FFT Tutoring
with the Lightning Squad
A tutoring programme which improves reading skills for pupils in Years 1 to 5
Take a look...
Move left and right to preview all of the activities!
Pupils learn in pairs with a tutor to improve reading skills as they work through 65 stories
Welcome to Tutoring with the Lightning Squad
Pupils read together, taking turns as reader and coach, to improve reading speed and fluency
Improve both phonic and phonemic awareness, and the sounds in new words
Pupils work together to learn how to read new words for each of the 65 stories
Pupils practice the spelling of new words in pairs with their tutor
Pupils will learn new vocabulary and work on cloze activities and definitions
At the end of each story, pupils will demonstrate what they’ve learnt by reading a story and answering comprehension questions
How it works
Tutoring with the Lightning Squad - developed by FFT and Success for All - is a reading tutoring programme where pupils work with a tutor in two cooperative pairs, taking turns as ‘Reader’ and ‘Coach’. The tutoring is a blended approach with in-person tutoring supported by an online tutoring platform. Tutoring activities are designed to improve reading skills, fluency, comprehension, spelling and phonics. Pupils work through 65 specially written, engaging and illustrated stories.
Most pupils spend 12 weeks working on the tutoring programme to catch-up their reading skills, with daily 30-minute tutoring sessions in school (4 pupils working with a tutor). Research has demonstrated that pupils using Tutoring with the Lightning Squad make learning gains of between 3 and 5 months in reading attainment.
Assessment and feedback
All pupils take a short online reading assessment at the start of the tutoring programme to help the tutor and class teacher decide which pairs of pupils should work together and at what point in the programme they should start.
Regular tutor checks are built into the tutoring programme. Pupils complete a set of reading activities with their tutor related to what they have been learning. The tutor will then decide whether pupils are ready to move on to the next story in the tutoring programme.
Tracking and reporting
We provide online reports for tutors, teachers and school leaders which monitor pupils’ progress and reading attainment.
The reports include the new words learnt, reading age, reading fluency and a measure of reading progress.
FFT’s tutoring reports will help schools to monitor the impact of the tutoring on pupils’ reading skills and development.
Approved by the National Tutoring Programme
The National Tutoring Programme provides subsidised high-quality tutoring from an approved list of Tuition Partners.
FFT’s Tutoring with the Lightning Squad has been approved as a Tuition Partner by the National Tutoring Programme to provide reading tutoring for primary school pupils in Year 1 to Year 5 in all regions in England.
70% of the tutoring cost is subsidised by the National Tutoring Programme with schools paying the remaining 30%.
We provide the tutor for your school
As part of the National Tutoring Programme, FFT will recruit the tutor for your school. Our tutors will be experienced Teaching Assistants or Qualified Teachers with experience of working with primary school pupils
We will find the right tutor for your school with the tutor recruitment process including full background and employment checks, interviews, references and DBS clearance.
FFT’s tutor will work as part of your school’s staff team for six weeks. The tutor will work with around 36 pupils, delivering 9 tutoring sessions each day (4 pupils in each session and 30 minutes per session).
Once the six-week tutoring period has been completed with FFT’s tutor, you will have the option to continue using Tutoring with the Lightning Squad for another 10 weeks with your pupils, using your own teaching assistants as tutors (we will train your teaching assistants to continue with the tutoring).
£75 per pupil
with the 70% NTP subsidy
15 hours’ tutoring
over 6 weeks with daily 30-minute tutoring sessions
How much does the tutoring cost?
With the 70% subsidy from the National Tutoring Programme, the tutoring costs £75 per pupil for the school. This provides daily 30-minute tutoring sessions for 6 weeks and 15 hours’ tutoring per pupil.
Most schools will register around 36 pupils for FFT Tutoring with the Lightning Squad so that the tutor can work full-time in your school as part of your staff team for six weeks.
The cost for tutoring 36 pupils for 6 weeks will be £2,700 for the school with the remaining £6,300 being paid for by the National Tutoring Programme subsidy (so £9,000 in total).
Join the Lightning Squad
FFT Tutoring with the Lighting Squad has now been approved by the National Tutoring Programme for primary schools in all regions in England.
Please register your school's interest here to find out more or get started
Alternatively you can phone us on 01446 776262 to talk about how the tutoring could work for your school.
Interested in joining as a tutor?
Please register your interest with our recruitment partner, Operam Education Group.
Success for All (UK) joined with FFT in September 2021. FFT is a non-profit organisation with 20 years’ experience in supporting schools with literacy and improving educational outcomes. We believe that success in life is built on a solid foundation of learning. A first critical step is to learn how to read. From our research we know that children who cannot read at the expected standard by the end of Year 2 have a much lower chance of achieving a Grade 4 or above in GCSE English. Our mission is to give all children a solid, full start to literacy and learning to read.
Our Success for All programmes provide schools with evidence-based literacy programmes which are fully aligned to the National Curriculum and help schools to teach English from Reception to the end of Key Stage 3. Our literacy programmes have been proven to be effective in a wide range of schools, including those schools with a high proportion of disadvantaged children.
Operam is an agglomeration of four highly respected teacher and school workforce recruitment organisations (Provide Education, The Education Specialists, Teachers UK and Key Stage Teacher Supply). They have 20 years’ experience of understanding what schools need and how best to support them, providing around 150,000 teaching days to schools each year.