Blog, News & Case Studies
A year long elite tuition support in schools- closing the lockdown gap.
Tuition as an alternative education
The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Schools
Welcome to The National Tutor Register
Conflicting views on school remote learning
Family Conflict- Why It Matters More Than We Think And What We Can Do About It
Family life isn’t always harmonious. Disagreements, stress, and tension are part of everyday relationships. But when conflict becomes frequent, intense, or unresolved, the impact on children can be profound—and often overlooked.
A new initiative by Coram is shining a light on this issue with the launch of a free Family Harmony Toolkit, designed to support professionals working with families. The aim? To reduce the harmful effects of family conflict on children’s mental health and wellbeing.
The Hidden Impact of Conflict on Children
It’s easy to assume that children are resilient or unaware of adult disagreements. In reality, research shows the opposite. Ongoing conflict—especially when poorly managed—can significantly affect a child’s emotional and psychological development.
Children exposed to high levels of conflict are more likely to experience anxiety and low mood, behavioural difficulties, problems with relationships later in life, lower academic engagement and outcomes
Importantly, it’s not separation or family structure that causes the most harm—it’s the level and nature of conflict within the home.
Introducing the Family Harmony Toolkit
The newly launched toolkit offers a practical, evidence-informed approach for professionals such as teachers, social workers, and family support practitioners.
Developed by Coram’s Creative Therapies team, the resource provides structured session guides and activities, techniques drawn from family therapy, music therapy, and art therapy, flexible delivery options (group work, individual sessions, or whole-family approaches), strategies to improve communication, emotional regulation, and understanding within families.
The toolkit is based on the Family Harmony Intervention, a programme that focuses on strengthening relationships and building emotional resilience in creative and engaging ways.
Why This Matters for Education and Child Development
For educators and those working in child development, this toolkit is particularly relevant. Family conflict often manifests in the classroom through behaviour, concentration issues, or emotional distress.
Understanding the root cause—rather than just the symptoms—can transform how professionals respond. By addressing family dynamics, practitioners can support children more holistically, work collaboratively with parents and carers, reduce long-term mental health risks.
A Strengths-Based Approach
One of the most encouraging aspects of this initiative is its strengths-based philosophy. Rather than focusing solely on problems, the toolkit helps families build healthier communication patterns, develop empathy and understanding, strengthen emotional connections.
Feedback from families involved in the programme highlights improved relationships, better communication, and a stronger sense of connection within the family unit.
Moving Forward: Early Support is Key
Family conflict is not uncommon—but its effects don’t have to be inevitable. With the right tools and early intervention, families can learn to manage disagreements in healthier ways that protect children’s wellbeing.
This free toolkit represents an important step forward in bridging the gap between research and real-world practice. It empowers professionals—and families themselves—to turn conflict into an opportunity for growth rather than harm. Supporting children’s mental health doesn’t start in the classroom or clinic—it starts at home. And sometimes, the most powerful intervention is helping families learn how to communicate, connect, and cope together.
📣 Public Announcement from The National Tutor Register 📣
with Dr.Vasiliki Kontou
We are pleased to share the culmination of an extensive doctoral research journey that has laid the foundation for a vital new initiative in the education sector. The National Tutor Register is proud to emerge from this academic endeavour with a mission to help regulate and elevate the private tuition market across the UK with a global perspective. This project seeks to unite tutors, parents, students, and schools through shared values of quality, transparency, and collaboration.
The research behind this work identified the urgent need for national coherence, ethical guidance, and recognition of the vital role that tutoring plays in today’s educational landscape. Ιt explored systemic challenges in the sector and proposed a structured, value-led framework. Thus, the National Tutor Register has been designed to foster a trusted ecosystem built on trust, transparency, and educational excellence where learners thrive and educators are supported.
Private tuition, when supported by ethical standards and inclusive dialogue, can be a powerful force in narrowing identified educational gaps and enriching learning for all.
The National Tutor Register initiative will be rolled out in carefully designed phases. The first phase, which begins today, is a warm invitation to esteemed individuals, thought leaders, parents, businesses, and members of the wider education community to express their interest in joining our Advisory Boards. This phase will play a crucial role in shaping our direction, standards, and vision as your insights and lived experience will help shape a national conversation of standards that reflect the diversity and aspirations of the communities we serve.
Subsequent phases will include the launch of a specialist CPD subscription programme, an interactive register hub, podcast series, applied research projects, and an evolving menu of support services and opportunities for collaboration and partnership development.
Together, we can create a space where quality tutoring is accessible, credible, and connected. To express interest or learn more, please visit www.thenationaltutorregister.co.uk
A New Definition of Dyslexia: What Has Changed—and Why It Matters
For years, dyslexia has been widely understood through frameworks like the 2009 Rose Review. But in 2026, a new Delphi definition of dyslexia has emerged—developed through international expert consensus—and it’s beginning to reshape how we understand, identify, and support learners. So what’s actually new? And why does it matter for educators, parents, and professionals?
Moving Beyond Old Assumptions
The new definition describes dyslexia as a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling
At first glance, that may sound familiar. But the shift is deeper than wording—it reflects a more nuanced, evidence-based understanding.
Earlier definitions often focused on a gap between intelligence and attainment, English-language learners, children rather than lifelong development. The new definition challenges all three. It recognises that dyslexia is not dependent on IQ discrepancies, occurs across languages and throughout life, exists on a continuum of severity, not a fixed category. This is a significant shift toward inclusivity and realism.
The Central Role of Processing
At the heart of the new definition is a focus on cognitive processing, particularly phonological processing (working with sounds in language), working memory, processing speed, orthographic processing (recognising written word patterns).
Phonological difficulties remain the most common feature—but crucially, they are not the whole story. This helps explain why dyslexia can look very different from one learner to another.
Fluency Takes Centre Stage
One of the most important developments is the emphasis on reading and spelling fluency, not just accuracy. This means a student may read correctly but still be dyslexic if reading is slow and effortful. Older learners and adults are better recognised. Assessment becomes more sensitive to real-life learning demands. Across languages and age groups, fluency is now seen as a key marker of dyslexia.
Dyslexia Is Complex—and Often Overlapping
Another major step forward is the acknowledgement that dyslexia rarely exists in isolation. The new definition highlights frequent co-occurrence with ADHD, Developmental language disorder, Dyscalculia, Developmental coordination disorder. This encourages a more holistic view of learners, rather than trying to fit individuals into a single label.
The Delphi approach doesn’t just redefine dyslexia—it also reshapes how we identify it. Rather than relying on a single test or threshold, the process now emphasises identifying reading/spelling difficulties, ruling out other causes, providing early support, monitoring response to intervention, referring for specialist assessment if needed. This is a move toward a graduated, responsive model, aligning closely with current SEND practice in the UK.
Why This Matters for Education
For teachers, SENCOs, and tutors, this new definition has real implications:
1. Broader Identification
More learners—especially those who compensate well—may now be recognised.
2. Earlier Intervention
The focus shifts from “waiting for failure” to acting on early signs.
3. More Individualised Support
Understanding multiple processing factors leads to more tailored strategies.
4. Reduced Misconceptions
The definition challenges myths (e.g. dyslexia = visual issues or “seeing words backwards”).
Perhaps the most important takeaway is the new definition doesn’t narrow dyslexia—it opens it up. It recognises diversity in how dyslexia presents, the lifelong nature of the difficulty, the need for flexible, responsive support. And importantly, it ensures that those already identified as dyslexic remain valid under the new framework.
The Delphi definition marks a turning point. It brings together research, professional expertise, and lived experience to create a clearer, more practical understanding of dyslexia. For education professionals, the message is simple Dyslexia is not just about reading errors—it’s about how individuals process language, and how we respond to support them.