AIBU to think that my sons tutor is ripping us off?

[Supermummy88]

Good evening all,

My son is 9 years old and in year 5 and has had a tutor since he was in year 4. He was struggling with Maths and English and therefore a friend recommended a tutor that comes to the house. My son started off by doing an hour a week and then the tutor said that it would be beneficial for him to do 2 hours a week because he needs a full hour of English and a full hour of Maths. He’s been charging £60 a week for this. He comes after school and usually I’m at work and my mum is at home with the children after picking them up from school. My mum has mentioned quite a few times that the tutor is leaving after 40 minutes. My son also had an English test at school and did very poorly. It seems like he’s made no progress at all. The tutor has never set homework and keeps saying that it’s the parent’s responsibility for their children to do well and that he can only do so much. However, my son said that he’s been giving him tests twice a week and not actually teaching topics. We are paying a lot for this tutor and have come to the realisation that the tuition has not worked at all.

Does anyone have a private tutor for their child? Has it been working? Do they give homework sheets for your child to do through the week?

I would appreciate some advice.

Thank you x

Surely you are paying him to do that? The onus for progress shouldn't be on you, the onus is on him?

It’s wrong the tutor is leaving after 40 minutes but something should have been said the 1st time it happened
As for price seems cheap, most tutors in south east charge between £40-55 per hour so if they were charging 2 hours for £60 I’d say that was on the low side
i would say text and say no longer required and look for another tutor however be clear about what is needed for your child

This tutor doesn’t seem like a good fit for you. He should be staying for the full time he’s paid for (excepting emergencies of course). Whilst doing an occasional test might be needed, the bulk of the work shouldn’t be tests. Your son should be getting homework from the school, not the tutor. Particularly as homework from both school and tutor would be a lot. With all this in mind, please keep your son’s abilities in perspective. Even with additional tutoring he may not excel in these subjects. It also depends how far behind he was when the tutor was engaged as to how much he can catch up, as the school work will continue to move on.

My son had a tutor for GCSE English. It was a friends husband who teaches English and my son went to their home an hour a week for about 18 months. Paid £20 a week. My son passed with a 6 and I was happy with that.

Surely the whole point of the tutor is to give you a heads up of what you could be doing at home and providing resources for your child to practice what he is teaching in the lessons. As well as not providing the full hour, this one seems to be absolving himself of any responsibility. Definitely sack him; if you need do more, you don’t need to be paying him!

He's a shit tutor, just change tutor.

Nothing really matters (the cost, duration...) but the facts that your child isn't making progress. And you should definitely talk methods and content, and teaching qualifications/experience before they start, rather than picking someone at random.

This is unusual, very costly to the school and difficult to staff. Your child is really quite lucky this was on offer.

Stop the tutor, if for no other reason than he’s not doing the hours you’re paying him for. Homework varies from tutor to tutor and often from lesson to lesson - I teach English and some weeks I will give it and some weeks not depending on what we’re doing and where we are with it. Practice tests are the sort of thing that should be left for homework (though not all the time, only once in a while). Although some of a lesson will be spent writing, it’s normally minimal and part of the teaching process because obviously you want to maximise the time you have for actual teaching rather than sitting twiddling thumbs. It’s also common for tutors to give feedback, either verbally or via email, to the parents after the lesson so that you know exactly what they’ve been working on and also how it went.

Change tutor. Once you've lost confidence in them that's it. A good tutor can make a world of difference to your child's confidence.

Is there a reason why you or dh cannot tutor your child with worksheets at this level? save your money for later on.

He doesn't need a tutor

He just needs to read more books at home with you and on his own

My gs did not engage well at school. He actually asked me to get him a maths tutor.
I found him rather odd tbh but it wasnt about me. He managed to lift gs grade from a level 2 to a 4 in a few months giving him the pass he needed. Confidence building and money well spent.
Face to face tuition is always best and you will know if your child is improving. My gs was really positive about his tutor. This sounds wrong op. We got our tutor prior to gcses though not at primary school. Maybe have a break from this costly exercise.

How will that help with maths? Many children do really benefit from tutors.

It doesn't cost them any extra. The school is staffed over needed numbers as standard (to avoid using supply staff) and the staff that volunteer to do the boosters accrue leave they can use during termtime, which is covered by the specialist teachers they have in addition to the class teachers. It gives the teachers a better work life balance to help with retention, and helps children who need it

I'm a tutor (a level maths). I'd normally side with the tutor but this guy is terrible. Leaving after 40 minutes and charging for two hours is outrageous. I don't expect the parents to help the child improve with the work - it's on me and the school. And I actually teach and go through questions in tutorials.

You definitely need another tutor.

I understood it that he was leaving each time after 40 minutes instead of an hour so doing it twice a week rather than doing 40 minutes and charging for an hour each time.
Either way it's wrong

I feel this individual is taking advantage of you. Even tutors who don’t set homework should be able to clearly present a mini syllabus or strategy for what they’re hoping to achieve with your child over 3/6/9/12 months. A seasoned tutor will tell you frankly if progress is not being made and if you’re better off doing something different (a friend with a y6 child recently stopped with a tutor because the tutor felt the child wasn’t benefitting from her style of teaching and syllabus, it was very honest of the tutor to raise this issue).

Was this tutor recommended to you or did you find them yourself? A word of mouth recommendation from parents of older children in your school is often a good bet when looking for extra curricular help.

An overstaffed school is unusual though and is an extra cost to the school. Most schools manage cover by using HLTAs, having supply insurance or the head/deputy covering. I think it sounds brilliant but teachers running before school interventions to earn TOIL is really not the norm.

I've never heard of teaching staff having TOIL!

The tutor has never set homework and keeps saying that it’s the parent’s responsibility for their children to do well and that he can only do so much.

He’s right @Supermummy88 You seem to be giving up responsibility for your son’s education.

Do you read regularly with him? Do you do everyday sums with him?

That's not a tutor - he is a scammer!

It’s wrong the tutor is leaving after 40 minutes but something should have been said the 1st time it happened
As for price seems cheap,

I agree with this. That £60 includes travel time, holiday pay and sick pay. It’s a low amount for insecure work and it looks like you’re getting what you paid for.

Unless it’s explicitly written into the tutors contract any homework you want your child to do during the week is your responsibility

My son’s tutor set maths and English homework and DS had to be prepared to discuss a news item from the newspaper every week.

I can't understand why you don't directly address them leaving after 40 minutes yet you pay for two hours? Bizarre!!

Otherwise obviously not working, try a new tutor or work with his teacher to support him yourself.

My dd has a tutor and aged 8. Only an hour as too much otherwise. They play games...eg when learning the times tables the tutor puts the answers on the floor and will say eg 3 x 2 and my dd will find the answer from the number on the floor. Involving a lot of jumping and laughing. That's one example of what she does. The tutor there for a full hour and my dd confidence has improved. She was badly affected by covid teaching and had no confidence. Her tutor has been amazing. She never done tests on her just does games like I mentioned meaning she learning English and maths. My dd loves seeing her as she's fun. She's a teacher of my dd age so sometimes due to parent meetings etc she can't come but we on a pay as she comes basis which works for both my dd and her tutor. Just giving you an example of something working. For me it's about the confidence the tutor is giving my dd in class. Her teacher says she now answers questions in class. Best £30 we pay per week which isn't ever week. She not coming this week as got 120 children she's taking to the panto. I tried to teach dd myself but I'm mum and she wouldn't listen to me. I obviously read and we do the spellings and I build on what the tutor has started. Feels like I've someone to help dd and direct me and dh.