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What Makes The Community Schools Different?

What Makes The Community Schools Different?

Written by Claire Meadows-Smith, founder of The Community Schools and an educator for more than 45 years.
If you’re looking into tutoring for the first time, or wondering whether to move from one provider to another, you’ve probably noticed that most websites say roughly the same things — experienced tutors, personalised learning, real results. It’s genuinely hard to tell providers apart from the outside. So this month, rather than write about a particular concern, I wanted to explain what we actually do, why this year’s A-Level and GCSE results were some of the strongest we’ve seen, and why families tend to stay with us once they start.

It started at a kitchen table

The Community Schools began more than 15 years ago, on a Saturday morning, with me tutoring a small handful of local children at my own kitchen table. It has grown into an organisation supporting more than 300 families every week, but the reason it grew was never a marketing plan. It grew because parents told other parents, and those families stayed.

We also operate as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, which means we’re structured, in law, to reinvest in the organisation and the families we serve rather than to maximise profit for shareholders. It isn’t something we talk about often, but I think it explains a lot about the decisions we make — including why we’ve always kept fees as fair as we can, and why the quality of teaching has never been something we’ve been willing to compromise on.

A summer worth mentioning

This year’s A-Level and GCSE results were genuinely some of the best we’ve seen. With average gains of 1.5 A Level Grades and 2 GCSE Levels on mock results. Others secured places at large universities — Leeds, Sheffield, York, Nottingham, UEA — after grades that, a year earlier, looked unlikely. None of that happens by accident, and none of it happens overnight. It’s the result of consistent, weekly support, delivered by tutors who know their subjects and know how to teach them.

Experience that actually shows up in the room

I’ve now spent more than 45 years in education, and every tutor who works with us brings real teaching experience of their own — strong subject knowledge, an understanding of what school actually expects, and an awareness of how emotional wellbeing affects learning. Many have experience supporting children with additional needs.
That experience shows up in small ways parents often mention: a tutor who notices a child has gone quiet in a session and gently checks in, rather than pressing on regardless. A tutor who can tell the difference between a student who doesn’t understand a topic and one who understands it but has lost confidence in showing it.

Support shaped around the child, not the other way round

One of the things I think genuinely sets us apart is the range of formats on offer, and the fact that we help families choose rather than expecting them to know in advance. Some children do best one-to-one, online or in person. Others thrive in a small group of three or four, where there’s a bit of peer energy and accountability alongside the teaching. Some need 40 focused minutes on one specific gap; others need a full 60 minutes to work through something in depth.
Home-educated families are part of this picture too. The Community Home Education Hub gives KS3 and KS4 home-educated students a calm, small-group setting for Maths, English and Science, with the same qualified, DBS-checked teaching and the same attention to individual pace — without ever trying to be a school.

What families actually tell us

I don’t like to lean too heavily on statistics, because behind every number is a specific child and a specific parent who took a chance on us. But the pattern in what families tell us afterwards is consistent. Parents describe tutors who are kind, respectful and extremely knowledgeable, sessions that helped a child understand concepts and feel much more confident, and, more than anything, a noticeable change in how a child talks about a subject they used to dread.

One parent told us their son had benefited from both group classes and one-to-one sessions, and that it had helped him both in terms of his self-confidence, his knowledge and application of skills. Another simply said the tutors were wonderful and very flexible, and that their daughter had moved up multiple grades. A recent end-of-term feedback form put it plainly: they’re not just tutors, they’re mentors.
I share these not to boast, but because I think it’s worth knowing what “personalised teaching” actually looks like in practice, rather than just reading the phrase on a website.

How to decide if it's right for your child

You genuinely don’t need to know in advance which format, subject or session length would suit your child. That’s exactly what our free planning call is for — a short conversation to understand what’s going on, what your child needs, and which option is likely to be the best fit, without any pressure to commit to anything on the spot.
Written by Claire Meadows-Smith Founder and Principal
About The Community Schools The Community Schools is a Suffolk-based, not-for-profit Community Interest Company supporting more than 300 families every week, working with more than 50 specialist tutors with years of teaching experience. Founded by Claire Meadows-Smith, who brings more than 45 years in education, we offer online and in-person tuition, one-to-one and small-group support, and The Community Home Education Hub for KS3 and KS4 home-educated students.
Not sure where to start? Book a free 20-minute planning call with Claire — you don’t need to know which service is right beforehand, that’s exactly what the call is for.

👉 Book a free 20-minute planning call:

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