How-long-should-my-child-have-a-tutor-for?

How long you engage a tutor for will very largely depend upon the outcome or purpose of the tuition and the academic starting point of your child. Tutor My Kids provides tutors in Ely, Cambridge and surrounding areas and work with a huge variety of students from age 6 to 18.

Purpose and outcomes of tuition

There are many reasons that you might choose to engage a tutor to work with your child. It might be because of upcoming exams where you’ll need a GCSE tutor to support your child through the exams, or following a dyslexia or dyscalculia screening or assessment or concerns raised by your child’s school teacher that they’re below expectations for their age. The length of time that you work with a tutor can vary hugely, depending on the reason for seeking help in the meantime.

For GCSE tuition, we tend to suggest that year 10 is a good time to start looking at this. It’s not unusual at Tutor My Kids for all our GCSE tutors in key subjects to be fully booked by September of the year preceding the exams, so it’s good to think about this sooner rather than later. It may be that in fact, your child doesn’t actually need help until year 11, but by getting in touch with a tutor or tutoring company early, you can get on a waiting list early. Equally, if they’re struggling and not keeping up, there may be value in doing some groundwork in year 9 to put them in the best possible position to succeed in years 10 and 11.

You may find out at a parental consultation or end of term report that your child has fallen behind and is below age-related expectations. This means that they’ve not attained the knowledge and skills that would be expected for their year group. There may be many reasons for this: summer-born children can be behind because they’re younger and less mature when they start school, your child may have missed school due to illness when some key areas were taught – this is particularly prevalent with maths and can create maths gaps (take a look at maths gaps – why they occur and the problems they cause). There may also be general or specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, global delay, ADHD, Autistic Spectrum disorders which make it much harder for students to concentrate, process information, retain information and therefore be at or ahead of age-related expectations.

Dyslexia, dyscalculia and other learning difficulties can make it really hard for students to learn at the same rate as other students.

Length of tuition

The length of time that you have a tutor is really largely dependent on their academic starting point. For GCSE tuition, if they’re just a grade off where they need to be, to start in year 11 is usually fine. If they’re well below the level that they need to be in year 11, then earlier intervention is invariably better.

If your child is behind because of gaps, and no learning issues, then tuition usually fills those gaps and no further tuition is needed after that initial period, unless other gaps in learning occur.

Learning difficulties, such as dyslexia and dyscalculia can make it incredibly hard for students to keep up at school and it’s not unusual for attainment to remain below expectations for many years, through no fault of the student, teacher or parents without help. Additional tuition can make it easier for your child to learn and retain the information. One-to-one tuition can make a massive difference in situations such as this, but often this help will be needed for many years in order to get the students the grades they need to pursue their goals.

If you’d like more information on dyslexia or dyscalculia screening, or tuition please contact Tutor My Kids at hello@tutormykids.co.uk or call the office on 01223 858421.

If you’re a teacher who is interested in beoming a tutor in Ely, Cambridge, Newmarket or Huntingdon, please take a look at our tutor page and get in touch by email to arrange an informal chat to discover if it might fit with your present commitments.

Daytime-tuition-the-game-changer-to-make-private-tuition-an-alternative-to-classroom-teaching

Tutoring during the daytime can be the real game-changer when considering if you could earn enough from tuition alone. Tutor My Kids, provide one-to-one tutors in Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon and Newmarket for private and school clients. We’re increasingly working with local schools and have opportunities for great teachers to teach some fabulous kids during the daytime.

Daytime work

We support schools in Cambridgeshire with a variety of teaching and tutors during the daytime, during the school day. Students have the benefit of additional teaching from our private tutors in Cambridge, Ely and surrounding areas. Sometimes these sessions of tuition are at local schools and sometimes they are in the parents/carers’ homes.

These students are having extra lessons for a variety of reasons: additional sessions to supplement their learning ahead of exams, teaching outside of the classroom because they’re unable to join mainstream classes. Often this is due to anxiety and occasionally due to behaviour. The interesting thing is that invariably the behaviour stems from poor self esteem, personally or educationally and in the vast majority of cases these children thrive in a one-to-one situation.

All our tutors in Cambridge and surrounding areas, tell us just how rewarding it is to work with these students. We change lives.

Which subjects are most in demand?

As with most of our clients, we have the most need for English, maths and science tutors in Cambridge and Ely. Generally, we recruit qualified teachers, but we also have opportunities for non-teachers who have the right experience and aptitude.

Most students are KS3 and KS4, so an understanding of the GCSE maths, English and science curricula are important. Sometimes there are gaps stemming from the primary curriculum, so primary school teachers who are able to tutor the GCSE subjects are particularly useful. In fact, increasing numbers of our primary tutors are skilling themselves up to meet this need.

What personality traits are needed?

The students we work with need warmth, encouragement and support to bring out the best in them. Some need firm boundaries and expectations set. Sometimes the anxious students are able to engage with the tuition one day but unable to do so another day, so flexibility and understanding is key to keeping the tuition going for a period of weeks or months.

How do I find out more?

Please email Rachel Law to arrange to have an informal chat on the phone to find out if this might suit you.

We’re hiring!

We’re busier than ever, which is a massive testament to the fabulous work our teachers do, tutoring students in Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon, St Ives and Huntingdon.

Rewarding work

One of the favourite parts of my job is following up with parents and tutors once tuition is underway because I just love hearing how well the students are progressing, how much the tutors are enjoying it and what a good match there is between tutor and student. Many teachers come to us feeling a bit tired, stressed and unappreciated. It’s a joy to see them restored to their former glory and I think one reason is that the parents that we work with really value their skills, time, commitment and care and say ‘Thank you for teaching my child.’ Have a look at what our tutors say about tutoring through Tutor My Kids.

Flexible work

Only 39% of the UK population look forward to going to work. That’s scary! Work life balance can make a huge difference, and working flexibly is a way to improve your work life balance, fit in exercise and other interests. At Tutor My Kids, our tutors work when and where they want to, some choosing mostly daytime work and some mostly evening, depending on their circumstances.

Curious?

It’s just the start of the new school year, but you may be interested in asking a few questions for the next academic year. You may have just taken early retirement and already feeling a bit bored and wondering if there is a way you can keep your hand in. You may be on maternity leave and considering your options. Whatever your situation, take a look at our tutor page, email Rachel or call Rachel Law on 01223 858421 for an informal chat.

 

 

 

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.

 

Can-you-unpick-poetry?

If you’re a teacher who can help unpick poetry, we’d love to hear from you.

With the new English Literature and Language exams we’ve got huge demand for GCSE English tutors in Ely, Cambridge, St Ives, Huntingdon and Newmarket who can simplify Shakespeare,  de-mystify Dickens, Klarify Keats (my alliteration fails me with Keats!) and unpick poetry.

We’d love to hear from you.

Do take a look at our For Tutors page, one of our recent blogs – Are you a teacher who’s forgotten what a joy teaching is? To find out what some of our tutors think of working as a Tutor My Kids tutor, take a look at their stories. For an informal chat, please email Rachel Law or call her on 01223 858421.

Can-you-simplify-Shakespeare?

With the new English Literature and Language exams we’ve got huge demand for GCSE English tutors who can simplify Shakespeare,  de-mystify Dickens and untangle Keats (my alliteration fails me with Keats!).

We’d love to hear from you.

Do take a look at our For Tutors page, one of our recent blogs – Are you a teacher who’s forgotten what a joy teaching is? To find out what some of our tutors think of working as a Tutor My Kids tutor, take a look at their stories. For an informal chat, please email Rachel Law or call her on 01223 858421.

Could-you-earn-enough-by-tutoring-alone?

TutorMyKids private tutor

This is a question that we’re asked quite often, especially when teachers are thinking of leaving a teaching post. It is a bit of a ‘how long is a piece of string question’ as it almost entirely depends upon how much you need to earn, however a number of our tutors at Tutor My Kids only work as private tutors. These tend to be teachers who tutor English, maths and science in Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon, Newmarket and surrounding areas, but there are options that can supplement income too.

Daytime and evening tuition.

At Tutor My Kids we have tutoring opportunities in the daytime and evening. We usually tutor students after schoool, for our private clients, but we also work with home educated children to support parents in the teaching of their children during the daytime. We also work with schools in Cambridgeshire to support their inclusion work, alternative provision and providing tutors to support Looked After Children. This provision can be after school or during the school day. We’re increasingly needing teachers who have daytime availability to satisfy this demand for Alternative Provision work.

Combining tutoring with other options.

Many of our tutors in Cambridgeshire combine their teaching with other options. Some teach part-time and/or supply teach in the local schools in Ely, Cambridge and surrounding areas. Some have caring responsibilities for elderly parents or young children. And a number mark exam papers which provides additional income as well invaluable insight into the nitty gritty of exam marking schemes! Private tuition provides great options to work in a more flexible way.

Curious?

Do take a look at our For Tutors page, one of our recent blogs – Are you a teacher who’s forgotten what a joy teaching is? To find out what some of our tutors think of working as a Tutor My Kids tutor, take a look at their stories. For an informal chat, please email Rachel Law or call her on 01223 858421.

 

Can-you-demystify-Dickens?

Tutor My Kids is hiring GCSE English teachers for tutoring opportunities in Ely, Cambridge, St Ives, Huntingdon and Newmarket areas.

For information about becoming a Tutor My Kids tutor, click the link, email Rachel Law or call Rachel on 01223 858421 for an informal chat.

Are-you-a-teacher-who-has-forgotten-what-a-joy-teaching-is?

Private tutor Cambridge

Classroom teaching is very tough, with increasing demands from management, parents and governors. Whilst the government looks at ways to help teacher workload and raise standards, for many of us the system is close to broken.

Rekindle that joy.

Many teachers choose to work with Tutor My Kids and tutor in Ely, Cambridge and surrounding areas. We’re a joyful bunch of  positive teachers who have our joie de vivre back!

Making a difference.

At Tutor My Kids, private tutors in Cambridgeshire, we see that we are making a difference. Working one-to-one with students in their homes or in schools, our teachers can pin point where the student is having difficulties and effectively fill those gaps. We see that we’re making a difference and some times it can be amazingly quick.

Be appreciated.

When was the last time a parent thanked you for teaching their child? This happens all the time at Tutor My Kids. Our parents really appreciate the difference that we make for their children. This is one of the great joys of tutoring. We all need to feel appreciated.

Be autonomous.

We’re hugely grateful to have such a fantastic body of experienced teachers who tutor in Cambridgeshire for Tutor My Kids. I was having a conversation with a teacher who chose to retire early for all of the areas above, but mostly because she was being asked to teach in a way that she felt wasn’t giving her pupils the best outcomes – educationally and developmentally. It wasn’t the ‘right way’ as she saw it. It wasn’t respecting her professional integrity and experience. We trust our teachers to tutor our students in the ways that they feel will be most effective. Needless to say, she’s a fantastic asset to Tutor My Kids and she’s loving tutoring!

Be flexible.

We love flexible working – it gives us all a better work balance, allows for caring responsibilities, hobbies and more fun! That’s the great thing about tutoring; our teachers work when they want to. Most of our work is after school, but we also have students who we work with during the daytime, so you can pick and choose how and when you work.

Focus on the right things.

This is probably the biggest win with private tutoring. Tuition is tailored to the students’ needs, thus enabling the teaching to focus on the right things for each student. Unlike classroom teaching, there are no distractions from the business of just helping pupils learn.

Curious?

Interested in finding out more about our happy team?

Summertime is a great time to have a chat about how private tutoring might work for you – for now or for some time in the future. Feel free to email Rachel or call her on 01223 858421 for an informal chat.

 

5-reasons-for tutors-to-use-a-tutoring-agency

Private tutor Cambridge

Tutor My Kids is different from many agencies, so we’re probably a bit biased, but this is our thoughts why tutors and teachers can benefit from using the right agency to find students.

At Tutor My Kids, the vast majority of our private tutors are fully qualified teachers. Working in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Newmarket and Ely, our tutors teach at the students’ homes. So we think it’s really important to visit our clients personally.

Student and Parent Visits

We always meet with the student and their parents/carers in their homes in Cambridgeshire. Doing this achieves 2 key things. Firstly, it enables us to check that there’s a good place for tutoring to occur – a kitchen or dining room table, to allow space to work and set the right tone for tuition. We always suggest a ground-floor, family friendly area. It’s one of our safeguarding criteria. Secondly, by meeting the child in the parent’s home, we have a really good idea of the home ethos and culture which means we have a great idea of which of our tutors will fit in well with that. That means that when you meet the student and their parents, you can be pretty sure you’ll get along.

Assessment

In many cases, we’re able to do some assessment with our students, so the tutor already has a starting point for the tuition. Invariably, this information is supplemented by information from the child’s class or subject teacher, with the parent’s permission. We also think that it’s important to play to the tutor’s strengths.

We match your skills and preferences to our clients

We’re a small agency, with local knowledge, which means that we know all our tutors personally. We know which of our primary school teachers prefer to teach maths rather than literacy, which ones are happy with both. We know which of our maths tutors prefer to tutor the stronger and which prefer the weaker students. We know how far our tutors are happy to travel and accommodate this. We have the view that if the teacher is tutoring what they want, where they want, when they want, it all runs smoothly. Add onto this a great personality match between student and tutor and we’ve got a winning formula.

We stay in touch with the tutor and client all the way through the process.

Rachel’s favourite bit of her job is talking to our clients and tutors to see how well the tuition is going.  Everyone likes to feel valued and we love to hear how well the tutoring is going. Having an agency to talk to means that any potential problems can be headed off too. The vast majority of the time, our clients and our tutors in Cambridge, Ely, Newmarket and Huntingdon, say how well we match our clients and tutors. In fact, only the other day, Rachel made a first call to a new client to see how the first session of tutoring had gone and the feedback was, ‘You couldn’t have found us a better tutor, Rachel.’ It’s not unusual to hear our tutors say, ‘All our clients are fabulous.’

Won’t I lose part of my fees?

At Tutor My Kids we pay our teachers a good hourly rate and our tutors keep all of it. We think it’s important for the tutor to be able to focus on their students, so we invoice the client and pay the tutor, to avoid the awkwardness of the tutor having to ask to be paid.

5 great reasons to join Tutor My Kid as a private tutor in Ely, Cambridge, Newmarket and Huntingdon areas.

So, good rates of pay, keen, well matched students, with Rachel having visited their home first of all, some assessment often done and the support of an organisation to bounce ideas off as the tuition progresses. What’s not to like? For an informal chat, please call Rachel on 01223 858421 or email Rachel to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.