of helping those pupils struggling to keep up with their peers, schools have begun employing academic coaches to help support them and improve their confidence around their studies.

One example is Jade Smedley-Baugh, an academic coach at Ormiston New Academy in Wolverhampton.

The 29-year-old had worked previously at the school as a head of department and a teacher of English and Performing Arts and described what was involved in the role.

She said: "I do academic coaching in English for the bottom five students in each class either to help improve their reading age or their ability to write at Key Stage Three, while also helping those at Key Stage Four towards their GCSE's in both English and Performing Arts.

"It works through supporting them through the completion of coursework and exam practice, so I'm basically working with about five or six children out of each class who need a little bit of extra help due to gaps after the pandemic."

Ms Smedley-Baugh had originally worked in the NHS for nine years before moving into teaching after thinking about doing something different with her life and finding a course with Teach First.

Since 2003, the charity has supported more than 18,000 individuals to train to teach through the Teach First training programme, many who decided to exchange a previous career for the classroom.

Alongside its initial teacher training programme, the charity also offers teachers additional mentoring, professional development, and support into school leadership positions.

Ms Smedley-Baugh said: "Before teaching I worked in the NHS for nine years. Although I loved the job, I felt something was missing and needed a change.

"In my spare time I ran a weekly youth theatre club which got me thinking about teaching.

"I found Teach First online and saw that it accommodated career changers so went for it and after three years at the school I trained with, I went from teaching English to becoming head of performing arts and am now an academy coach."

She said the job required a level of empathy and understanding, helping pupils to know that all they needed was a little push to ensure they can make the improvements necessary to improve their reading levels and pass their exams.

She said: "I still use the skills I developed as a healthcare assistant every day in school. Being empathetic and passionate previously helped me achieve long-term outcomes with patients, and now I can do the same with pupils, building trust and strong relationships.

"With many of our pupils interested in health and social care apprenticeships, I often share my experiences to help them decide what area they’d like to go into, which is something many of my colleagues who have come from previous careers also do for other sectors."

She said the years of performing arts training she had done, having been a lead actress for around 10 years, had helped her to find a way to work with the pupils and fit her personality.

She said: "I'm a drama student and did it at university, as well as running a community drama group outside of work, and I've been doing this for around 20 years.

"I've been able to take a lot of skills I've learnt over the years and direct them into all the things I'm passionate about in this role.

"I really do love this and feel it's positive for the children as it has to not feel like a punishment, but a reward for them and a large part of my job is making it feel like something good and rewarding.

"My favourite part of this is the relationship with the pupils and you get to have the joy of seeing them develop and move forwards."