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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Teachers, help me out please re tutoring

21 replies

momb · 15/04/2015 23:16

My daughter (Y10) has MH probs (anxiety and depression after bullying) and has fallen 2 anticipated grades since choosing her subjects (in the last 2 terms).
She has one area where she particularly struggles and since having meds and feeling a little brighter asked me to source a tutor to help her catch up.
I contacted a local tutor via a website but heard nothing.
After parents evening tonight it transpires that the tutor I contacted is actually my daughter's teacher. We live 10m from school and the teacher is another 10m in the opposite direction.
Are teachers allowed to take private jobs involving their own students? She hasn't replied to the tutoring application but I'm not sure if this is because it would be unethical (would it?) or because she's offended that I'm looking elsewhere . DD just wants to get caught up while her meds are effective so we're trying all avenues....
Thanks in advance.

OP posts:

camptownraces · 15/04/2015 23:18

Yes, it would be unethical, and taking money from existing parents is almost certainly banned by the school, and could lead to dismissal.

Original poster

momb · 15/04/2015 23:21

rats! She's the only qualified tutor I can find within 30 miles.
Ah well, the slightly scratched 'teach yourself a language' CD from the library it is then.....

OP posts:

Littleturkish · 15/04/2015 23:22

Is it French/German that she's struggling with then?

Haggisfish · 15/04/2015 23:23

I tutor lots of my students for free after school-why not ask the teacher if your dd can attend afterschool revision? We run afterschool revision every day after school.

AtomicDog · 15/04/2015 23:25

Yes, I know our local Secondary school give extra tuition to pupils falling below their potential, either individually or as groups, usually after school.

profpoopsnagle · 15/04/2015 23:26

I teach and tutor, and I would not take a pupil from my school.

But it sounds like your daughter could benefit from a tutor so I would say don't give up. It can be worth asking teachers from school, or parents, or looking in newspapers/shop windows/ facebook/ mumsnet/netmums local. Most tutors don't advertise as such or have low key advertising so pages 2-3-4- google may well throw something up.

The other thing to think about is that we're 8 weeks from GCSE exams now, so many tutors (myself included) may not have space now, but the best time to try and nab someone is around June as exam students finish, rather than September. So keep emailing now but be prepared to that you might have to be on a waiting list for a few weeks- worth it for the right tutor for your daughter.

MummySparkle · 15/04/2015 23:28

How about finding a friendly a-level student? I know they are probably busy with their own exams ATM, but there might be a few after some spending money. They will have fresh knowledge of what the exams are like and might be able to help.

And an unqualified tutor might be just as good. I used to work as a TA and did tutoring for a girl in our village. I have no formal qualifications, but just the 1:1 time to go through things really helped her get the grades she wanted.

Is she sitting the GCSE this year or next? Maybe think about a weekend break to a country that speaks the language over the summer? (Obvs this is an expensive option) practical experience using the language is always beneficial.

I'd suggest giving any advertised tutor a try. If it's not helpful after one session, then nothing is really lost, but if it is then fab!

Can you talks DD's teacher? I struggled with MH stuff at school. My French teacher arranged for me to have 1:1 with her every week to catch up on the things I'd missed. If a student is ready and willing to learn, then most teachers will be happy to give up a little time to help them.

Glad your Dd is feeling a bt brighter, hope things stay on the up x

BackforGood · 15/04/2015 23:43

My experience (dc at 2 different schools) is that, if a pupil had been struggling with illness, and was now ready to put in some catch up hours, then the staff would support them before/after school, or in lunchbreaks, as part of their role as their teacher at school. There are ongoing 'maths clinics' and other subject catch up areas for anyone to drop into. Teachers are generally delighted to support a pupil who wants to work hard to improve where they 'are' in their subject. Start there.

as others have suggested, pay an A-level student to go through work with her. If you don't know any yourself, then you could ask at the school if they think there might be someone who would just spend an hour, a couple of times a week, going over the work they'd done / the homework / topics frmo text books, etc.

Original poster

momb · 15/04/2015 23:45

I would that it were true for us . We are pretty rural and finding anyone within a 30m radius is tricky. Because we are 10m from school it's really difficult to ask for after school help as we rely so much on the school buses as public transport is beyond awful and I do work full time.
She has fallen back in most subjects but is confident in many so will, with a bit of encouragement, catch up in English, humanities and sciences. She has asked for more help with her modern language. I can't help her (no idea: I did classics and so Latin and Greek maybe, but she didn't have those as options!)
Right at this moment it is looking as if I'll need to amend my working hours to give her the opportunity to go to after school tutoring which is aimed at Y11 even though she's only Y10, as that is all the school offers.
A localish tutor would be so handy.

OP posts:

MummySparkle · 16/04/2015 00:11

Send an email to her teacher (school email address) and explain the situation and that your DD wants to catch up. I'm sure she will be able to provide something. Once the y11s have sat exams the. She might have a bit more time to spend helping your DD. Will the y11s be covering the y11 topics? It bl might be a bit beyond your dd and could discourage her if she struggles with it

MummySparkle · 16/04/2015 00:12

Could you advertise locally looking for a language tutor? You might find a native speaker living just down the road from you. Village notice board perhaps?

Walkinginfog · 16/04/2015 09:05

Just a thought - someone I know wanted a tutor for an obscure A-level subject, so nothing available locally. They eventually found someone who would tutor via Skype sessions. I think they took a chance on someone they found via a tutoring website, and it seemed to work out OK.
HTH

AtomicDog · 16/04/2015 09:10

Which language is it? There are lots of online language resources that schools use, for example wort fur wort.
GCSE bitesize (BBC) also

TheUnwillingNarcheska · 16/04/2015 09:15

Is there nothing helpful at all on YouTube? I know that there is GCSE stuff but we started with YouTube when Ds1 did German (I did French and Spanish so no idea at pronunciation) and he missed part of the lesson to attend his piano lesson. It was the blind leading the blind for his homework.

We found lots of helpful stuff on YouTube for beginners German, I am sure there must be something to help her either via Google or YouTube.

Might tide her over until you can find a tutor.

Clavinova · 16/04/2015 09:45

Private tuition via Skype/webcam is a good idea - more and more tutors seem to be offering this option. Or perhaps find a tutor further afield for Sat/Sun willing to do a 2 hour session (with a quick drink/snack in the middle) every 2 or 3 weeks instead of every week and make a day of it.

Clavinova · 16/04/2015 10:18

Meant to add that the 2 sessions needn't be back to back - go to a café with your dd in between.

ChillySundays · 17/04/2015 20:14

Could you ask around and see of other parents are using one and get a reccommendation

MagratGarlik · 17/04/2015 22:43

I have several school teachers working as tutors for me (I run a tutoring business) and definitely wouldn't send any to a student at their current school for ethical reasons.

I'd really recommend that you look at tuition via Skype though - I've been offering this (I don't do language tuition though), for some years now and find it really effective, particularly with older (ks4 and 5) students. You'll probably find it's cheaper than face-to-face sessions too.

I personally wouldn't recommend a 2 hour session every 2 or 3 weeks, as I find little and often (1 hour every week) works much better. After 2-3 weeks, students have often forgotten what was covered previously and therefore, as a tutor you see less progression in students who take longer, but less frequent lessons.

Charis1 · 19/04/2015 09:10

if a pupil had been struggling with illness, and was now ready to put in some catch up hours, then the staff would support them before/after school, or in lunchbreaks, as part of their role as their teacher at school.

I would like to point out, Backforgood, that this is absolutly not part of any teacher's role, would be undertaken entirely voluntarily, will impact on the teacher's own family life, and will put them in a difficult situation legally.

i'm not saying it doesn't happen, but to have these huge sacrifices dismissed as just part of the job does rankle.

Yangsun · 23/04/2015 10:10

Does the school have a language assistant? If so, ours often does private tuition on a paying basis, as they are contracted for a specific number of hours there are ko ethical issues with this. If not her school there will provably be a lot secondary school that does have one, try ringing round.

skinnamarink · 25/04/2015 14:07

You mention above that this is the only tutor you can find within 30 miles, have you considered online tutoring? There are many companies that do this, this one (www.twute.com) only uses graduates and grad students from/at the University of Cambridge. They offer a 'personalized' service, which might be helpful for your DD in getting caught up. I know how stressful this must be, I hope it all works out! :)

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