Tutors

[Niceguy2]

Hi all

DD is in Year 9. She's in top sets for maths & english and her school target is "7c/6a" for both.

I am concerned that despite seemingly good targets that she's not really getting the attention nor the push she needs at the school. The school she's at does well considering the students they have. The area we live in is a real tale of two halves. The main intake is from two villages. Ours which is fairly nice and the other where its real Jeremy Kyle territory.

Tonight I was talking to DD and said if she felt she needed one then I'd get her a tutor. To my surprise she said she'd like one. I say I was surprised because my parents forced one upon me at the same age and I HATED it.

To be honest I said it without much thought into it and now its got me thinking. Now I dont mind paying for a tutor and I do want to take advantage of the fact she seems keen. I want her to be aiming for A* at GCSE level and her teacher wants to put her in for it a year early anyway. So from that point of view I think its a good idea.

But I just wanted to see what others think.

Is there a downside of a tutor I hadn't thought of? I had one and with hindsight it did me a world of good. Does she need one even with a Y9 target of 7c/6a? Not even sure what that relates to in real grades.

Thanks

Oh and if anyone has one for their kids too, how much do you pay and how much do they see your DC?

Thanks again!

DD1 had one for Maths during year 11, as she wasn't very confident with it. I asked the school and one of the teachers did it afterschool, once a week. We paid £20.

At this stage I'm not sure if it's really necessary TBH, seems like she's doing well anyway, but I would watch how it goes when she starts her GCSEs and maybe think about it then. In hindsight, DD would've benefitted from having one throughout GCSE Maths but she was determined to soldier on alone for as long as possible.

Though if she is keen and you can afford it, don't see how it could be a bad thing really. IIRC the average is 6 at end of KS3, so she's doing very well. In terms of 'real grades' 6 would be B/C, 7 A/A (8 would be A for Maths only, the others only go up to 7).

If she wants an A*, she should be getting a level 8 at the end of Y9. I would be very surprised if she got one if she only got a level 7 and was entered a year early.

• that's for maths, btw. Can't speak for English!

"If she wants an A*, she should be getting a level 8 at the end of Y9. I would be very surprised if she got one if she only got a level 7 and was entered a year early."

Are you sure about this? Does anyone know whether this apples to all subjects, not just Maths?

Niceguy2 I work as an English tutor and charge £20 an hour. Pupils come to me, seem to enjoy it and I have a good success rate. By success rate I mean that I can usually improve their grade upwards from their predicted grade if they come to me soon enough. Some leave it too late because their parents don't realise they are struggling.

seeker - There are always exceptional cases but as a general rule then yes, if you want an A* you need a level 8 in Maths. I imagine that less linear subjects like History and Geography could be different.

I have a son in year 10. He is predicted A*s for many of his subjects and is very good at Maths and science but has always found English hard.He is in set 1 for everything.

His school sounds similar to your DDs - it's a bog standard comp and the priority is to get the Ds up to Cs rather than Bs to A*s.
We felt the best way forward was to pay for tutoring should the need arise.
To my surprise when I suggested it he was very keen.
He started at the beginning of Year 10. His tutor is a GCSE examiner and has was recommended by a colleague. I pay £20 an hour.
DS is hating the AQA controlled assessments in English and she has helped him enormously. She seems to complement the school and looks at things from a different perspective.
He is without a doubt achieving far better grades in his CAs as a result.

NB the school don't know about it and he has only told one or two friends. He is certainly not the only one being tutored.

Why would you keep it a secret from school?

Wouldn't want to risk resentment from teacher. It may not happen of course but they don't need to know.
Plus, rightly or wrongly there is a culture among boys in particular that being hard working and ambitious is uncool.

As a teacher, I don't resent kids getting tutors, and it is useful to know so you don't start overestimating a kid's ability when they get all their homework right because they've had help with it. Also, if they struggle with something, I can suggest that they look over it with their tutor.

I work in a very middle class school so loads of the kids get tutors just as a matter of course.

Thanks for the replies.

I've found one on yell.com and had a chat with him this morning. The costs weren't as bad as I was fearing and he even comes to my house which is a result. He's even a maths teacher teaching my DD's age group at a school about an hour away so sounds perfect.

Over the last few days I've had a think and with DD I think its more a confidence issue rather than understanding. She's rather like her mother in so far as she doesn't like to venture outside her comfort zone. So she's gets herself all in a tizz about making mistakes even though I've always said there's nothing wrong with making them.

So I think a few lessons with a tutor would perhaps give her the confidence boost she needs.