tutor for an "average" year 7

[namechangingagainagain]

I have prepared myself for being flamed for being pushy. :)

We live in a rural area and he goes to a large good comprehensive secondary school. It is an area where "low academic expectations" has been highlighted as a problem.

We considered private and although we could afford one or two sets of school fees DS has 3 siblings and financially it would have crippled us. WE thought a good plan would be to go state and supplement as needed ( they all have instrument lessons for example).

We're now wondering whether some kind of tutors might be a good idea for DS12. He is "expected" across the board. His teachers say he is a pleasure to teach as he gets down to work diligently. His English teacher said " you will be pleased to hear he's on track for a c grade GSCE pass".

Well I'm not... flame away !
Friends with children who are not exceptional in any way seem to be getting strings of a*/a in other areas/ at other schools. I want to give DS every advantage I can and it seems s if a c grade gcse pass is the target.

Di you have a academically middle of the road/ middle set child who improved with 1 to 1 tuition in maths or English? Where would I find someone and is it best to arrange it weekly/ fortnightly?

Thanks in advance

[namechangingagainagain]

thanks for your thoughts.

I'm sure his English teacher is aware of the GCSE changes. he may even have said " on track for the equivalent of a GCSE grade c" and I was paraphrasing!

We're going to look around for some tutors. Thanks again

[noblegiraffe]

They can hardly say 'he's on track for a GCSE grade 5 pass' when no one knows yet what that will look like.

There's a lot of translating back to old grades/levels at the moment when communicating with parents, so that they can have some understanding of where their child is at.

[BertrandRussell]

"His English teacher said " you will be pleased to hear he's on track for a c grade GSCE pass".

Well, I would be horrified if a teacher said this- because it would mean they didn't realise that GCSEs had changed and there is no such thing as a grade C any more.

[noblegiraffe]

Of course children will improve with 1-1 expert tuition - any extra time spent properly practicing a subject will see an improvement.

Tutoring is best done at least weekly, otherwise there's too long a gap between sessions. You could ask the English and maths department if they have any recommendations for tutors, sometimes they know ex-staff who would do it.

Best time to look would be now. Maths and English GCSEs have just finished, so tutors will have spaces.