Science tutor

[Getaheadinscience]

Hello,

This is my first time on mumsnet so I might sound a little shaky. I am a science teacher with 10 years experience teaching across the Croydon area. As a parent myself, I become frustrated by the lack of science at primary school when science is a core subject at GCSE. I am interested in finding out what other parents feel about this. I know many children really struggle to cope with science when they begin secondary school therefore I am setting up a tutoring agency to make this transition easier for children and help them get ahead in science. I have experienced first hand the struggles students face especially in year 9, I feel schools need to do more to provide support to those students who will be starting their GCSE's. I think the students who are going onto GCSE need more time revisiting a lot of year 7/8 topics before they begin their GCSE's so less time is spent trying to 'catch up'.
Please let me know your thoughts on this subject.

[arbrighton]

As someone who was a science teacher, and TA for Sen specialising in science and a tutor, I think that while you have a point, you'd be better offering support to primary schools to improve how they offer science.

Tutoring in non core subjects at Ks3 is not in demand. You will always be able to get ks4 clients, and ks5 if you are qualified.

As an experienced teacher, I'm sure you are well aware of the difficulties schools face, so it's a bit unfair to spout off about what schools should do in a time when so many teachers are leaving the profession, when exams have changed yet again and there are such budget constraintx

[Getaheadinscience]

Hi Arbrighton,
Thank you for your response. I absolutely didn't mean to cause offence to schools as I am am aware of the challenges schools face today. I merely wanted to find out what other parents feel about science subject at primary level and at secondary level and if they feel more can be done to help our children excel at school. As a teacher you are already aware of the vast sacrifices teachers make to provide the best education for our youngsters but as we know teachers and schools face constant scrutiny from parents and the government. With the shortage of teachers in the UK, schools are under immense pressure and many schools are forced to provide supply teachers to teach subjects they may not be qualified to do so.
In reference to my previous message about providing support to pre-GCSE students, i have set up a six week refresher course within the school to help students revisit many topics from year 7/8. One of the reasons why i am setting up my tutoring service is to help prepare students for their GCSE's.
I hope you don't mind me asking, was there a particular reason why you left the profession?

[arbrighton]

Not relevant at all to ask that