“It felt quite overwhelming at times,” Laila explains as she talks about her experience of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. “At one stage my internet stopped working and I just had no idea what to do.”
Laila collected her GCSE results today. Despite the enormous challenges she faced over the past 18 months, she managed to get a 6 in Maths.
Getting tutored in Maths
Laila and her tutor really get along. “I think we have an amazing relationship actually,” Laila tells us. Laila is tutored in Maths. “Before I met her I was working at a grade 4. Now I’m working at grade 6 thanks to her. It was a shaky subject for me but she’s really built my confidence.”
In March 2020 Laila got COVID-19 and was extremely sick. “My tutor was there for me – she told me to focus on getting better first and then we could continue with tutoring when I was better.”
Learning from home
Learning from home has been very challenging for a lot of our students and Laila is no exception. She has quite a few siblings and as the oldest she was sometimes responsible for not only her own education, but theirs as well during the lockdowns.
“I felt like I was under so much pressure.” At one stage she spoke to her tutor about it. “She was super flexible with me, in fact she changed our days so that she could help me over the weekend as that was a more convenient time for me.”
The future for Laila
Laila was feeling excited about results day when we spoke to her the day before. She just wanted to make the grades needed so she could go to her “dream sixth form college” – Woodhouse College. And she did!
She also looks forward to the days when people can travel as normal. “I want to go to Nigeria to see my aunties and uncles there.”