School-community partnership: online tutoring during class hours

Since last fall, teachers at the Deux-Rives school in Saint-Georges have benefited from the support of volunteers from the Mouvement des Aidants scolaire in order to offer personalized tutoring to their students. A service that is available everywhere in Quebec for schools that request it.

“Our organization has been providing help to school staff for several years, but this is the first time that our tutoring service has been offered during class time, and especially in virtual mode. This project came to fruition at the initiative of the school administration ”, rejoices Lise Allard, founder of the School Caregivers Movement.

The tutoring service is offered to both elementary and secondary students, and even francization. Teachers or schools can simply apply to the organization. The service is then deployed at the rate of two half-hours of support per week per student. Coaching can take place in different subjects, but Ms. Allard indicates that reading and writing are the skills most in demand.

One of the peculiarities of the tutoring offered by the volunteers of School Aid workers is that the tutor accompanies the child in accordance with the directives he has previously received from the teacher and that the accompaniment can be done during the time of class.

According to the founder, it is thus a real school-community partnership, since the volunteers act in concert with the teachers. Parents are also informed and involved in the process.

A new platform

Active in the school environment since 2007, the School Aid Movement did not want to be stopped by the pandemic. This is how the organization acquired a remote assistance platform and was able to quickly resume its activities during the year 2020.

“I am pleasantly surprised by the results of the online support. Everything is going well. Even virtually, bonds are forged between students and caregivers. In addition, since the support is now virtual, we can match tutors and young people who do not live in the same region, ”says Ms. Allard.