On Friday 1st June, several Kumon Centres from the Bristol region held a High-Level Students Awards Ceremony at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, where the awards were presented by the Lord Mayor of Bristol. In attendance were 17 specially selected students, ranging from Year 4 to Year 12, who have had great success in the Kumon programmes. The centres involved were: Bradley Stoke, Fishponds, Hanham, Portishead, Thornbury, Westbury-on-Trym, Redland, Ashton and St George.
Each of the students was presented with a certificate by Cllr Cleo Lake, the Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Bristol, before being treated to a special VIP ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Bristol Museum. The regional manager for Kumon, Andrew Holder, praised the achievements of the students, saying:
“For outstanding students you need three things – great parents, great students and great instructors. Without that combination it just doesn’t work and in this room I believe we are blessed with having that great combination.”
Two students attending the ceremony, Savyo and Charlotte, were from the Bradley Stoke Kumon Centre and local instructor Sarah Nutchey has told us more about their respective Kumon journeys…
Savyo is now in Year 6 at school and has been a student of both the maths and English Kumon programmes since he was in Year 2. Before he started Kumon, he was getting very little homework from school and his parents wanted him to have a daily focus. All Kumon students begin their Kumon journey with a comfortable starting point; a level of work which will be relatively easy to complete in order to develop the daily study routine. Savyo started on the early levels of the programmes, getting the basics of number formation and early reading skills. Over the course of the last four years, he has made excellent progress in both subjects, reaching levels where he is studying algebra and developing high level comprehension and summarization skills whilst still at primary school.
Savyo’s mother says he enjoys coming to his Kumon class, although he has a lot to fit into his week because he also does swimming and piano lessons. When he first started Kumon he was quite shy but he has gained in confidence and his teachers have commented at school how much his maths in particular has improved. Savyo’s parents bring him to the Kumon centre twice a week and at home they mark his daily work and ensure his corrections are done. His success with Kumon is due to his hard work and the diligence of his parents’ support.
Charlotte started the Kumon Maths Programme just over two years ago. Her mother said that she wanted Charlotte to study Kumon because she had come home from school not feeling confident with maths and her mother wanted to make sure this didn’t continue to be a problem for her. Charlotte’s comfortable starting point on the Maths Programme was learning the basics of addition, and she is now studying four operations with positive and negative numbers and algebra, which is significantly ahead of the work she is doing in Year 5 at school. It is clear that her school have noticed her progress, confidence and achievements, as Charlotte was given an end of year award and medal for shining in maths last year.
Charlotte’s mother acknowledged that Kumon does require a big commitment from both the student and the parent in order for good progress to be made, and that it can be hard to continue with the routine during school holidays and time away, but sticking with it and showing dedication will bring excellent results. Charlotte’s mother said she really enjoyed the ceremony and seeing behind the scenes at the museum and that Charlotte is very proud of her achievement and really wants to show off her certificate at school.
If you would like further information about the Kumon Programmes, visit www.kumon.co.uk or contact Sarah Nutchey, instructor at the Kumon Bradley Stoke Centre, on 01454 610389 or via email at bradleystoke@kumoncentre.co.uk
