Nitty Gritty Learning

Lynda Kempsey
www.nittygrittylearning.co.uk

“ I think the awards evening was a real acknowledgement for small businesses that someone is taking an interest in their efforts and recognising their achievements. It gives an injection of enthusiasm for the next step in our plans - especially after seeing the criteria that other longer standing finalists were awarded for. The advice from the Enterprise Agency has always been top quality for its practical and strategic approach. My mentor at the agency, Anne-Marie, is not only an experienced and highly competent adviser, but a lovely, approachable woman who makes a three hour meeting fly by in no time with a lot of laughs along the way. ”

Nitty Gritty Learning was established last September by ex English teacher Lynda Kempsey who has twenty years experience as a successful English teacher, fourteen of these as Head of English and Literacy Coordinator in secondary schools. As well as teaching, she is a training provider for staff wishing to raise achievement in English or across the curriculum through Literacy and Functional Skills.

With her passion for teaching, combined with having two pre school children, she decided to set up her own business to give her the flexibility she needed.

Nitty Gritty aims to raise achievement in English and other subjects through Literacy and Functional Skills. The company’s ethos aims to teach ‘in a way that both deepens the understanding of how we learn, and inspires and restores your passion for reading, writing, speaking and listening’.

In just over nine months Nitty Gritty has grown from one customer, a school in Newcastle, to seven schools, all on word of mouth recommendation and the schools have seen a big rise in grades. Lynda’s aim is to turn Nitty Gritty into the centre of excellence for English teaching.

As well as training children in English literacy between the ages of 11-16 Nitty Gritty offers bespoke training for staff through flexible packages and modules, which fit in around school timetables. Bespoke training could include an allocated training day in school, an after school meeting or during teaching time to devise intervention strategies for targeted groups. There are also out of school training days at Nitty Gritty’s training base in Stanhope. The company also offers a longer-term training plan where delegates can be sent to conferences five times a year and the package price includes the newsletter.

Nitty Gritty also sells resources and study aids over the website and has a subscriber based e newsletter which helps to market its brand, “The Nitty Gritty”, is ‘aimed at sharing learning tips, inspirational ideas and ways of implementing the new orders across the curriculum and publicising creative talent’.

The newsletter is issued three times over the academic year and goes to 120 schools and is also posted onto the schools’ intranet learning system due to its useful tips and revision aids.