Parallel Lines Education

🤩😍🙌🥳 These are the 4 emojis that have been used the most from parents and students today!

I'm so proud of every single one of my students - they have all made incredible progress, some going up 2 grades from their mocks!

If you're thinking about maths tuition for your child in Bradford or Leeds, or online, drop me a message to be added to the waiting list.
I specialise in tutoring autistic students and students with SEND too 😊

"Did you pass?"
A reminder ahead of GCSE results day tomorrow that a grade 4 is a standard pass. That doesn't mean grades 1-3 are fails. A 'fail' (U) is less than grade 1.
Success is different for every learner. There are students who will be over the moon with a grade 1-3, so let's be mindful of that in the language we use on Thursday.
If someone can get the media on board too, even better 😆

I'm currently fully booked for after school tuition until June 2027 - if you think you might want a maths tutor for your child next year, please get in touch now to secure a place on the waiting list!

We don't do it for recognition, but when you receive such a thoughtful gift, it's good to know you're doing good in the world!

I was privileged to be the first person to engage G in education since he left mainstream 2 years ago. Over 9 months, I've watched the real him emerge and seen his parents finally be able to relax, knowing he's not just surviving, but thriving.

This is what tuition and alternative provision can do.
It's where evidence-based strategies, carefully thought out lessons and experience combine with warmth, humour, and authenticity. And when you get that combination right, the impact is huge.

Non-school is out for summer! I hope you and your families all have a great one! ☀️

(shared with permission with names initialised ❤️)

I really really hope this was deliberate 😆

"I wonder how many fish we could fit in this room...?"

These silly questions are such a great way to engage a student with a PDA profile and cover a bunch of skills and subject topics at the same time.

And I tell you what, making it sound like a random thought that has just popped into my mind with no planning, even though I just happened to have a tape measure in my bag...I can hear the Oscars calling 😆

It was 54,000 fish if you're interested. Not sure how we'd get them, how we'd get them in, and what the smell would be like in 30 degree heat, but yeah, 54,000.

Me as a tutor: you MUST MUST MUST show your working.

Me as an examiner: WHY MUST YOU SHOW ALL YOUR WORKING, WHYYYYY???!

I love this time of year when I have first sessions with students and get feedback from parents!
Students are always buzzing after their initial session - that's my job ❤️

😰Before the first online session😰
It's going to be weird...What if she asks me stuff I can't do?...I won't know what to say...I'm not having my camera on...What if she thinks I'm stupid?

😃After the first online session😃
That was brilliant and actually not weird at all...I feel so much better...I want to do it every week...I learned stuff... She's actually really nice...I'm glad I didn't need my camera on...I feel like I can do maths now! Yeah, she's actually funny*

*I use my best jokes in the first session. I'll be honest, it's downhill from there.

An honour to bring joy to this family! These words from Sam show just how much of a difference the team at Sowing Seeds Tuition and Wellbeing can make. Being there for the whole family is what alternative provision is all about.
It's so wonderful to tutor this incredible young person, meet his needs, and see him thrive. I just wish the process wasn't so difficult to get to that stage.

EOTIS SAVED MY BOY BUT NEARLY BROKE ME IN THE PROCESS

I’m preparing for Garak’s annual review of his EHCP, and it feels incredibly bittersweet 😢.

On one hand, I am so deeply grateful for how far he has come in the last year. The progress he has made since burnout, since the darkness, honestly feels remarkable. There was a time when my wonderful, beautiful, smart and funny boy felt lost to us for a while. He was still there, of course he was, but buried under so much distress, so much overwhelm, so much pain.

And it was bad.

Really bad.

As I sit preparing for this annual review, I have found myself in tears more than once. It has brought so much back. The trauma of where we have been. The fear. The helplessness. The grief. Because that is part of this too - grieving the part of childhood that was lost to survival. A chunk of his childhood that should have looked so different, and that we will never get back.

But alongside that grief is something else: joy. Real, deep, overwhelming joy at where he is now. ✨

Securing EOTIS for my son was one of the proudest moments of my life. I had to overcome my fear of study to learn SEND law. I had to fight against every people-pleasing instinct in me and push back when it would have been so much easier to stay quiet. I had to keep going when I felt broken myself 💔.

And if I am honest, it took something from me to get there.

But I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Because now I get to watch my boy experience the joy of learning again, with the most wonderful tutors at Sowing Seeds Tuition and Wellbeing. People who truly see him. People who have taken the time to understand him, to meet him where he is, and to make him feel safe enough to let his guard down.

There has been no higher moment for me this past year than receiving this message from one of his tutors Parallel Lines Education:

“I need to tell you how happy your boy was today! He seemed so secure and just at total peace. Hearing him genuinely laugh and having all his walls down is just wonderful to see. It felt like I was seeing the real Garak for the whole session today! Just a happy happy boy that was always in there.”

That message will stay with me forever.

Because when you have been to the depths of despair, when you have felt hopeless over the most important thing in your life - your child - the people who come into your world and help your child feel safe, seen, peaceful and happy again leave a mark on your heart forever.

So today, as I prepare for this annual review, I am holding both things at once.

The sorrow of what was lost.
And the joy of what has been found again.

I said goodbye to 4 families in one day today.
These are homes I've been invading with my presence for 3-4 years.
Students who have shared their lives, their stories and have grown into remarkable young people (and also made incredible progress in their maths!).

Also had to say goodbye to 6 dogs.

I am not okay 😭