Why would a teacher ask about a home tutor

[silkclouds]

My dc is at a prep school and today the teacher asked the class to put their hand up if they had a tutor and then if they had a maths or and English tutor or both.

My dc doesn't have a tutor is this a bad thing at a prep? Dc is now upset as they don't have a tutor and they said they said there were a lot of dc who did. I can't fathom why the teacher would want to know this and now worried if my dc is supposed to have a tutor if so many dc have them.

We had this at our childrens last private school. During the first lockdown the quality of work sent out was absolutely atrocious and embarrassing eg. draw a picture of a character ( English year 5). Ended up using our own work books I got off Amazon. We also had to use a tutor as child would have totally fallen behind due to the schools negligence. Child passed the 11 plus tests and we moved schools.

[quote silkclouds]@PresentingPercy yes definitely wanting top school place for secondary and was hoping this prep delivered.

My dc seems to be getting on fine but it's a bit disheartening to hear the majority of the class already have tutors to the extent I am now perhaps a bit paranoid about not having one for my dc if they end up falling behind. Hopefully it's not going to be a big concern.[/quote]
Y3 is a bit early but yes, most preps results reflect a population of children who are also tutored from Y4-5

@Zodlebud

If EVERYONE stopped blooming tutoring then kids would get into these top academic schools based purely on natural ability. Sorry to say that it’s ambitious middle class parents who have created this toxic environment.

Completely agree.

It's a real shame that there is no longer much knowledge, people believing it's possible for them or even the scholarships and bursary's available nowadays for those form low income families with true academic ability who could achieve well in a top selective.

People are afraid to even apply for their children as they feel that even if they got scholarship and bursary there would always be a gulf and a them and us.

And that's those who realise these exist in the first place.

What a sad society we live in

I have been a tutor, but for older children.
It’s not about cramming, it’s about giving the child confidence, and reinforcing what he knows, clarifying what he doesn’t.
It makes little difference if it’s a state or independent school, some children benefit from the one-one assistance.
I personally, would not tutor years 1-7 , but for older children, I think they deserve any help they can get to achieve their best, especially now.

@Zodlebud

If EVERYONE stopped blooming tutoring then kids would get into these top academic schools based purely on natural ability. Sorry to say that it’s ambitious middle class parents who have created this toxic environment.

Your assumption is based on the idea that the education system is fit fir all and if left to their own devices, the cream would rise to the top. I'm sorry but that's naive at best, stupid at worst. The system is great for those who excel in exams. Those who excel in exams are not necessarily the most intelligent. They may be. They may also be young for year, dyslexic, struggle with classroom setting, benefit from different forms of learning/teaching like kinetic, visual, 1:1. Some people have parents with English as a second language, some have working parents or disabled in ways who haven't the time or ability to assist at home. This doesn't make these people dumb. And it doesn't make those who excel at traditional exam smarter. It isn't a level playing field. Tutoring is just one more ingredient

@honeybuns007 I am far from naive and agree with everything you say. However, you can’t deny that wealthy parents are buying their children a “better” state education through tutoring and buying property in the most sought after catchments. That is something that IS inside our control and doesn’t lie well with me.

In Birmingham something like 25% of grammar places go to children in receipt of FSM and they can get in with a lower score. It makes some inroads at acknowledging the inequality. I do get quite angry at the fact that the school you go to is generally dictated by where you live, and we all know that all schools are not equal.

My DDs prep were very anti tutoring as it often led to lots of cramming, learning methods with no understanding- sometimes different methods to what's being taught in class, pushing children in ways which meant they then don't trust their teacher fully as parents can talk about tutors a bit like saviours who will sort out what doesn't go right at school. They always said why are you adding extra pressure from someone who is often not a qualified teacher when you are paying so much for prep school. They also said if there were little extras they can do for an hour a week themselves, they'd be doing it. I got it at that age and always liked how black and white they were about tutoring. They said of course there are exceptions but it is about 'good' or 'bad tutoring and that 80% of tutoring is bad!

I half agree with that stance .. but...to be completely honest...My DD got a tutor later on as she was really struggling with maths and her senior school didn't have any opinion on it and told us exactly what to get the tutor to go over. We got a qualified maths teacher from a similar local school.

My son had the same experience
Teachers often asked this question about tutoring after school holidays to determine who had been getting extra support.

My child came home really upset and a little anxious as he did not have one and we could simply not afford to pay in addition to the school fees.

When I spoke with the teachers about it they were quite frank and told me that en masse tutoring was a result of the increasing international market - previously, only the odd child would be tutored here or there......but now it has created a big problem for them as many of the children have already learned the curriculum and were getting bored resulting in behavioural issues with some - whereas others like my child we seeing material for the 1st time.

But their response was, how do you stop it?
They only thing a teacher can do is to identify which kids have been tutored and group them together.

My son was able to join a group of mainly British kids who were naturally smart rather than rehearsed.
He as successful in securing his 1st choice school too.

But this recent phenomenon of constant tutoring (from Yr 3!) is bonkers!!

I’m so glad we’re in Switzerland where the difference between state schools and private is negligible (excepting the boarding schools for billionaires & royalty, of course)!

If your kid is bright and interested in learning, they will ‘do well’. I’m from a working class family, when to inner city primary and a secondary comp. No tutoring, very little parental help either (encouragement yes, but help, no). I ended up with a Russel Group degree and Oxbridge PhD in chemistry. I’m a permanent expat these days.

Don’t worry about a tutor, especially at such a young age!

Having read most of the comments here I am amazed that people think that just because a child goes to a private school they shouldn’t need tutors.

My situation is as follows:

Son in year 8 at private school. In year 4 they sent him to the dyslexic centre to be assessed because he was producing very little work. They decided he was not dyslexic, but couldn’t help as to why he was so slow, especially at writing. I hired a writing tutor to work with him and this has been ongoing for 4 years.

My son is from an Asian background and I felt it was important for him to speak Mandarin so he has had an online Mandarin tutor for 6 years now.

He enjoys his lessens with both his English and Mandarin tutors.

According to many posters, what I am doing is wrong or even utterly ridiculous. I ask why?

@Spycatcher67 You are using tutors for all the RIGHT reasons. They can be extremely useful to support a child in areas where they are experiencing a difficulty or to provide an enriched curriculum.

However, the great majority of children being tutored at prep (particularly in London) are doing so purely to try and gain an advantage for admissions into schools at 11+. This includes exceptionally bright children with no learning issues. Tutoring is widespread and instils fear in the minds of parents when they hear everyone else is doing it.

It is a vicious cycle.

Thank you Zodlebud.

I am very happy with the tutoring my son is getting and was really trying to point out to some of the posters that there could be good reasons to have additional tutoring even though the child goes to a private school.

I suspect most of the posters with this view do not have children at private schools and have not thought their arguments through well enough.

Spycatcher67

We are not talking about the odd case of targeted tutoring where it is needed as in your case.

The post is inferring/pertaining to a discussion about tutoring en masse