Has anyone used private tutors for their kids?
Discussion
My son is 10 and will be starting his last year at Junior school in September. We live in a good area and the local comprehensive is (or was) highly regarded.
In the last year there appears to have been a mass exodus of his best friends at school to other schools in the area or on to fee paying schools. This is a great shame for him and his school work has suffered as a result.
I got chatting to some of the parents and it seems that there is a lot of pressure on school places going forward and families are biting the bullet and moving their kids to private schools rather than face their kids being streamed into one of the lower sets at the comprehensive. I was also surprised at the number of his friends who have private tutors.
This appears to be a crucial period in his development so I am wondering if getting in a private tutor for one or two days a week will help? does anyone else have experience of using them and has it helped?
In the last year there appears to have been a mass exodus of his best friends at school to other schools in the area or on to fee paying schools. This is a great shame for him and his school work has suffered as a result.
I got chatting to some of the parents and it seems that there is a lot of pressure on school places going forward and families are biting the bullet and moving their kids to private schools rather than face their kids being streamed into one of the lower sets at the comprehensive. I was also surprised at the number of his friends who have private tutors.
This appears to be a crucial period in his development so I am wondering if getting in a private tutor for one or two days a week will help? does anyone else have experience of using them and has it helped?
Yes we've had one for the last 3 months in the run up to his SATs, just one night a week for an hour focusing on the area he needed a bit of extra help on. It was easy to organise as she's a friend, a teacher, and her son is one year older so she went through the same process last year.
According to his teacher it has helped. He was struggling a bit with the interpreting and reasoning questions in literacy so she has just focused on this for the whole time, and he's noticeably improved.
My wife and I do plenty with him, homework, reading, other practice papers etc, but just felt a bit of extra help from somebody who knows how to teach would be no bad thing.
He seems to have (reasonably) enjoyed it for the most part, and can tell the questions are getting easier so knows it's working.
According to his teacher it has helped. He was struggling a bit with the interpreting and reasoning questions in literacy so she has just focused on this for the whole time, and he's noticeably improved.
My wife and I do plenty with him, homework, reading, other practice papers etc, but just felt a bit of extra help from somebody who knows how to teach would be no bad thing.
He seems to have (reasonably) enjoyed it for the most part, and can tell the questions are getting easier so knows it's working.
I had one when I was a nipper, once a week for maths, and otherwise I wouldn't have a maths A level!
Friend is a tutor in a few different things, and says that often just a different "style" of teaching the same thing can totally transform the kids learning - "Well, think of it like this, instead", rather than the teachers scripted way of teaching. Has had pretty amazing results - kids going from a "D" to an "A" in 3 months of 1 hour a week plus a little homework.
Friend is a tutor in a few different things, and says that often just a different "style" of teaching the same thing can totally transform the kids learning - "Well, think of it like this, instead", rather than the teachers scripted way of teaching. Has had pretty amazing results - kids going from a "D" to an "A" in 3 months of 1 hour a week plus a little homework.
We've used mytutor.co.uk extensively over the last couple of years, before that we used another online tutor. My kids preferred the online tutoring as it enabled them to change subjects and have access to a broader range of tutors.
Cost was about the same as a skilled local F2F tutor, but the tutor is an under grad at Uni. The tutors we had have been excellent having said that, you just need to make sure their teaching style meshes with your children's learning style. With mytutor it was ideal for the kids to try out different tutors before committing.
For us it has made a massive difference, it is worth at least a GCSE grade for each subject they have had help for. For my son for Maths it helped propel him from set 4 to set 1 over two years, he finished 6th in the year in the recent mocks, and will now be studying Maths at A Level.
Cost was about the same as a skilled local F2F tutor, but the tutor is an under grad at Uni. The tutors we had have been excellent having said that, you just need to make sure their teaching style meshes with your children's learning style. With mytutor it was ideal for the kids to try out different tutors before committing.
For us it has made a massive difference, it is worth at least a GCSE grade for each subject they have had help for. For my son for Maths it helped propel him from set 4 to set 1 over two years, he finished 6th in the year in the recent mocks, and will now be studying Maths at A Level.
My kids are a little older and go to private school. Both of them have additional tutoring due to some challenges with some subjects/teachers.
We want our kids to have the best chances, so worth the extra costs. I see you are in Surrey and we use Wemms tutoring in Ashtead who are very good (not sure if that is anywhere near you).
CB
We want our kids to have the best chances, so worth the extra costs. I see you are in Surrey and we use Wemms tutoring in Ashtead who are very good (not sure if that is anywhere near you).
CB
272BHP said:
... families are biting the bullet and moving their kids to private schools rather than face their kids being streamed into one of the lower sets at the comprehensive.
Surely if the kids would only make lower sets in the comp then they're not going last long in private schools? Around us they get kicked out if their exam results are likely to less than impressive.Or are the private schools there short of pupils?
Regarding using a tutor, we did for one of our daughters but that was at A level, for maths. She lacked confidence more than anything else, and just wanted someone to talk through stuff with her.
Sheepshanks said:
Surely if the kids would only make lower sets in the comp then they're not going last long in private schools? Around us they get kicked out if their exam results are likely to less than impressive.
Or are the private schools there short of pupils?
Regarding using a tutor, we did for one of our daughters but that was at A level, for maths. She lacked confidence more than anything else, and just wanted someone to talk through stuff with her.
I am not really sure what is going on to be honest. I assume they got the private tutoring to enable them to pass intake tests at the fee paying schools. As to the private schools maybe financial pressures are forcing more kids into the state system going forward? Just speculation.Or are the private schools there short of pupils?
Regarding using a tutor, we did for one of our daughters but that was at A level, for maths. She lacked confidence more than anything else, and just wanted someone to talk through stuff with her.
I do know my son's school work has regressed quite significantly in the last few months and I need to address it somehow.
Sheepshanks said:
Surely if the kids would only make lower sets in the comp then they're not going last long in private schools? Around us they get kicked out if their exam results are likely to less than impressive.
Plenty thick kids in private schools too. Not all private schools are selective.I had a private Tutor to help me with my GCSE Maths. I went to a Grammar school and was doing well in all my other subjects but not maths.
First tutor was rubbish
Second tutor was amazing. She identified my problems and developed a method for me to understand the areas i struggled in.
I wouldn't have passed without her.
First tutor was rubbish
Second tutor was amazing. She identified my problems and developed a method for me to understand the areas i struggled in.
I wouldn't have passed without her.
Sheepshanks said:
Surely if the kids would only make lower sets in the comp then they're not going last long in private schools? Around us they get kicked out if their exam results are likely to less than impressive.
Wouldn't that depend on why the kid is in the lower set, are they at their natural ability level or is something else preventing them from progressing? My son made massive strides in Maths and smaller ones in other subjects to catch his sister up. Some of that is maturity, some of that is effort levels, but most is down to teaching style. Classroom teaching can't hope to get the teaching style right for all kids all the time.Not used one, my kids aren't old enough yet, but both my wife's parents are retired teachers, private tutoring seems to have given them quite a good income stream despite not really needing to work anymore. Her Dad was a maths teacher and is quite passionate about it, think he sees it as a massive personal failure if he doesn't succeed with the kids he is tutoring so on that front I suspect he's pretty good at it.
My daughter went to private school and she struggled with Maths. We considered a tutor but found that she made a lot of progress when we sat down and worked through her maths with her, perhaps it was more of a confidence issue.
Maths and Science is still not her strongest areas although she has taken three degrees at Edinburgh, Spanish Literature, Portuguese language and European Law. I saw the maths GCSE as an essential qualification but no more than that and knowing her character never expected it to be of any use to her than a tick box qualification.
Maths and Science is still not her strongest areas although she has taken three degrees at Edinburgh, Spanish Literature, Portuguese language and European Law. I saw the maths GCSE as an essential qualification but no more than that and knowing her character never expected it to be of any use to her than a tick box qualification.
I had one when I did my GCSE's. A different perspective makes a massive difference. I was obviously older than OP's son but I recall very clearly doing some maths question where you had to see when the trains would pass each other based on some sort of angles and speed etc. I remember the conversation...
me - 'it's just a stupid question, when would anyone ever need to work this out'?
him 'correct Zedstar, nobody cares about the train or when they meet. Infact theres very little of the GCSE's that will make a difference in your life. The point of this is to display that you fully understand whats going on. If you feel offended by the question then find out who writes the papers, call them up and tell them. Thats totally fine. You need to focus your attention to what these exams do, they give you the best chance of getting a decent university place, a decent sixth form etc. Nobody will ask you about the train, but everyone who might make a difference to your education will want to know your marks. You get that?'
The above seems remarkably obvious now but as a spotty 16 year old I didn't get it. What he said made sense so I did actually use his tips and worked harder without a chip on my shoulder. I'm not academically gifted or anything neither did i ever get amazing marks but I remember 3 teachers in the first week of sixth form telling me how pleasantly surprised they were with my GCSE's. I was too.
me - 'it's just a stupid question, when would anyone ever need to work this out'?
him 'correct Zedstar, nobody cares about the train or when they meet. Infact theres very little of the GCSE's that will make a difference in your life. The point of this is to display that you fully understand whats going on. If you feel offended by the question then find out who writes the papers, call them up and tell them. Thats totally fine. You need to focus your attention to what these exams do, they give you the best chance of getting a decent university place, a decent sixth form etc. Nobody will ask you about the train, but everyone who might make a difference to your education will want to know your marks. You get that?'
The above seems remarkably obvious now but as a spotty 16 year old I didn't get it. What he said made sense so I did actually use his tips and worked harder without a chip on my shoulder. I'm not academically gifted or anything neither did i ever get amazing marks but I remember 3 teachers in the first week of sixth form telling me how pleasantly surprised they were with my GCSE's. I was too.
Robbo 27 said:
My daughter went to private school and she struggled with Maths. We considered a tutor but found that she made a lot of progress when we sat down and worked through her maths with her, perhaps it was more of a confidence issue.
Maths and Science is still not her strongest areas although she has taken three degrees at Edinburgh, Spanish Literature, Portuguese language and European Law. I saw the maths GCSE as an essential qualification but no more than that and knowing her character never expected it to be of any use to her than a tick box qualification.
We have tried teaching him but any attempt quickly dissolves into frustration and then tears. I think we need to try another option. He is a capable kid but simply refuses to apply himself when it comes to school work.Maths and Science is still not her strongest areas although she has taken three degrees at Edinburgh, Spanish Literature, Portuguese language and European Law. I saw the maths GCSE as an essential qualification but no more than that and knowing her character never expected it to be of any use to her than a tick box qualification.
272BHP said:
I am not really sure what is going on to be honest. I assume they got the private tutoring to enable them to pass intake tests at the fee paying schools. As to the private schools maybe financial pressures are forcing more kids into the state system going forward? Just speculation.
I would imagine you are right. I'm now 33 years old, and went to a state primary school, but my folks really wanted me to go to a private secondary school. We have a good one here in Farnborough (Salesian), and they didn't think I'd fit in at the local comprehensive (I was quiet, hard working and a bit geeky).
They went to see my teacher and told her, and she suggested about half a dozen books on verbal reasoning, and slightly more advanced maths for me to gen up on before the entrance exam - which I did, and I passed.
I didn't have a tutor, but got stuck into the books, and learned what I needed to.
My kids has a private tutor 1 evening a week for 6 months to help them with technique for the Grammar school entrance exam.
My daughter had a maths tutor for 2 hours a week for 6 months before her GCSE's mainly because she has dyspraxia and was struggling with the teaching style of her maths teacher.
Was it worth it? Well for GCSE maths it was, for the Grammar school exam, my son would have passed anyway, for my daughter it helped with the issues created by dyspraxia and Irelen syndrome.
My son now tutors my daughter for A level chemistry when he is home for the hols.
My daughter had a maths tutor for 2 hours a week for 6 months before her GCSE's mainly because she has dyspraxia and was struggling with the teaching style of her maths teacher.
Was it worth it? Well for GCSE maths it was, for the Grammar school exam, my son would have passed anyway, for my daughter it helped with the issues created by dyspraxia and Irelen syndrome.
My son now tutors my daughter for A level chemistry when he is home for the hols.
Edited by blueg33 on Tuesday 11th April 16:48
My other half is a Stats PhD, and is considering starting doing tutoring again after a few years break. Previously taught GCSE/A Level maths for a bit of beer money, took the kids from average or below grades to top marks, dunno how she remembered all thatexam stuff but it took a few months for me to dissuade her from going into teaching full time (currently a medical statistician).
So it does work - however you might need to chop and change a bit, previously her pupils had gone through a few tutors just because they didn't get on with them very well.
So it does work - however you might need to chop and change a bit, previously her pupils had gone through a few tutors just because they didn't get on with them very well.
We used a private tutor for my daughter, specifically for maths as she wanted to do it for A level and needed to boost her GCSE grade. It worked, she got A* at GCSE after a years tutoring. It also helped her with other subjects like physics.
However... when she got to A level she really struggled. And after a year dropped it getting a C at AS level.
This also applied to my nephew who went to the local grammar, tipped as A* for everything etc etc. Tutored up to the eyeballs then completely flunked exams. Didn't get into the sixth form and now very demoralised, upset parents etc etc
I guess the point is if a child needs tutoring as much as he and she did, you need to keep it up. And at some point it has to stop.
However... when she got to A level she really struggled. And after a year dropped it getting a C at AS level.
This also applied to my nephew who went to the local grammar, tipped as A* for everything etc etc. Tutored up to the eyeballs then completely flunked exams. Didn't get into the sixth form and now very demoralised, upset parents etc etc
I guess the point is if a child needs tutoring as much as he and she did, you need to keep it up. And at some point it has to stop.
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