About Us
Our mIssion
To enable all of our students to reach their potential
Our History
Read The Question tutoring services was first established in 2000 by Joanne Austin, a mother of two living in Hebden Bridge. Having met with and spoken to many parents, there was a universal feeling that there wasn’t a tutoring service which offered a bespoke learning programme for each child. And thus, Read The Question was born.
Now in its twentieth year, Read The Question has taught over 1,000 students, teaching each of them in a way which suits them. Whether they’re better being sat at a desk and completing mock papers, or whether they learn better through play and conversation, we tailor each method of teaching to each student.
We are proud to work with 11 schools in Calderdale, virtual schools and, also nine schools outside of Calderdale, to provide additional support to students with different learning styles, low confidence or who are reluctant to access education.
Research shows that children perform significantly better when they’re tutored one-to-one for their education, compared to students who are tutored in a traditional classroom setting. (Bloom, B; 1984)
Read The Question is a strong, diverse and outward-looking community.
One of the greatest strengths and most distinctive characteristics of Read The Question is the diversity of our community - socially, culturally, economically and geographically. Our students and staff value this diversity enormously: they learn a great deal from, and show great mutual respect for, each other. Our philosophy is perhaps nowhere better summed up than by the formation of Ask The Question, our sister community interest company.
We understand the importance of forging and nurturing links with communities beyond Hebden Bridge. We believe that our community is richer for the diversity of our network and enriched by what we can learn from others.
We are proud to have worked on set for The Railway Children Returns film, providing our high quality tuition to the child performers in 2021.
We provided our tuition on-set, providing a flexible service which was greatly appreciated by the students, as well as by the production crew and parents of the performers.
To find out more about our on-set tuition options for film and tv studios, contact us here.
Our Timeline
1996
Joanne Austin begins tutoring in Australia.
2000
Joanne sets up Read The Question from her home in Hebden Bridge.
2007
Read The Question moves to Garden Street in Hebden Bridge.
2017
Ask The Question is set up to provide students from disadvantaged backgrounds with lessons to aid their education. The programme has helped around 80 children so far, and is funded entirely by donations.
now
Joanne and her team of tutors and assistants provide lessons for students 6 days a week. They work with a variety of students in Calderdale and beyond.
Our Values
Expertise
To offer a wide variety of different courses and tutoring options with high levels of expertise in each field
Mentoring
To not only be a mentor to students in terms of their academic lives, but also act as a personal mentor for their individual development
Goals
To set each student achievable and personalised goals to enable them to reach their potential
Individual
To offer a bespoke style of tutoring for each student, with courses and teaching tailored to their abilities
Community
To create Read The Question as a community within the wider community, with every one of our students feeling part of our family atmosphere, and to further offer help to students from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds
Holistic
To focus on the development of the whole student, as opposed to a solo focus on academic achievements
Why we don’t publish our results…
At Read The Question we do not publish or advertise our students results as we believe that these are achieved through individual commitment and hard work and belong to the student, not us. Furthermore, we believe that every student can and will, given the right motivation and support, achieve their potential. By supporting all of our students equally in achieving their goals, whether that is a grammar school place, a top University, or a hard won pass at GCSE we endeavour to create a safe space where everyone can set themselves challenging goals without fear of 'failure' and receive tailored guidance to help them reach their potential.