Private Tuition, how popular is it?

[SpoonintheBin]

I'm not from the uk but live here, and my kids are in primary school. I think I have been grossly underestimating just how many children get private tuition. In a discussion with a group of friends, ds (y5) was actually a bit embarrassed that he was the only child out of 7 who doesn't have private tuition - he said 'my dad is my tutor, he's a. maths teacher so he is technically my tutor'. I was a bit surprised, is it really that common? He goes to a normal state school and is doing well at school, nothing exceptional but I'd say just above average in most subject.

which secondaries are they aiming for?

almost all in our state primary school going for a selective independent secondary will have a tutor (from Jan in yr 5 for a year - the exams are typically january of yr6)

then at the other end of the spectrum many of those struggling will have a tutor

i don't know of many who have a tutor in yr5 of primary school for no reason

Most of the Yr5 do here but that's for the 11+ exam they'll take in Yr6. Without the 11+ I very much doubt anyone would use one in my DC school otherwise.

Exactly what snoop said. 11+ area so loads do.

DD1 appears very able but we will definitely be having her tutored through the 11+.

Mainly to ensure she is familiar with the format of the questions.

We're not overly pushy and its not the be all and end all of she doesn't pass as we would probably then opt for private.

That makes sense, as DS used to be on the ehrmmm 'top table' for most of year 1 to year 5, and now is on the second table because other kids - tutored kids - are overtaking him. Not very good for his self confidence, but still what can I do. We have a very good normal state school very close to us and that's where he is going to go.

I'm in an 11 plus area, a large number of children are tutored from reception onwards. What makes it worse is the number of children from Indian families -tutored even before they start school (check out the Kumon classes in Harrow with large numbers of 3&4 years olds streaming in on a Saturday) and continue all the way through their education.

It is for this reason I don't pay any attention to SATs results, GCSE results or A level results in this area. There is no way of telling how good the schools are because there is such a high level of extra support in the area courtesy of the parents and tutors and in some cases the teachers offering private tuition.

SpoonintheBin if you want your ds to keep up with the tutored kids i would recommend getting him to do some extra work at home, that's what will be advancing the tutored kids, not necessarily the time with the tutor.
Get the maths bond book age 9-10
Get mental maths workbook 3
English wise, make sure he is reading a variety, get The Week Junior and if you can be bothered (!) the bond verbal reasoning book.

Do you really want to keep up with tutored kids? As long as your son is doing well at school my preference would be to allow him time to develop broader interests, sport, reading, gardening, art or building things etc. If he shows an interest in an aspect of history or science support him. Education is a lot more than being on the top table and acing grammar school tests. Time to place sport, hang out with friends or even be bored, will help develop wider social skills and resilience.

Tutor/support though if problems with key skills such as maths or English start interfering with other subjects.

My DC are now late teens. They have steadily risen up the year group, partly I suspect because some of the formerly very bright children faded. Tutoring only got them so far. Use something like sport to increase your sons self esteem and explain that if he were doing lots of extra school work outside school he too would be top table, but there is more in life and tortoises catch up.

As a PP has said there can be a bit of an ethnic angle. DC were doing maths A level before they realised that because they were not Chinese did not mean they had to be less good at maths. They now understand that some parents from some cultures often prioritise academic achievement to a greater extent than their own parents did. But also realise that this may give them more choices over their future and they perhaps better understand that longer term success ultimately is down to them. And though I think DC together have only managed one academic prize between them in their whole school careers because they were further down the class than they might have been, some of the work ethic rubbed off on them.