What frustrates you the most about using a tutor for your child?

[Joeyhale]

I'm pretty curious about different people's experiences and avoiding the same problems if possible.

I wish my daughter's school had a list of great music tutors.

I definitely got DD1 from a D to a B in maths simply by spending 30 minutes or so a week going over it with her in Y11.

The school deciding to change the exam board helped massively too; the questions on one board were far more wordy and harder to interpret.

Maths revision books were a big help also. DD is someone who is pretty deep but not very quick. Teaching something in class then expecting her rattle through a few examples is never going to work. She needs a bit of time to chew it over for it to sink in. Teachers who kicked off about her making notes and demanded she just listened didn't help either: DD1 needed to make notes or it didn't go in.

I would think a tutor who could work out a teaching method suited to each kid would have really good results.

Thanks for that @catfromjapan.

Do any other tutors have issues with last minute cancellations? What's the normal protocol if I was to cancel last minute for a session. Pretty interesting point that somebody raised.

And @catfromjapan, have you tried looking in facebook groups I'm sure there must be some local to you there.

I had a tutor at A-Level for a language following difficulties with my teacher who ruined my confidence at oral work by ranting at me in front of the class on several occasions. It didn't help that I was also having difficulties with ear infections/ perforated ear drum which the teacher dismissed when it was relevant to some of my difficulties.

The tutor was great at getting my confidence back to where it should have been by giving me a "safe" environment to work in. Although my eventual grade wasn't high ranking, it was definitely better than the predictions of gloom from my teacher, and I had the satisfaction of it being a fair grade.

The only downside was that it looked better on my teacher than he deserved (although my lovely co-teacher would have got a little credit although it wasn't her side of the syllabus we were working on). At least I got some satisfaction the day that I came in with the consultant's letter advising that I should have earphones for the listening exam rather than listening on the stereo with the rest of the class- so much for the "non-existent" ear problems that I'd had for many years

If I felt that my DCs were struggling with something specific that could be assisted by a tutor, then I would get a tutor. The advantage is the specialised angle of the subject knowledge, and being more attentive than they are with the familiarity of a parent.

At least tutoring for 11+ isn't an issue for this area, that's a separate issue to me compared to boosting personal exam performance or specific difficulties.

My DD has just started tutoring for Y5 maths. School have been very supportive but she has ASD and needs more than they can give. It's expensive but we use DLA to pay for it. Only downside is it's another after school lost to an activity.

I'll get an 11 plus tutor for younger DC when the time comes. I totally disagree with it but DD2 wants to try for grammer and doesn't stand a chance without it. I'm not prepared to sacrifice her opportunity for my principles. Yes I am a hypocrite.

Honestly it’s peope who moan about their tutor.
It’s optional.

If you are worried about cancellations, it is worth asking to see whether the tutor has terms and conditions. If they don't have them, it is always worth doing a verbal agreement.