Before parents decide to embark on the tuition journey, many will ask questions such as: ‘Will my child react positively to tuition?’ or ‘Will it be worth the cost?’ or ‘Will my child achieve what we wish for?’ Every question is valid and as a parent I have definitely asked these questions myself before committing to a tutor for my own children.
The first thing to say is tuition is not school. It is not therefore, sitting in a classroom with up to thirty-five children, nor is it the daily school grind of multiple hours of various subjects in a day. Tuition is, if done correctly, your own personal learning journey in the subject/s chosen by you. At Happy Owls it is essential that all of our tuition team work towards personal goals and drive the journey your child/ren go on. Whether it is closing gaps created by the ‘covid years’, consolidating and progressing in the core subjects whether in primary or secondary school, or aiming to successfully pass exams such as the 11+. GCSE’s or A-Levels.
Secondly, we ensure at Happy Owls that our tutors fulfil the standard requirements in that they have a certified DBS check, are experienced teachers with outstanding subject knowledge and can deliver outstanding sessions, but our other requirement is that we have passion. Passion to teach, passion to achieve and passion to ensure our children are happy learners. We really believe we are the home of happy learning! What we love to see is those ‘lightbulb moments’ of progress, for our tutees to go back to school more confident in their ability and for them to be more positive towards education.
We also believe that tuition is very much a triangulation process. It works best when the tutor, tutee and family are all working towards a common goal. Our tutors will give regular progress updates and be in communication with the family so that we all know where the journey is going. What wouldn’t work is when a tutee may be reluctant to engage in sessions or when they feel like they ‘have’ to have tuition. So when deciding on whether to work with a tutor or not it is important that the child has a say in it and that they want to work with a tutor. Breaking down barriers to explain how tuition works is a benefit in this discussion so they know it is different to the standard learning at school.
Tuition can also be 1-2-1 or in groups and this can also depend on your child’s personality. If they prefer to work closely with an adult without distraction and to go at their own pace and feel more confident working on a 1-2-1 basis then this option would be for them. If alternatively they prefer hearing views from other pupils, enjoy the small group community where they can socialise and learn from others in sessions and feel more confident in a small group, then group tuition would favour this. For this reason we have always been keen to offer both provisions. There is also a cost implication between 1-2-1 and group tuition and whilst group tuition can be seen as cheaper, it is only cheaper if it works and your child achieves. Therefore, please do take this into consideration when deciding whether to go 1-2-1 or group tuition to ensure you get the absolute best value for money. If you wish to read more about 1-2-1 or group tuition please check out my blog on these two options.
Finally, there is also the option of in person tuition or online. Typically since Covid, there has been a huge rise in online tuition. Children prefer learning from home, much like adults now work from home in many circumstances, and children have become much more in-tune with how to use the computer and logging on to Zoom for example. Sessions are also equally engaging online and there is a lot of functionality online to ensure they are interactive and enjoyable. However, online tuition does not support all learners and some children may prefer face to face tuition. They may benefit from the use of concrete objects and manipulatives in maths, they may prefer writing with the adult present in the room to work on it together, and some teaching areas such as phonics would definitely work better face to face. So it is always good to discuss this with the tutor you are considering to again make sure your child gets the most out of every session. Once you have selected your option, it will then be to see how the child progresses over time, look at their bench mark and where they are working towards and to work as one team to achieve the goal. After all, ‘happy children make happy learners.’
