Advice needed: entrance exams tutoring

[LucyTheOrpingtonTutor]

Hi,

I'm hoping to get some of your opinions...

I am a qualified primary school teacher with an additional 8 years of private tutoring experience. The demand for 11+/entrance exam tutoring increases each year and at the moment I'm at full capacity with a waiting list.

My idea for next year is to run group sessions during school holidays, with a maximum of 20 children (but aiming for a cap of 15) with lessons planned, taught and assessed by myself with the support of a qualified TA (we are also both first aid trained and will obtain an up to date CRB/DBS certificate before starting). The sessions will hopefully run in a hall local to Orpington and the idea will be for children to sign up to 1, 2 or 3 weeks (Monday to Friday, 9-12) where we will explore and develop the skills and approaches needed to tackle the entrance exams in Year 6. All resources will be provided, full feedback will be given at the end of each day and small but regular assessments will give you and your child a clear idea of how they are doing. Each week will cost £175 (which works out at £35 a day, my current 1:1 rate is £35 an hour) but discounts are available to those booking on to more than one week.

What I'd love is your feedback on how this sounds; would it be something you're interested in? How does the price sound (I appreciate cheaper is always better but I've also considered how this compares to day camps which don't offer tutoring). Any feedback really is appreciated, I want to know if it's worth exploring or just sticking to doing my normal 1:1 sessions. As a thank you I'd like to give you a reduced price of £150 a week (plus a further 10% off of further weeks booked). If you send me an email with your name and any information you'd like to give on your child's situation, I will keep hold of it and give you further information and the link to the website when it's launched after Christmas. [email protected]

Thanks in advance!

[BrightSilverDragon]

That sounds lovely. I am not sure if I would use it though because it's only half a day. I'd still need to arrange alternative care for the 5 afternoons. I'd rather 2 longer days if I am honest, it makes childcare easier. I know the kids wouldn't like that though

[LucyTheOrpingtonTutor]

I have the option to rent the hall for the whole day so I guess two or three whole days could be an option for one or all of the weeks depending on demand. Thanks!

[LucyTheOrpingtonTutor]

Plus I wanted to say that it's not going to be a workhouse style set up, I have a truck load of mental maths games which I aim to use throughout the day. I'm a big believer that kids often need to be 'tricked' into learning and the children I tutor think we're pulling a fast one on their parents as we do 20min of work then play a game. They've not twigged that these games have helped them learn their times tables and halve odd numbers, they really do just see it as fun. I'd hate for kids to leave every day dreading coming back, the aim is to make it fun whilst also highlighting their strengths. Confidence is key with these exams.

[nancy75]

Personally I would prefer to pay £35 an hour for 1 to 1 tuition, as I would prefer the learning to be more tailored to my child's needs. I think 20 in a group is too many

[allyfe]

I would think most parents would have gotten a tutor by that point in the year, if they were going to. Maybe as an
Additional last minute extra practice/preparation? But if you charge £35 for an hour for a 1 to 1, and then charge £30 for 3 hours for up to 1 to 10 (counting the TA), I would say that the 1 to 1 sounds much better value for money. Most after-school clubs (which might provide a skill, such as tennis) are about £7 an hour. But my kids are younger, so it isn't really a world I know at the moment, I could be totally wrong!

[UnmadeRoad1]

Twenty in a class (even with TAs) would be a no no for me and particularly at that price. Also the timing would knock out the possibility of the children doing other activities during the holidays which would put me off.

[Mar3u5]

No thanks. 1 to 20 is not really tutoring or a good deal.

Was this intended to be an advert rather than discussion? Just saying.

[LucyTheOrpingtonTutor]

Completely to gauge interest. Looks like it wouldn't be viable to stop teaching 1:1 so I'll focus on that.

Thanks for all your advice, glad I found out it wouldn't be suitable before investing too much time or money.