The following is a set of case studies which gives a portrait of the impact the teaching and support KEYS has had on the lives of students we have worked with.
All real names have been replaced with fictional ones to keep subjects anonymous.
New for 2015
John from Battersea passed a gruelling set of exams to earn a scholarship to City of London Boys Independent School. Not only this, he confidently passed the new Level 6 paper for both Maths and English (Writing). Samuel, along with others would often stay behind on Saturday afternoons for extra coaching with these exams. Well done John! The excellent teachers at KEYS along with the support of Sam’s mother ensured that he was well prepared for these exams.
Juanita, also managed to attain a Level 6 in English. KEYS is extremely proud of her diligence and commitment.
Hannah, a student who was home-schooled and only rejoined school in Year 6 broke all expectations to score high marks in KS2 SATs exams. Well done Hannah.
We’d also like to congratulate Jennifer and Deniz who scored highly on their SATs papers. Well done for your hard work and dedication.
Case study A
Jane was from mixed black and Asian heritage. She came to KEYS in Year 6 to improve her English and Maths to pass the entrance exam to an independent day girls school. On entrance, Jane’s English level was 4B with maths being 4A. Being an able student who grasped things quickly and retained information well, by the end of the academic year, Jane was working at level 6B in English and 7C in maths. She passed her entrance exam and gained a scholarship into her desired school. In recent contact with the KEYS team, she has expressed that teachers in her school do not challenge and push her to strive for the best as much as teachers at KEYS did.
Case study B
Moses was a year 5 student with poor basic literacy skills. Being of Turkish descent his family did not encourage English speaking in the home as well as possessing very little English themselves. His work was badly punctuated with lack of accurate sentence demarcation. Also he read with little fluency, often stumbling upon words and finding some pronunciation difficult. His teachers had expressed some concern as his levels were below expectations for his age. Moses’ parents were worried so sent him to KEYS hoping to improve his literacy. Moses was judged at Level 3A when he arrived. KEYS’ tutors quickly assessed his weaknesses and personalised his learning experience. Having previously been a reluctant reader, he was assisted with selecting appropriate books in order to develop a passion for reading and improve his literacy simultaneously. He stayed for a complete academic year finishing at Level 5A. On one Saturday Moses proudly told us that one of his teachers remarked “how do you know such complex words?” This was confirmation that the rigorous weekly vocabulary testing was paying off and Moses was reaching the potential he was always capable of.
Case study C
Solomon came to KEYS in the academic year 2010/2011. As a late starter, he arrived in the final term. Solomon should have been in year 9 but he had been a school refuser since year 7 (with the consent of his parents). Solomon had a number of special needs: dyslexia, tourettes, and partial deafness. His needs made him a target for bullies which caused him to miss school. He and his family resolved to never return to school. He joined KEYS as a result of volunteering at the centre and the staff had talked to his mother about the importance of good GCSEs in English and Maths. The teaching team created learning opportunities where Solomon could be successful. In fact, once being a shy and reluctant student, he thrived in the small group setting. After being with KEYS for a term, Solomon had developed enough self confidence to return to school. We feel that it was our small group approach where all are allowed and encouraged to thrive which helped Solomon back into mainstream education. His parents were utterly thankful and continually expressed their gratitude for the changes in their son.