Tutoring programme helps Somali children

A tutoring programme is helping children from settled Somali families achieve GCSE results in line with and above the national average.

Power Education, based at the University of Bristol's micro campus in Barton Hill, provides maths, science and English support to secondary school pupils for whom English is not their first language.

The programme was founded by Ilyass Kudiyirickal and Simon Neville from the university's School of Education in 2023 after they identified a cultural gap between families and schools that was causing some young people to fall behind.

"We realised there was a big gap between the family and the children," said Kudiyirickal.

"I decided to close the gap and make a link between family and education."

Ilyass was born in Djibouti and trained as a water engineer in France before he moved to Bristol in 2012 and later worked as a science technician.

Now a Science Teacher at Ashton Park School, he has teamed up with Simon to create the programme, which offers extra tuition, mentoring and guidance outside school hours.

Power Education supports about 100 pupils aged 11 to 16 each week, all of whom came from refugee families who are now citizens.

"The success here is based on how young people and their families relate to Ilyass," said Simon.

"To be taught by someone who looks like them and is truly invested in the community makes a real difference."

Last autumn, a report by the University of Bristol found many students joined the programme with low to medium literacy levels, and many did not read at home.

The report found that after taking part, maths results were above the national average, while English language results matched national outcomes.

"Now I can reach goals that I thought were impossible before," said 16-year-old Ayaan.

"Power Education boosted my self-esteem and confidence," said Sadane, also 16.

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