Any tutors out there? Do you enjoy it?

[steppeinginto2015]

I am trained primary teacher, I haven't been in the classroom for years though.

I am thinking of becoming a tutor. I have taken 2 of my dcs through 11 + prep and so I am very familiar with that. I do English conversation tutoring for a friend, and have an on-going interest in bi-lingual kids. I still feel very comfortable with teaching the basics, and I am up to date with current classroom practice as I am a governor and volunteer in school.

So I would happily tutor in 3 areas - ESL (adult or children) 11+ and general primary support.

Is this realistic? Would it be better to specialise?
Do I need insurance of some kind?
I am perfectly happy organising the financial side in terms of tax/self- employment etc, but not certain if I need specific extras, like insurance.

Do you do it at your house of theirs?
Are you part of an agency? - Pros and cons?
How much do you charge (SW not and expensive area)

Thanks very much.

good advert having typos in my post!

just bumping as I wrote this quite late last night

OK - just very boring OP?

There's a thread about this that is quite recent, perhaps that's why you've had so few replies?
Basically, you can just pitch in: answer adverts, put up cards where parents might look.
You can go the professional route and join an agency, get a DBS (or whatever it's called now), and insurance (that was on the other thread).
Do be careful about declaring everything you should to the IR.
Tutoring bus nice. You get to work at a good pace, usually 1:1. I enjoy it. :-)

I really enjoy tutoring. I wish I could give up teaching and just tutor but I need the stability of a regular monthly income and I have a young DD. I get people from word of mouth at the moment but if I wanted to increase my numbers, I would advertise on the Facebook groups I am on.

thanks for replying.

I had a look, but couldn't find any threads, will look again.

I have a DBS for other work, and they are now transferable.

I am a bit concerned about insurance, do I need it? Do you have it?

How did you decide what to charge? I am finding it very hard to find out local prices!

Hi, I am a tutor, I teach secondary maths. I left full time teaching to look after my children and now tutor in the evenings and a couple of afternoons whilst my youngest is at preschool.

I don't have insurance, though I am looking into it. I don't tutor at my own house, which makes a difference, but feel I should have something to cover me if someone is not happy with my work. Not happened yet but still! So that's something I will be sorting out in the next couple of weeks.

I am also in the SW, and prices are lower here. I charge £20 per hour, rising to £25 if I have to drive over 5 miles. (To be honest, the two tier system is a bit of a pain as it means having to establish driving distance before finalising a price, and I will be charging £25 across the board in September). This is a bit over the average for the SW (about £19 according to First Tutors website) but I am a qualified teacher with a lot of A level experience, and I also mark exams in the summer so have a lot of experience exam wise. Pricing is a tricky business as too high and you will price people out of the market, but too low and you look inexperienced!

I have never gone with an agency, I've always found it much simpler to organise things myself. I can't see any benefit to using them, they don't make the business of finding clients any easier (in my opinion) and they will take a percentage of your earnings. There are websites where you can advertise your services, usually free of charge, and they are well worth investigating. You can see what others in your area are charging as well. First Tutors and the Tutor Pages are two that come to mind. However, once you have a few happy clients then word of mouth is by far your best form of advertising. If you have contacts in local schools then they may be happy to pass your details on if asked (some schools won't do this).

I have a DBS though I have never been asked by a client to show it.

The only down side I can think of is that most of the work is evenings and weekends, and whilst this is great when the children are at home, now they are at school it does mean a bit of a rush in the evenings, and cuts into family time. I am strict about my hours and often have to turn people away in order to keep some family time. But otherwise I love it, it's very flexible and keeps me in the education world on my own terms.

There is also a Private Tutors group on TES which is very useful. Let me know if you have any other questions, I'll try and answer!

Thanks coffee, that is really helpful.

I am currently debating the pros and cons of using my own house.

I could, if dd2 went to after school club 2 days per week. ds gets in later and dd1 does after school activities 2 nights, so it is quite feasible. Saves petrol and time, and all resources here on to hand.

Pros of going to their house is that I can do the time and then leave.
I have one friend who has asked me to tutor hr daughter for 11+. I have told her I will think about it. The biggest problem will be that she will arrive with younger sister in tow and want to hang around and chat afterwards. With her it would definitely be better to go to her house!

I would love to have a space at my house to tutor, impossible for me as we have a tiny 2 bed, but it is my dream! It's far easier, but you would definitely need insurance then.

Some people do like to chat afterwards! Most of my students this year are very much 'see you later!' and shut the door but I have had a few chatterers in my time, though I don't really mind as I can waffle on too.

£20 an hour for maths sounds low to me :/ People were charging £20 five years ago.

I charge £25 and to be honest, I think I should charge more. Prep time, travel time, tutor time, assessment. It can be up to 3 hours work for that £25. Not very much when you consider that it costs me £40 to take my baby son to his osteo appt which is 40 mins!