Why-getting-the-right-tutor-is-key-to-successful-tuition

With so many sites advertising tutors on the internet, getting the right tutor can be like finding a needle in a haystack, and getting the right tutor for your child is absolutely key for maximising the success of tutoring. Many sites advertise university students with stunning academic credentials, but are they able to teach? Not everyone is. This is particularly important if you’re looking for tuition at primary age as the methods taught (as you may have already realised) are very different from how you were taught. Experience of the marking schemes of exams is also key to maximising grades. Picking a tutor from a list of pictures and some information is a bit like (I guess) Tinder or Grindr. There are better ways! And last but by no means least, how can you be sure that they are a safe person to be working with your child?

Academic qualifications and teaching experience

I do realise that we have a biased view at Tutor My Kids because it was founded by a teacher and almost all our tutors are qualified teachers. Teachers spend years presenting information in ways which make it easier for the students to learn, adapting until they find an approach that works for each student. Highly qualified students lack the experience to be able to do this and can lack the ability to engage with students who find it hard when they have found it so easy. With the new 9-1 GCSEs and A levels, knowledge of the new curriculum and marking schemes is of particular importance now.

Understanding of the exam marking schemes

Understanding the marking schemes has always been important but with the new GCSE and A levels, it’s even more important to understand the marking schemes and grade boundaries. At Tutor My Kids, our tutors know the new marking schemes and can advise where to write at length and where to write concisely to ensure the maximum number of marks are obtained. Technical vocabulary and language is a key part of the exams now and incorporating the correct terms can make a noticeable difference to the number of marks awarded. Applying subject knowledge to a problem is a new facet of the exams too, so students need to understand their subjects very well. They also need to be able to apply this knowledge to other contexts and problems.

Attitude, Rapport and Trust

The attitude of the tutor and the rapport that they build with your child is probably the most important factor that affects the success of the tuition. At Tutor My Kids, we’re all driven by wanting to help; for us and our tutors, money is not our or their primary motivator at all, it’s a real desire to make a difference. Because we’re small and because of the processes we go through before we start tuition, we get exceptionally good matches with our students and tutors – look at our testimonials and tutor testimonials for a feel. Kids find it hard to ask questions in class, so it is so important that they’re working with someone they trust and have a good rapport with.

Safeguarding

As teachers, safeguarding is rather hard-wired into us. At Tutor My Kids, all our teachers have a current enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service Check). This means that any criminal convictions, spent or not, are disclosed to judge if they are safe to work with children or vulnerable adults. We also take up recent references which include any questions about any safeguarding concerns. For our teachers, we’re also able to check their qualified teacher status (QTS) and ensure that they’ve not been ‘struck off’. We are as thorough as we can be in preventing unsuitable and unsafe tutors from tutoring children.

Get in touch

We love welcoming teachers into our happy team, if you’re interested in becoming a tutor, please take a look at our tutor page, and Are-you-a-teacher-who-has-forgotten-what-a-joy-teaching-is.  For information on finding a tutor, please see our parents page, email Rachel or call Rachel Law on 01223 858123.