About Vertical Tutoring

Peter A Barnard DProf.

I'm Peter Barnard, former high-school teacher, school principal, author, international consultant, trainer, researcher, grower of fruit and veg, and school system developer. ALL CONSULTATION IS FREE!! Simply contact me.

For the past 25 years, I have been lucky enough to work with practitioners from international schools, private schools, and public schools of all kinds. These schools have concluded that no matter how hard they work and what changes they make, their current management and organisational practices rarely match the effort put in. They are schools that are convinced they can do better and and want to know why the changes they make rarely work. They are unsure about what is systemically wrong, how to correct it, and want answers.

VT is a LEVERAGE POINT, a place in a system that when activated with understanding, can make the organisation work better. Schools are generally organised using a Grade or Year System based on same age groups. While this works reasonably well for teaching purposes, the year system creates challenges in behaviour, learning, and socio/psychology that do not respond to the fixes schools use.

This means that schools require ever more add-ons, curriculum changes, behaviour support strategies (including pro-social programmes). As such, schools are reliant on the single idea that all that matters is the teacher in the classroom rather than a fully integrated staff, student, and parent learning and support system.

The central purposes of VT are to

Liberate management
Distribute and share leadership
Create new information pathways and learning networks (complexify)
Build an empathetic culture of learning and belonging
Improve learning relationships and wellbeing among staff, students, and parents
Enable staff, involve parents, and ensure that all children feel they belong and are supported
Enhance the means of assessment and reporting to improve communication
Increase individual and organisational learning.