Tutoring in seondary schools

"I don?t get all this tutoring business let the kids have a life for god?s sake. You can?t make a silk purse out of a sow?s ear tutoring seems to be more about parents egos rather than what is better for the child."

Because some of us have children in under performing schools and need the extra boost that the teachers aren't providing.

Both my eldest DC have had tutors for language (for a while). They have all had private music lessons. One had in school Maths tutoring (the other was hoping to qualify but I haven't had a letter so I don't think they have). The school also offers extra support for those who need it at GCSE time.

It helps massively as a tutor can go at their pace, and keep explaining until they get it. Actually I also think language teaching at DCs school is the weakest aspect of the school.

All tutors I know charge £30+ per hour, and are qualified, I wouldn't really want one for school subjects who wasn't experienced in school.

Blimey!!

Tutoring at secondary is just not something I'd ever contemplated.

I suppose if they were at a "failing" school - by which I mean it was failing them I might consider it- but I'd be more inclined to move school of use a tutor in the context of home education.

I expect some of the kids at the schools mine go to are tutored to the hilt, but that is "the fault" of the parents - kids who really only got into the school because they were over tutored, and then need lots of help to stay anywhere near the rest of the class (highly selective school).

I feel much less bad about the amount of time the kids spend doing music and the cost of that now!

Btw a lot of my students have tried other tutors first who may have no teaching experience or may be students themselves. They have found that the tutors didn't have the knowledge and experience they needed. I know the little things that matter in exams. If a student doesn't understand I know alternative approaches to explain the same thing. Uf I elk in to he presented with a homework task, I can immediately switch to that topic due to hours of experience. This is what makes me a professional and is what my students happily pay extra for.

I am highly offended at the suggestion I am not professional and I am nothing like a banker. I provide a high quality service, ang get very good results for my students. CSS for those whose parents can't afford it- that is why there is the 1-2-1 tuition programme in schools. What in earth do the bankers have to do with this?

My point is that those who need tuition the most are not getting it, especially for Maths and English, and the consequence is poor numeracy and literacy in many adults today.

How many not-so-rich parents can afford to pay £25 - £50 per week, per subject, per child, over quite a long period of time? (2 hours at £25 per hour).

In contrast, many students who don't need tuition are getting it simply because their parents have the money to spare or are pushing their children beyond their capabilities: "My DS is in a super-selective, had tutors for seven GCSE subjects".

The only reason many so called 'professional' tutors are able to charge exorbitant rates is the superficial demand for their services, and often the superficial impression of 'professionalism'. After all it was 'professional' bankers who turned out to be totally unfit for the purpose.

BellaVita, I am glad to hear that and I hope others will use this method too.

I was following a Learner Driver the other day and the car had an ad on the tailgate - £xxx for 5 lessons and I though Feck Me! I took driving lessons quite a few years ago when it was £13 and hour. Inflation has certainly hiked up the price of driving lessons.

What tutors charge isn't that different from driving instructors, hair dressers, music teachers etc so why single them out for a rant?

To the people who claim rates are too high I say this. My hourly rate works out less than my mobile hairdresser. I charge £25 per hour and do the travelling. By the time I have spent time planning and considered my travel time this is £10 and I have to pay for petrol, printing and paper. I think I am a bargain considering the improved grades I help achieve affect someone's lifelong earning power.

Cumber - DS1's tutor is a final year Uni student who has excellent grades. We were very lucky to find her. She charges £10 per hour.

A clarification on my earlier post: I find the rates charged by most 'professional' tutors to be exorbitant. Not-so-rich parents should avoid them and seek alternatives, for example those who have recently started university and had achieved excellent results at school.

Ds1 (yr10) is tutored for maths. For Yr's 7-9 he was top set, the years were split into two halves for languages. In Yr10 they brought everyone together and the sets were changed to A*/A, top boys, top girls and so on. DS1 was out in the next set down although he is sitting the higher papers just like the sets above him. He is good at maths, just lacks confidence in himself.

DS2 (yr7) is tutored for English. He struggles. We had him tutored since spring of yr6.

I think the real purpose of tuition is to help those who are struggling in class for various reasons.

Considering that we live in a 'First World' country, teachers in state schools should generally be good enough for average and above average students.

For parents who are not rich, it would be money well spent for essential subjects like Maths and English. Richer parents might decide to spend money on tuition for other subjects as well, or simply to achieve marginal improvements (A to A*).

If students in 'super-selective' private schools are struggling, then I would think that either they are being pushed beyond their capabilities, or something is wrong with their teachers.

In conclusion, I think those who need tuition the most are not getting it whereas many who don't really need it are getting it.

In my DS2's case, he is tutored mainly because he is lazy and if left to his own devices he will probably do the bare minimum. (As I said earlier, my DS1 did the same in yr 12 and I got a tutor to help him catch up). But it is also complicated by the fact that he has fairly low confidence in these subjects. He came out of a very high achieving (state) primary thinking he was stupid because he had some issues which contributed to his being a late developer. He is not stupid, and has done very well at secondary, but still has an underlying belief he can't 'do' maths and science. His tutor has really helped him to see he is actually rather good at it, and has also taught him effective revision techniques, which I don't think he gets from school. To be honest, I do think that boys are generally not as good as girls at revising on their own.

It remains to be seen how this will translate to actual grades, but so far it has made an enormous difference to his confidence, so I am happy with my choice.

2 hours tutoring on a Saturday morning is not stopping my DCs "having a life"

My dd and ds1 are at selective schools and the extra tuition is not so they can catch up, it is additional work so they can progress further.
They have had extra tuition since year 4, just 1 session a week and ds2 who is in year 3 now has had one session a week since year 2 and I think it has really benefited all of them.

It's also helped them be more organized with school homework, as they have to get that done on time as well as tuition homework and they are more focused.

My ds2 used to get 1 piece of homework every 2 weeks which took them 10 minutes to complete, I personally don't think that's enough so the tuition gives him something else to do.

However they all find time to play football, watch tv and play ps3 so they are not just constantly studying

DD is in year 11 at a super selective and it is not tutored. She remarks that a lot of her peers go to tutoring each Saturday. She doesn't know if they are being tutored to keep up, or if their parents are just so paranoid that they won't get A*s etc that they are not taking any chances. It seems to be predominantly in the maths and sciences but this is a school where a lot of girls want to enter the medical profession. Personally I think the teaching and revision support is perfectly adequate but maybe some girls aren't very good at revising on their own.

Re letting kids have a life, mine have quite a varied life outside of the academic stuff, thank you very much.

"You can?t make a silk purse out of a sow?s ear"

Various experts have concluded that it is this very attitude that holds back the British working classes compared to immigrants. They come to this country with no education and no money but they have the the belief that, through hard work, they can have a business and their children can go on to become doctors.

Contrast that with all the studies that harp on about the cycle of poverty and how it is sooo difficult for working class folk to break that cycle. I know a few Indian, Vietnamese and Chinese friends that might disagree with that conclusion :o

I don?t get all this tutoring business let the kids have a life for god?s sake. You can?t make a silk purse out of a sow?s ear tutoring seems to be more about parents egos rather than what is better for the child.

Name calling aside, one poster in a thread a few weeks ago went on about how devasted her DC was to not to past any of the entrance exams he sat. She later added that she didn't tutor her DC since if a child needed tutoring to pass the entrance exam then that child is going to struggle if that child does gets in.

That is a bit like saying why train and train for years just to qualify for the Olympics because if you need to train that hard then what chance do you have of winning a medal? You wouldn't say that of an athlete so why say it of a child?

It isn't because they are harder shootingstarz its more about needing a particular grade - either getting the magic C or not spoiling a set of A/A*'s with a lower result. It mostly seems to be Maths tutoring where I live.

I have no problem with tutoring - just got one for DS who is not quite up-to-par with his Primary School maths - but I am pretty surprised at shootingstarz post. I know the KS2 league tables are a joke because of all the tutoring, but I didn't think it would affect so many selective secondary schools as well.

It will be interesting to see how DD and her contemporaries at a range of state and indy schools do at GCSE and whether they need tutors to reach their full potentials.

Oh no. Not another 'no one tutored me and look how many As I have' poster.

Not everyone is as clever as you [emoticon for sarcasm]

Every child I know at hothouse schools have a tutor, that?s why league tables are a waste of time it?s not the school teaching anymore it?s the parents/tutor.
I sat my GCSEs without ever having a tutor or help from my parents I got all As have they changed so much that children now find them harder?

My DS2 is getting tutored this year (11) in maths and science, to help him get what he is capable of in his GCSEs. He is lazy and will always do the bare minimum and it is partly my way of getting him to actually and properly revise. I did it with DS1 during his Maths and Further Maths A Levels and it really helped him catch up after slobbing around in year 12 (he is now happily at Uni). I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but I do think it's a shame it costs so much and isn't available to everyone. My DCs are at a pretty good fairly middle class state secondary, and quite a few of their friends are tutored in one or two subjects and have been since about year 10.