A teacher charges £30/hr to tutor some of his own pupils, is it ok?

[rightvswrong]

A teacher at my ds' primary school has been tutoring 3 children in his class for a while now. Few of us, parents at the school, think it is tottaly wrong. What do you think?

[rightvswrong]

I really have nothing against tutoring or paying for it. I don't think it is wrong to be part of the community either and have teachers as friends. I JUST THINK IT IS WRONG TO TUTOR YOUR OWN PUPILS. When a parent becomes your customer then trouble start

[rightvswrong]

I am glad to see many posts voicing that it is wrong because for a little while I started to wonder about our society :(

[rightvswrong]

Indigo- One off the parents who is paying him to tutor her ds was very upset one day. While she was helping the children with cooking, she noticed that this teacher was hardly in the class (we all know that there isn't much learning going on during the lessons) and that he left the children on their own most of the time only returning to barck few instructions and go again... When he noticed that she looked upset he text her to ask how she is and to inform her that her son had done a wonderful piece of work.
She works hard for a living and £30 is a lot of money for her so to see him wasting time during class is crazy.

[Dustinthewind]

I've turned down several offers to tutor children, because I have enough on my plate without adding to it. The parents were very disappointed, they didn't see any ethical issues attached. many of our children in our good/outstanding school have tuition.
There are CE exams, private school entrance exams and parents who are time poor and can't offer their struggling children the 1:1 support that would help them make good progress.
We have teachers that tutor children in school. It hasn't been an issue.
I am shocked that you hold a teacher at your child's school in such low regard, and say that he would gossip about other children, do a poor job of teaching so that he could garner opportunities to make more money, that he would conceal information he should share, that he is unprofessional.
Why haven't you brought all this bile and slander to the attention of the governors?
Do you lack evidence? Is it just resentment and pettiness that motivates you?

[Dustinthewind]

Who else was in the class? Was the parent alone with all the children, or was she supervising a small group whilst the teacher managed the rest in a different location? What was he actually doing instead of supervising the parent doing the cooking?
Take your concerns to the head and the governors.

[Dustinthewind]

If he's a crap teacher, why are the parents paying him extra?
Wouldn't you pay for a good tutor?

[lifesalongsong]

I'm surprised at how many posters think this OK even without the additional. There is nothing wrong with teachers tutoring or children being tutored but a teacher tutoring their own current pupils is wrong imo.

The teacher could be manipulating the parents by suggesting tutoring when it isn't really necessary, they could be "underteaching" during the day but keeping results on track by tutoring after hours, they could be open to undue pressure from parents.

Just because all the teachers who post here would never dream of behaving in this way it doesn't mean that it wouldn't happen.

OP, I would express your concerns to the HT first (without any second hearsay) then be prepared to follow up with the govs if you don't get any joy.

[rightvswrong]

He is a bad teacher. The head herself said to us that he is immature and that she is hoping he grows up but she is not/could not doing anything about it.
The fact that I am mentioning the £30 is just to show that he chooses not to do anything in the class but happy to take money after school.
In the same school there are other teachers who are tutoring for the same amount but not their pupils, they are very hard working teachers and we all love them.
This teacher on the other hand is out of order

[lifesalongsong]

Wow - the HT is also very unprofessional to make statements like that about a teacher (did she appoint him?)

Maybe you need to go straight to the govs - is this a state primary?

[mrz]

you could be talking about my former colleague rightvwrong

[clam]

I have tutored in the past but never children in my own school. I don't think it is written anywhere that you can't, but it just didn't seem appropriate to me.

[Angelico]

If the problem is with the individual teacher then get onto the LEA if the head is too pathetic to take action. You could also ask GTC for their position. Certainly discussing other pupils etc is totally unprofessional and should be reported if you have actual evidence.

In terms of tutoring own pupils I don't see a particular issue as long as it is done professionally. I was once asked by a parent to tutor her son because I had a great relationship with him and he had a reputation for being 'difficult'. I had to turn it down because I was so busy with other things but it certainly wasn't a moral issue. In fact, I actually felt guilty not doing the tutoring because I know he would have benefitted immensely - I just genuinely didn't have time.

[rightvswrong]

It is a state school. She didn't appoint him but she is no dealing with him either.
Dustinthewind- The children are left on their own. the parents help tonly about 6 children cooking in the kitchen while the others are left in the class. Parents started paying him for tuition because they were worried about the sats results! They doidn't know that secondary schools will be doing their own assessement!
This teacher can not sit still or focus and everyone knows that he is usless except him.

[MrsHoarder]

I think this could be acceptable only if there were a few pupils who their parents wanted exposing to private school entry exams or similar. Much like my GP can sell travel vaccinations outside the NHS system.

Otherwise the teacher should already be covering al their educational needs in school time or after school if necessary.

If he isn't then he is either a poor teacher, deliberately holding back on pupils during school time or ripping off the parents in question.

[Becaroooo]

Erm...complain to OFSTED/LA/BofG...for starters???

[ZZZenAgain]

the 3 families who pay a lazy teacher, who you say cannot sit still and cannot focus, to tutor their dc are a bit daft. In their place I would be paying a different teacher.

The tutoring is just one part of it, your biggest problem is that he is not responsibly and effectively teaching the class- if what you say here is a fair description of the way he usually runs his class.

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

I would not tutor pupils from my school. It doesn't seem right. I work in an independent school, so they are paying me already!

[IHeartKingThistle]

I see where you're coming from. I don't think I would want to tutor kids in my own class - it would be weird. I'm happy for students in my classes to have a tutor but part of the reason it often works is BECAUSE it's someone different!

[rightvswrong]

In this school, there has been many complaints but nothing seem to change.
Last year this teacher told one parent (no tuition involved) to avoid another child because he has AS.
What he didn't realise is that both parents are best friends. The parent who was adviced to avois the other child complained but nothing happened so she moved her dcs to another school.

[ZZZenAgain]

yes that makes sense too. If a dc is struggling in a subject as taught in class, having a tutor with a different approach might be most effective.

[ProfessorSunny]

The parents of the children he is tutoring are presumably happy with it, in fact if I was choosing a tutor for my children then I would rather it was a teacher from their school who knows what is needed because they see them day in, day out.

[rightvswrong]

Schools- (Parents started paying him for tuition because they were worried about the sats results! They doidn't know that secondary schools will be doing their own assessement!) That was my answer.... They now realise that the secondary schools will be doing their own assessement but too late to stop as they don't want him to make their ds life hell. He does that to other dcs and he gets away with it.

BTW: I have already started the complaint procedure after the head asked me to forgive him over the Easter Holiday and pray for him to grow up!