Private tutoring

[Midglet]

Two daughters at high school in Scotland , one in second year and one in fourth year. Both have had the same maths teacher for well over a year now and have constantly struggled with his teaching style . It has been raised with the school but to no avail. Within days of starting this new term they both were in tears with not understanding the work being asked of them so to much financial sacrifice ( as we don’t have a spare £50 a week to cover this) we arranged a retired teacher to give them extra tuition to help build their confidence and understanding . Started last week and both came away saying it had been a great help so we thought we had cracked it!
However the tutor has asked if we could approach the school and get a list of the order the topics would be taught in for the younger child ( who isn’t the greatest at explaining herself) as it would help her plan future lessons to work in conjunction with what she is learning in class.
Not a big deal I thought, however when I finally got through to the school to request this ( took me four ignored telephone calls requesting a call back and a response was only forthcoming after I went in personally) I was told by the head of the department under no circumstances would they give any information out that would assist someone making a financial gain , regardless of it was for the betterment of the child involved. She instead informed me my children should be attending the after school club if they require extra assistance….the after school club which is ran by the very teacher they are struggling with!
I didn’t think my request was being unreasonable, especially as the Scottish Government has a specific policy (Getting it right for every child) to provide the right support at the right time and I wasn’t asking for any trade secrets! Am I wrong and if I’m not, how do I word an email to go up the chain of command? I’ve never complained about anything in my life and am not confident in doing so . Or do I just accept the school are not going to assist and let the tutor work to the best of her ability under the circumstances ?
*since posting this thread the eldest has just said they got taught absolutely nothing in class today as the teacher spent the entire hour ranting about the embarrassingly poor performance of his last students in this years exams so it appears it not just my kids that struggle with him

i think it’s ridiculous not to share the order of topics - full on lessons plans I get (though no harm in doing so!) - but not the order.

But don’t you have the older girl’s workbooks? Unlikely the school / this teacher has changed the order.

I’m more familiar with England than Scotland, but I’d take the same approach either way - get a curriculum based workbook and have the tutor work through that order. For any topics that build on each other, this teacher will do them in the same order. And if he doesn’t, it’s better to write off his order anyway! You should find that your girls’ understanding and confidence grows so his classroom becomes easier to understand, or is anyway replaced.

We use CGP - I know they do a Nat 5 book, so I guess earlier stages too.

That’s honestly one of the most ridiculous reasons I’ve ever heard and I say that as both a teacher and a tutor! Unless the teacher is just winging it, there should be set schemes of work and they should definitely be made available on request (lots of schools actually publish them on their websites). I have known some individual teachers who refuse to provide information because they’re ideologically opposed to tutors but a HOD for a simple order of teaching? Outrageous. I would definitely escalate this to whoever is the Teaching and Learning coordinator for the school or the head if a one doesn’t exist in the school.

The school is going to benefit from this tuition, and it's no big deal for them to print off/email you their scheme of work. It would be different if you were asking them to invest more than a couple of minutes. Arguably, the tutor may profit more from not knowing what best to cover, as you may shell out for more sessions!

I'd be inclined to (a) respond to the HoD to let them know why the after-school session is unlikely to help, (b) check whether this policy is a school policy or just the department - try contacting the head of year.